Intro
After my burnout last year, I decided to build a more structured approach for Technical Interview Prep tip.
So I gathered my resources, collected my obligations and engagements in life, reviewed my schedule and had a chat with good old Claude.
Here’s what it came up with: Web Dashboard version by Claude
10 DAY CRUNCH for Nutanix Entry Level Engineer
nutanix_sprint_updated.html // ghosted, didn’t even get an interview
So realistically I can only squeeze this much per week
Topic Visual Breakdown
“The biggest mental shift that helps: treat it like a compression problem, not a coverage problem. You cannot learn everything, and you’re not supposed to”
12-Week Technical Interview Prep Plan
Schedule: Sunday 2:30–4:30pm (2 hrs) · Thursday evening (1 hr) · Saturday morning (1.5 hrs)
Linked notes:
LeetCode Patterns · Data Structures and Algorithms Overview and Fundamentals · Distributed System Design Basics · System Intermediates - API Gateways, Load Balancers, Reverse Proxies · Graphs · Graph and Tree Algorithms · Binary Trees · Lessons Learned from Leetcode
Phase 1 — Foundation (Weeks 1–4)
Goal: Build the vocabulary before grinding problems. Implement from scratch, trace by hand, understand why before optimizing.
Week 1
Sunday · 2 hrs — Arrays & Linked Lists
- Implement a dynamic array: append, insert, delete
- Implement a singly linked list: append, insert, delete, reverse
- 2–3 easy LeetCode problems on arrays/linked lists
- Resources: Coding Interview University · NeetCode
Thursday · 1 hr — Binary Trees Intro
- Read Trees > Binary Trees & Binary Trees notes
- Draw a BST by hand, trace insert and search operations
- No coding yet — build the mental model first
- Resources: Your Obsidian notes
Saturday · 1.5 hrs — Bubble & Selection Sort
- Implement bubble sort and selection sort
- Compare time/space complexity of each
- Watch a visual explainer, do 1 easy LeetCode sort problem
- Resources: Visualgo.net
Week 2
Sunday · 2 hrs — Tree Traversals
- Implement pre-order, in-order, post-order — recursive first, then iterative
- Trace each by hand before coding, try implementing
- 2 LeetCode tree traversal problems
- Resources: GeeksforGeeks traversals · Binary Trees
Thursday · 1 hr — BST Operations
- Review Binary Search Trees (BST)
- Insert, search, delete on a bst
- Trace 3 examples by hand — focus on delete (it’s the tricky one)
Saturday · 1.5 hrs — Insertion & Merge Sort
- Implement insertion sort
- Implement merge sort — focus on the divide-and-conquer logic, it underpins many interview problems
- Resources: Visualgo.net
Week 3
Sunday · 2 hrs — DFS & BFSnan
- Implement DFS and BFS on a tree, then on a graph
- Trace both by hand on paper before coding
- 2 easy LeetCode problems — one DFS, one BFS
- Resources: GeeksforGeeks traversals and NeetCode
Thursday · 1 hr — Graphs: Directed & Undirected // As of 16/04/2026 I'm here
- Review Graphs note
- Implement an adjacency list and an adjacency matrix
- Know when to use each, sparse graphs favour lists, dense graphs favour matrices
Saturday · 1.5 hrs — Quick Sort & Heapsort
- Implement quicksort with Lomuto or Hoare partition
- Heapsort concept — heaps are covered properly next week, just understand the flow today
- Resources: Visualgo.net
Week 4
Sunday · 2 hrs — Heaps & Priority Queues
- Implement min-heap: heapify, insert, extract-min
- Understand max-heap as a mirror
- 2 easy LeetCode heap problems
- Resources: NeetCode · Coding Interview University
Thursday · 1 hr — Greedy Algos: Dijkstra’s
- Trace Dijkstra’s by hand on a small weighted graph
- Understand the priority queue’s role in it
- Note: Prim’s and Kruskal’s are Week 5 Thursday
- Resources: Graph and Tree Algorithms
Saturday · 1.5 hrs — Bitwise Ops, Endianness & Fibonacci
- Misc. checklist items: AND / OR / XOR / bit shifts, endianness concept, Fibonacci (iterative then memoized)
- Low-pressure review session — these are unlikely to be the core of an interview but good to have
- Resources: Your Misc. notes
Phase 2 — Patterns & Practice (Weeks 5–8)
Goal: Apply the foundation to interview-style problem patterns. Learn the shape of problems, not just individual solutions.
