FAANG Interview Preparation Guide 2026: Master Google, Meta & Amazon Interviews in 8 Weeks

Looking for an effective FAANG interview preparation strategy? This complete guide shows you how to prepare for Google, Meta, Amazon, and other top tech company interviews in just 8 weeks using the proven 80/20 principle.

TL;DR - The 80/20 FAANG Interview Strategy

• Coding: Master 15-20 patterns, solve 100-150 problems (not 500)
• System Design: Learn 8 core concepts, practice 10-12 designs
• Behavioral: Prepare 8 STAR stories covering common themes
• Mock Interviews: Do 5-10 mocks before real interviews
• Timeline: 6-8 weeks with 15-20 hours/week
• Key Insight: 80% of interview questions come from 20% of topics

Let me tell you about my first attempt at a FAANG interview.

I spent 3 months preparing. I solved 400 LeetCode problems. I read Cracking the Coding Interview cover to cover. I watched 50 hours of YouTube tutorials. I felt ready.

I bombed the Google interview.

Why? Because I was preparing the wrong way. I was solving random problems hoping I would see similar ones in the interview. I was reading everything instead of focusing on what actually matters.

After I failed, I changed my strategy completely. I applied the 80/20 rule: focus on the 20% that gives 80% of the results.

The next time, I got offers from Google, Meta, and Amazon. Same brain, different strategy.

This guide shows you exactly what that strategy looks like.

Table of Contents

1. Why Most FAANG Interview Prep Fails
2. The 80/20 Interview Preparation Principle
3. 20 Essential Coding Patterns for FAANG
4. How to Master LeetCode Patterns
5. System Design Interview Guide
6. Behavioral Interview Preparation
7. Mock Interview Strategy
8. Complete 8-Week Study Plan
9. Common Interview Mistakes
10. Frequently Asked Questions

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Why Most FAANG Interview Prep Fails

The problem with traditional FAANG interview preparation:

1. Too much breadth, not enough depth: People try to learn everything. But interviews test depth in key areas, not surface knowledge of everything.

2. Random practice: Solving problems in random order does not build pattern recognition. You waste time rediscovering patterns that others have already figured out.

3. No real interview simulation: Solving problems alone at home is different from solving them while explaining your thought process to a skeptical interviewer.

4. Ignoring non-coding skills: Great code is not enough. Communication, problem-solving approach, and behavioral answers matter just as much.

Most people spend 80% of their time on things that give them 20% of the results in Google interviews, Meta interviews, and Amazon interviews. We are going to flip that with strategic interview preparation.

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The 80/20 Principle: Work Smarter, Not Harder for Tech Interviews

The 80/20 rule (also called the Pareto Principle) says:

80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts.

This applies everywhere:

• 80% of software bugs come from 20% of the code
• 80% of your productivity comes from 20% of your work hours
• 80% of a company's revenue comes from 20% of customers

And most importantly for us: 80% of FAANG coding interview questions come from 20% of topics.

Here is what this means for your Google, Meta, or Amazon interview prep:

• You do NOT need to solve 500 LeetCode problems
• You do NOT need to read 10 books
• You do NOT need to memorize every algorithm
• You do NOT need 6 months of prep time

What you need is to identify the most important 20% and master it deeply.

The Math is Simple

If 80% of interview questions come from 20% of topics, why would you study 100% of topics? Focus on the high-impact 20%. Once you nail that, you can expand if needed. But most people never need to.

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The 20% That Matters: Essential Coding Interview Patterns for FAANG

After analyzing hundreds of Google, Meta, and Amazon coding interview questions, I found that almost all of them use one of 15-20 core LeetCode patterns.

Top 5 Must-Know Coding Patterns (Cover 50% of FAANG Interview Questions)

1. Two Pointers

Used in array and string problems. Example: Remove duplicates, find pairs that sum to target. Master this first.

2. Sliding Window

For substring and subarray problems. Example: Longest substring without repeating characters. Shows up in 1 out of 4 interviews.

3. Fast & Slow Pointers

For linked list and cycle problems. Example: Detect cycle, find middle of linked list. Dead simple but appears constantly.

4. Binary Search

Not just for sorted arrays. Example: Search in rotated array, find minimum in range. Interviewers love testing this.

5. Breadth-First Search (BFS)

For tree and graph problems. Example: Level order traversal, shortest path. If you know BFS, you can solve 20+ problems.

