ProgramAlpha Blog
Notes on interviews, systems & AI
Essays from the build: what actually moves the needle in interview prep, how systems behave at scale, and how AI is changing the craft.
Stop grinding, start recognising: the 16-pattern model
Stop memorising 300 solutions and learn the sixteen shapes underneath them. A field guide to pattern recognition: the full inventory, telltale phrases, three dissections, and the practice habits that make it stick.
Read the postA 30-minute skeleton for system design rounds
The system design round is a time-boxed performance with a predictable shape. Steal this 30-minute skeleton - requirements, estimation, APIs, high level, deep dive, wrap-up - and stop freezing under the whiteboard marker.
The two-week interview sprint, day by day
Fourteen days, from diagnosis to offer-ready. A day-by-day interview sprint: what to study each morning, which drills to run, when to start mock interviews, and how to taper without losing your edge.
Behavioural answers that sound engineered
Your behavioural stories are under-engineered. A practical guide to the STAR method you actually say out loud: eight signal-rich stories, a repeatable answer skeleton, and the phrasing that turns anecdotes into evidence.
Reading your Progress Pulse without fooling yourself
Progress Pulse can lie to you, and you will want it to. How to read study analytics honestly - leading versus lagging signals, the questions vanity metrics dodge, and the weekly ritual that keeps the numbers true.
LLMs, agents and the new engineering interview
Interviews changed when LLMs became part of the stack. How to prepare: tool-calling loops, evals, context engineering, and the judgement that separates an operator from a passenger.
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