Week 5
Sunday · 2 hrs — Sliding Window & Two Pointers
- Read the pattern description, then solve: 1 easy + 2 medium problems
- Use seanprashad’s site filtered by pattern
- Resources: LeetCode Patterns · Grind 75
Thursday · 1 hr — Prim’s & Kruskal’s
- Minimum spanning trees — trace both by hand
- Know the difference: Kruskal’s is edge-based, Prim’s is vertex-based
- Low-pressure review session
- Resources: Graph and Tree Algorithms
Saturday · 1.5 hrs — System Design Intro
- Watch MIT Sys Design lecture 1
- Take bullet-point notes in Obsidian under Distributed System Design Basics
- Goal: understand scale, latency, throughput, and availability vocabulary
- Resources: MIT System Design (YouTube)
Week 6
Sunday · 2 hrs — Binary Search & Fast/Slow Pointers
- Binary search on arrays and on “answer space” (search on result, not array)
- Fast/slow pointer pattern — Floyd’s cycle detection
- 3 problems (mix of easy and medium)
- Resources: LeetCode Patterns · NeetCode
Thursday · 1 hr — Caching & Load Balancing
- Review System Intermediates - API Gateways, Load Balancers, Reverse Proxies
- Sketch a basic web request flow including: client → load balancer → app server → cache → DB
- Resources: Your system intermediates note
Saturday · 1.5 hrs — DB Design Tradeoffs
- SQL vs NoSQL, normalization basics, indexing
- Skim Alex Xu book ch. 1–2
- Know when to reach for each type in a system design answer
- Resources: System Design Interview (Alex Xu)
Week 7
Sunday · 2 hrs — BFS/DFS Patterns on Graphs
- Islands problems, topological sort, cycle detection
- 3 medium problems — these recur constantly in interviews
- Resources: Blind 75 · NeetCode
Thursday · 1 hr — A Algorithm*
- Understand heuristic search vs Dijkstra’s — what does the heuristic buy you?
- Trace on a small grid
- Less common in interviews but good for depth; check off your checklist item
- Resources: Graph and Tree Algorithms
Saturday · 1.5 hrs — CI/CD Pipeline Basics
- What a pipeline does, stages: build → test → deploy
- Docker fundamentals: images, containers, why it matters for deployment
- Watch one short YouTube explainer, take notes in Obsidian
- Resources: YouTube “CI/CD pipeline explained” or “Docker for beginners”
Week 8
Sunday · 2 hrs — Dynamic Programming Intro
- Your DP Misc. checklist item — tackle it properly now
- Path: Fibonacci → coin change → climbing stairs
- Memoization (top-down) first, then bottom-up tabulation
- Resources: Grokking the Coding Interview · NeetCode
Thursday · 1 hr — API Gateways & Distributed Basics
- Review Distributed System Design Basics
- Rate limiting, consistency vs availability, CAP theorem at a conceptual level
- Resources: Your distributed systems note
Saturday · 1.5 hrs — Review & Consolidate
- Look at your LeetCode history — identify your 2 weakest topics from Phase 2
- Re-do 1 problem each, timed
- Update your Obsidian notes with what clicked this phase
- Resources: Your notes · LeetCode Patterns
Phase 3 — Targeting & Simulation (Weeks 9–12)
Goal: Sharpen per role, simulate real interview conditions, build confidence under pressure.
Week 9
Sunday · 2 hrs — DP Continued + Trees Review
- Longest common subsequence, 0/1 knapsack
- 1 tree problem to keep it fresh — mix of medium problems
- Resources: Blind 75 · Grind 75
Thursday · 1 hr — Role Mapping
- Identify 2–3 target role types (frontend, backend, fullstack, etc.)
- For each: primary interview language, key DS emphasis, likely system design question type
- Log a role-targeting note in Obsidian
- Resources: Tech Interview Handbook
**Saturday · 1.5 hrs — Mock Interview 1
- Pick 1 unseen medium problem
- Set a 35-minute timer, talk out loud the entire time
- After: write down what broke down — approach, syntax, communication?
- Resources: NeetCode
Week 10
Sunday · 2 hrs — Pattern Review: Weakest Two
- Check your LeetCode submission history — find your 2 least-confident patterns
- Do 2 timed problems for each
- Resources: LeetCode Patterns
**Thursday · 1 hr — System Design Practice 1
- Pick one classic: URL shortener or key-value store
- Sketch the design in 20 minutes, then compare to a reference solution
- Note the gaps — what did you miss?