Next 5 High-Value Coding Patterns (Cover Another 30% of Questions)

6. Depth-First Search (DFS): Another tree/graph traversal. Example: Path finding, validate BST.

7. Hash Tables: For counting and lookup problems. Example: Two sum, group anagrams.

8. Stack: For parsing and nested structure problems. Example: Valid parentheses, calculator.

9. Heap (Priority Queue): For top-K and merge problems. Example: K closest points, merge K sorted lists.

10. Dynamic Programming Basics: For optimization problems. Example: Climbing stairs, house robber, coin change. Note: Only learn BASIC DP patterns, skip advanced ones initially.

Pattern Recognition is the Secret

When you see a new problem, your first thought should not be the solution. It should be: Which pattern does this problem use? Once you identify the pattern, you know exactly how to approach it. This is the difference between beginners and people who crack FAANG interviews consistently.

Optional Patterns (Cover remaining 20%)

Only learn these if you have extra time:

• Backtracking
• Union Find
• Topological Sort
• Trie
• Advanced DP (intervals, states)

Your Pattern Learning Plan

• Week 1-2: Master the top 5 patterns. Do 5-7 problems per pattern.
• Week 3-4: Learn patterns 6-10. Do 3-5 problems per pattern.
• Week 5-6: Mix problems from all patterns. Practice identifying patterns.
• Week 7-8: Mock interviews and refinement.

Total problems needed: 100-150 (not 500)

Total time needed: 6-8 weeks (not 6 months)

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How to Master LeetCode Patterns (Not Just Solve Problems)

Here is the mistake everyone makes: they solve a problem, check the solution, and move on. This does not build pattern recognition.

Step 1: Learn the Pattern Theory (30 minutes)

Before solving any problem, understand:

• When do you use this pattern?
• What is the core technique?
• What is the time and space complexity?
• What are common variations?

Example for Two Pointers:

• Use when: Array/string where you need to compare or find pairs
• Core technique: Start with two pointers (beginning/end or fast/slow)
• Time: Usually O(n), Space: Usually O(1)
• Variations: Same direction vs opposite direction pointers

Step 2: Solve the Template Problem (1 hour)

Every pattern has a template problem. Solve it deeply:

1. Solve it yourself (even if you struggle)
2. Compare with optimal solution
3. Understand WHY this approach works
4. Code it again from scratch without looking
5. Explain the solution out loud as if teaching someone

Step 3: Solve Similar Problems (3-4 hours)

Solve 5-7 problems that use the same pattern. For Two Pointers:

• Remove duplicates from sorted array
• Container with most water
• Valid palindrome
• 3Sum
• Trapping rain water

After each problem:

• Ask: How is this using the two pointers pattern?
• Note: What variation of the pattern is this?
• Practice: Explain your approach before coding

Step 4: Test Your Understanding (30 minutes)

Can you:

• Recognize the pattern from the problem description?
• Explain when and why to use this pattern?
• Code the basic template from memory?
• Identify variations of the pattern?

If yes, you have mastered the pattern. Move to the next one.

If no, solve 2-3 more problems.

Quality Over Quantity

Solving 7 problems deeply is better than solving 50 problems superficially. Most people solve too many problems without understanding patterns. They end up memorizing solutions instead of learning to think. Do not be that person.

Two Pointers Template

Memorize this structure, then adapt for specific problems:

def two_pointer_template(arr, target):
    # Initialize pointers
    left = 0
    right = len(arr) - 1

    # Loop until pointers meet
    while left < right:
        # Calculate current result
        current = arr[left] + arr[right]

        # Compare with target/condition
        if current == target:
            return [left, right]  # Found answer
        elif current < target:
            left += 1  # Move left pointer right
        else:
            right -= 1  # Move right pointer left

    return None  # No solution found

# Once you know this template, you can solve:
# - Two Sum II
# - 3Sum
# - Container with most water
# - Trapping rain water
# And 20+ other problems just by adapting this structure

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System Design Interview Preparation: The 8 Core Concepts That Matter

System design interviews at Google, Meta, and Amazon scare people the most. The topic feels infinite. How do you design Netflix? Twitter? Uber? Google Search?

Here is the secret: All FAANG system design interview questions test the same 8 core concepts.

If you understand these 8 concepts deeply, you can design any system. Everything else is just variations and combinations of these basics.

The 8 Core Concepts (Your 20%)

1. Scalability Basics

• Vertical scaling vs horizontal scaling
• When each makes sense
• Cost and complexity trade-offs

2. Load Balancing

• How to distribute traffic across servers
• Different algorithms (round-robin, least connections, etc.)
• Health checks and failover

3. Caching

• Where to add caching (client, CDN, server, database)
• Cache invalidation strategies
• When caching helps vs hurts

4. Database Fundamentals

• SQL vs NoSQL (when to use each)
• Replication (master-slave, master-master)
• Partitioning/Sharding basics

5. Asynchronous Processing

• Message queues (like Kafka, RabbitMQ)
• When to make things async
• Benefits and trade-offs

6. Consistency vs Availability (CAP Theorem Basics)

• You cannot have both perfect consistency and perfect availability
• When to choose consistency (banking)
• When to choose availability (social media)

7. Data Storage Strategy

• Which data store for which data (SQL, NoSQL, cache, files, etc.)
• Hot vs cold data
• Backup and recovery

8. Basic Architecture Patterns

• Monolith vs Microservices
• API design basics
• Separation of concerns

Your System Design Prep Plan

Week 1: Learn the 8 concepts

• Spend 1 day on each concept
• Focus on understanding, not memorizing

Week 2-3: Practice 10-12 common designs

Practice designing:

1. URL Shortener (simple, great starter)
2. Twitter/News Feed
3. Instagram/Photo sharing
4. Uber/Ride sharing
5. YouTube/Video streaming
6. WhatsApp/Chat application
7. Rate Limiter
8. Web Crawler
9. Notification System
10. E-commerce website

For each design:

• Start with requirements
• Draw a basic diagram
• Identify which of the 8 concepts you are using
• Explain trade-offs
• Practice talking through it out loud

Use a Framework for Every Design

Follow the same structure for every system design question:

1. Clarify requirements (5 minutes)
2. High-level design (10 minutes)
3. Detailed design of 2-3 key components (20 minutes)
4. Discuss trade-offs and alternatives (5 minutes)

This framework keeps you organized and ensures you cover everything interviewers expect.

What NOT to study

• Advanced distributed algorithms (Raft, Paxos) - These rarely come up
• Specific cloud services (AWS Lambda, Azure Functions) - Focus on concepts, not tools
• Heavy math or theory - Keep it practical
• Obscure patterns - Stick to the 8 core concepts

Most system design resources overcomplicate things. You need basics done well, not advanced topics done poorly.

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Behavioral Interview Preparation: The Most Under-Prepared Part of FAANG

Here is a truth many software engineers learn too late when interviewing at Google, Meta, or Amazon:

You can ace every technical round and still not get the offer.

Why? Behavioral interviews at FAANG companies are rigorous.

FAANG companies check if you:

• Communicate clearly
• Handle conflict well
• Learn from mistakes
• Work well in teams
• Take initiative
• Handle ambiguity

Even strong engineers fail here because they treat behavioral interviews as casual chat. They are not. They are structured evaluation.

The STAR Method (Your Template for Every Answer)

Every behavioral answer should follow this structure:

• Situation: Set the context (1-2 sentences)
• Task: What was your responsibility? (1 sentence)
• Action: What did YOU do? (3-4 sentences) - Most important part
• Result: What was the outcome? (1-2 sentences)

Bad Answer (No Structure):

"Tell me about a time you handled a difficult bug."

"Oh yeah, we had this bug in production. It was really annoying. We all worked together and eventually fixed it. It took a while but we got there."

This tells the interviewer nothing about YOUR skills.

Good Answer (Using STAR):

"Tell me about a time you handled a difficult bug."

Situation: "At my last company, our payment service started timing out for 5% of users after a deploy. This was blocking revenue."

Task: "As the on-call engineer, I needed to find and fix the root cause quickly."

Action: "First, I used distributed tracing to identify which service was slow. I found the promotion lookup was taking 5 seconds. I analyzed the database query and discovered it was doing a full table scan because a database index was missing. I verified the fix in staging, then deployed with the new index."

Result: "Payment timeouts dropped to zero within 30 minutes. I also documented the issue and added monitoring to prevent similar problems."

See the difference? The second answer shows your problem-solving process, technical skills, and communication ability.

Prepare 8 Core Stories

You do not need 50 stories. You need 8 good stories that you can adapt to any question.