- Resources: Alex Xu book · Grokking SDI
Saturday · 1.5 hrs — Language Switching Drill
- Take 3 problems you’ve already solved confidently
- Re-solve in your secondary language (TypeScript, Go, Rust, etc. per target role)
- Focus on syntax gaps, not logic — the logic is already solid
- Resources: Your solved problems
Week 11
Sunday · 2 hrs — Blind 75 Sweep
- Work through the Blind 75 spreadsheet
- Skip anything already solved confidently
- Flag anything taking >40 min for one more pass
- Resources: Blind 75
**Thursday · 1 hr — System Design Practice 2
- Design a rate limiter or a news feed
- Talk through it out loud using the framework: requirements → scale → components → tradeoffs
- Resources: Alex Xu book
**Saturday · 1.5 hrs — Mock Interview 2
- One medium + one easy, both timed
- Focus on communication, not just correctness — narrate your reasoning the whole way
- Resources: NeetCode · Pramp (free peer mock interviews)
Week 12
Sunday · 2 hrs — Grind 75 Full Pass
- Your personal config: 10 weeks / 14 hrs
- By now patterns are familiar — focus on speed and clean code, not figuring things out from scratch
- Resources: Grind 75
Thursday · 1 hr — Confidence Audit
- Go through your entire Obsidian prep checklist — check off what’s solid, flag what needs one more pass
- Update Lessons Learned from Leetcode with your current state
- Resources: Your Obsidian vault
**Saturday · 1.5 hrs — Mock Interview 3
- Full simulation: 1 medium coding problem (35 min) + 5-minute system design sketch
- Treat it like the real thing
- Resources: Pramp · interviewing.io (free anonymous mock interviews)
Checklist Tracker
Graphs & Trees
- BST — Trees > Binary Search in a Binary Tree and Binary Trees → Week 2
- DFS and BFS → Week 3
- DFS and BFS by hand + implement → Week 3
- Linked Lists → Week 1
- Tree traversal: pre, in, post → Week 2
- Adjacency Matrix and Lists → Week 3
- Greedy algos: Dijkstra’s → Week 4
- Greedy algos: Prim’s and Kruskal’s → Week 5
- Heaps → Week 4
- Graphs: directed and undirected → Week 3
- A* algorithm → Week 7
Sort Algorithms
- Bubble sort → Week 1
- Selection sort → Week 1
- Insertion sort → Week 2
- Merge sort → Week 2
- Quick sort → Week 3
- Heapsort → Week 3–4
Misc.
- Dynamic programming → Week 8
- Bitwise ops → Week 4
- Endianness → Week 4
- Fibonacci → Week 4
Problem Patterns (Phase 2)
- Sliding window → Week 5
- Two pointers → Week 5
- Fast/slow pointers → Week 6
- Binary search → Week 6
- BFS/DFS on graphs → Week 7
- Dynamic programming patterns → Week 8–9
System Design
- Scale, latency, throughput vocabulary → Week 5
- Caching and load balancing → Week 6
- DB tradeoffs (SQL vs NoSQL) → Week 6
- API gateways + distributed basics → Week 8
- System design practice: URL shortener or key-value store → Week 10
- System design practice: rate limiter or news feed → Week 11
CI/CD & Deployment
- Pipeline stages (build → test → deploy) → Week 7
- Docker fundamentals → Week 7
Resources Quick Reference
| Resource | Used in |
|---|---|
| Coding Interview University | Weeks 1–4 |
| Complete A2Z Reference for DSA Concepts | Reference |
| NeetCode | Weeks 1–12 |
| LeetCode Patterns (seanprashad) | Weeks 5–10 |
| Blind 75 | Weeks 7, 9, 11 |
| Grind 75 (personal config) | Weeks 5–12 |
| Tech Interview Handbook | Weeks 9–12 |
| MIT System Design (YouTube) | Week 5 |
| Grokking the System Design | Weeks 10–11 |
| System Design Interview — Alex Xu | Weeks 6, 10–11 |
| Grokking the Coding Interview | Week 8 |
| GeeksforGeeks traversals | Weeks 2–3 |
| Visualgo.net | Weeks 1–3 |
| Pramp | Weeks 11–12 |
| interviewing.io | Week 12 |
| LeetCode cheat sheet | Reference |