Your 8 stories should cover:

1. Technical Challenge: A complex technical problem you solved
2. Leadership: A time you took initiative or led a project
3. Conflict: A disagreement with a teammate and how you resolved it
4. Failure: A project that went wrong and what you learned
5. Ambiguity: A situation with unclear requirements
6. Tight Deadline: A time you delivered under pressure
7. Impact: Your biggest accomplishment or impact
8. Growth: A time you learned something new quickly

Write these stories down. Practice telling them out loud. Time yourself (each should be 2-3 minutes).

With these 8 stories, you can answer 80% of behavioral questions by adapting your stories to fit the question.

Common Behavioral Interview Mistakes

1. Talking about the team, not yourself: Use "I" not "we". Interviewers want to know what YOU did.

2. Rambling without structure: No STAR format means no clear answer.

3. Only positive stories: Failure questions test self-awareness. A perfect candidate who never failed is not believable.

4. No practice: You cannot wing behavioral interviews. Practice your stories out loud.

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Mock Interviews: Your Secret Weapon for FAANG Success

You know what separates people who get offers from Google, Meta, and Amazon from people who do not?

It is not intelligence. It is not coding skill. It is interview skill and preparation.

Interview skill is different from engineering skill. You need to:

• Talk while coding (most engineers code silently)
• Explain your thinking (most engineers think internally)
• Handle pressure (home practice does not simulate this)
• Manage time (real interviews have time pressure)
• Clarify requirements (most people assume too much)

The only way to build interview skill is mock interviews.

Why Mock Interviews Matter

1. Expose bad habits: You do not know what you do not know. Maybe you code silently. Maybe you jump to coding without planning. Maybe you get stuck and freeze. Mock interviews show you these problems before they cost you a real offer.

2. Build confidence: The first time you talk and code at the same time is hard. The fifth time is much easier. By the time you do your real interview, it feels natural.

3. Get feedback: A good mock interviewer tells you what you did well and what needs work. This targeted feedback is worth 10 hours of solo practice.

4. Simulate pressure: Your heart races in a real interview. You might blank out. Mock interviews help you function under pressure.

5. Practice the full flow: Real interviews have an introduction, clarifying questions, problem-solving, coding, testing, and trade-off discussion. Solo practice skips most of this.

How Many Mock Interviews Do You Need?

Minimum: 5 mock interviews

• 2-3 coding interviews
• 1-2 system design interviews
• 1 behavioral interview

Ideal: 10 mock interviews

• 4-5 coding interviews
• 3-4 system design interviews
• 2 behavioral interviews

Where to get mock interviews

1. Pramp.com: Free peer-to-peer mock interviews. You interview someone, they interview you. Great for practice.

2. Interviewing.io: Anonymous mock interviews with engineers from FAANG companies. Costs money but worth it.

3. Friends at FAANG: Ask friends who work at FAANG companies to give you a mock. They know what interviewers look for.

4. Meetup groups: Many cities have interview prep groups that practice together.

5. Paid services: If you have budget, services like TechMockInterview provide professional mocks.

What to do after each mock

Do not just move on. Extract maximum learning:

1. Ask specific questions:

   • Did I clarify requirements enough?
   • Was my approach clear?
   • Did I explain my thinking well?
   • How was my communication?
   • What should I do differently next time?

2. Write down feedback: Keep a doc with notes from each mock. Review it before your real interviews.

3. Practice the weak areas: If you struggled with explaining trade-offs, practice that specifically in your next mock.

4. Track improvement: You should feel noticeably better after 3-5 mocks. If not, adjust your approach.

Treat Mocks Like Real Interviews

Do not be casual in mocks. Sit at a desk, remove distractions. If you practice casually, you will perform casually in real interviews. Practice how you want to perform.

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The Complete 8-Week FAANG Interview Study Plan

Here is your complete 8-week FAANG interview preparation plan combining everything we discussed. This is the 20% that gives you 80% of the results for Google, Meta, Amazon, and other tech company interviews.

Week 1-2: Core Coding Patterns

Time: 15-20 hours/week

Learn and practice the top 5 patterns:

• Two Pointers (7 problems)
• Sliding Window (7 problems)
• Fast & Slow Pointers (5 problems)
• Binary Search (7 problems)
• BFS (7 problems)

For each pattern:

• Study the concept (30 min)
• Solve template problem deeply (1 hour)
• Solve 5-7 similar problems (3-4 hours)
• Review and understand variations

Goals:

• Recognize these 5 patterns in any problem
• Code the basic template from memory
• Explain when and why to use each pattern

Week 3-4: More Patterns + System Design Concepts

Time: 15-20 hours/week

Coding (10 hours):

Learn patterns 6-10:

• DFS (5 problems)
• Hash Tables (5 problems)
• Stack (5 problems)
• Heap (5 problems)
• Basic DP (7 problems)

System Design (5-10 hours):

Study the 8 core concepts (1 day each). Take notes on key points.

Goals:

• Master 10 total patterns
• Understand all 8 system design concepts

Week 5-6: Mixed Practice + System Design Problems

Time: 15-20 hours/week

Coding (8-10 hours):

• Solve 30-40 mixed problems
• Focus on pattern recognition
• Practice explaining your approach out loud before coding
• Time yourself (45 minutes per problem)

System Design (5-10 hours):

Design 6-8 common systems:

• URL Shortener
• Twitter feed
• Instagram
• Uber
• YouTube
• WhatsApp

Use the same framework for each. Draw diagrams. Practice explaining out loud.

Goals:

• Quickly identify which pattern a problem uses
• Design basic systems using the 8 concepts
• Talk through your thinking clearly

Week 7-8: Mock Interviews + Behavioral Prep

Time: 10-15 hours/week

Mock Interviews (6-8 hours):

Schedule 5-10 mock interviews:

• 3-4 coding
• 2-3 system design
• 1-2 behavioral

Take notes on feedback. Practice weak areas between mocks.

Behavioral Prep (2-3 hours):

• Write your 8 core stories using STAR format
• Practice telling them out loud
• Time yourself (2-3 minutes each)
• Adapt stories to different questions

Final Review (2-4 hours):

• Review pattern templates
• Review system design framework
• Practice any problem types where you struggled
• Go over feedback from mocks

Goals:

• Perform well in interview conditions
• Handle pressure
• Communicate clearly while solving problems
• Feel confident and ready

Adjust Based on Your Timeline

Have only 4 weeks? Focus on the top 5 patterns, 5 system designs, and 3 mocks. Have 12 weeks? Add more practice problems and mocks. But the core structure stays the same: patterns, system design concepts, mocks, behavioral prep.

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Common FAANG Interview Mistakes to Avoid

Even with the right interview preparation strategy, people make mistakes that hurt their chances at Google, Meta, and Amazon. Here are the biggest ones:

Mistake 1: Solving Too Many Random Problems

Doing 500 random LeetCode problems does not make you 5x better than someone who did 100 focused problems. It often makes you worse because you waste time and never learn patterns.

Fix: Stick to the plan. Quality over quantity. 100-150 pattern-based problems is enough.

Mistake 2: Not Practicing Out Loud

Solving problems silently at home is not interview practice. In real interviews, you must explain your thinking while coding.

Fix: Narrate your thought process every time you practice. It feels weird at first but becomes natural.

Mistake 3: Skipping Mock Interviews

Many people prepare for weeks but never do a single mock. Then they panic in real interviews because the format feels unfamiliar.

Fix: Schedule your first mock interview today. Do not wait until you feel ready. You learn more from mocks than from solo practice.

Mistake 4: Ignoring Behavioral Prep

People spend 100 hours on coding and 0 hours on behavioral. Then they bomb the behavioral round and do not get the offer.

Fix: Spend at least 20% of your prep time on behavioral. Write your stories, practice them, get feedback.

Mistake 5: Giving Up After One Rejection

Even the best engineers fail some interviews. One rejection does not mean you are not good enough. It means you need more practice or better luck.

Fix: Apply to multiple companies. If you fail one, learn from it and try again. Many people got rejected by Google then got offers from Meta or Amazon.

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Your FAANG Interview Action Plan: Start Today

You now have everything you need to crack FAANG interviews using the 80/20 approach. Here is what to do next:

Immediate Action Items (Do These Today)

1. Bookmark this guide - You will refer back to it

2. Choose your timeline - 6 weeks? 8 weeks? 12 weeks?

3. Set up your practice environment:

   • Create a LeetCode or similar account
   • Find a platform for pattern-based learning
   • Join Pramp or interviewing.io for mocks

4. Start learning your first pattern today: Two Pointers

   • Read about the concept (30 min)
   • Solve your first problem (1 hour)

5. Write down your prep schedule - Block time on your calendar

This Week

• Master the Two Pointers pattern (7 problems)
• Start the Sliding Window pattern (3-4 problems)
• Read about system design scalability basics
• Think about 2-3 stories for behavioral interviews

This Month

• Master the top 5 coding patterns
• Solve 40-50 problems
• Learn the 8 core system design concepts
• Design your first system (URL Shortener)
• Write your 8 behavioral stories

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Final Thoughts: The 80/20 FAANG Interview Strategy

• 20% of patterns cover 80% of problems - Master those patterns
• 20% of concepts cover 80% of system design - Master those concepts
• 20% of prep time on mocks gives 80% of improvement - Do those mocks
• 20% of prep time on behavioral gives 80% of confidence - Prepare those stories

You do not need to be perfect. You need to be prepared in the areas that matter most.

Interview success is not just about knowledge. It is about confidence. The 80/20 approach gives you confidence because you know you are focusing on what actually matters. You are not wasting time. You are not missing important topics. You are prepared.

Trust the process. You got this.

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Frequently Asked Questions About FAANG Interviews

How long does it take to prepare for a FAANG interview?

With focused preparation using the 80/20 approach, most candidates can prepare effectively in 6-8 weeks. This assumes 15-20 hours of practice per week. If you have less time available, a minimum of 4 weeks is recommended. The key is quality over quantity, focusing on patterns rather than random problem-solving.

How many LeetCode problems should I solve for FAANG interviews?

100-150 pattern-based problems are enough for most FAANG interviews. Instead of solving 500 random problems, focus on 5-7 problems per coding pattern. This builds pattern recognition, which is more valuable than memorizing solutions to hundreds of problems.

What are the most important coding patterns for Google, Meta, and Amazon interviews?

The top 5 most important coding patterns are:

1. Two Pointers
2. Sliding Window
3. Fast & Slow Pointers
4. Binary Search
5. Breadth-First Search (BFS)

These five patterns alone cover approximately 50% of all coding interview questions at FAANG companies.

Is system design required for all FAANG interviews?

System design interviews are typically required for mid-level (L4/E4) and above positions at Google, Meta, Amazon, and similar companies. For entry-level positions, you may have a lighter system design round or none at all. However, learning system design basics is valuable for any level.

How important are behavioral interviews at FAANG companies?

Behavioral interviews can make or break your FAANG offer. Many technically strong candidates fail because they neglect behavioral preparation. Spend at least 20% of your prep time on behavioral questions. Prepare 8 core stories using the STAR method that you can adapt to different questions.

How many mock interviews should I do before a FAANG interview?

A minimum of 5 mock interviews is recommended, ideally 10. Break them down as:

• 3-5 coding interviews
• 2-4 system design interviews
• 1-2 behavioral interviews

Mock interviews expose weaknesses you cannot find through solo practice.

Can I prepare for FAANG interviews while working full-time?

Yes, many successful candidates prepare while working full-time. The 8-week plan in this guide requires 15-20 hours per week, which is manageable alongside a full-time job. Key tips:

• Study early morning or evening
• Use weekends for mock interviews
• Focus on high-impact activities only

What is the difference between Google, Meta, and Amazon interviews?

While all three test similar skills, there are subtle differences:

Google: Known for harder algorithmic problems. More emphasis on problem-solving approach.

Meta: Focuses on coding speed and efficiency. Two coding problems in 45 minutes is common.

Amazon: Strong emphasis on Leadership Principles in behavioral rounds. STAR method is essential.

Should I use Python, Java, or another language for FAANG interviews?

Python is often the best choice because of its clean syntax and quick coding speed. However, use whatever language you are most comfortable with. The interviewer cares more about your problem-solving ability than your language choice. Just make sure you know your chosen language well.

What resources are best for FAANG interview preparation?

Recommended resources:

• Coding patterns: Grokking the Coding Interview, LeetCode
• System design: SystemExperts, ByteByteGo, Designing Data-Intensive Applications
• Mock interviews: Pramp (free), Interviewing.io (paid)
• Behavioral: Prepare your own stories using STAR method

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Key Takeaways for FAANG Interview Success

To summarize this complete FAANG interview preparation guide:

1. Apply the 80/20 rule - Focus on the 20% of topics that cover 80% of interview questions
2. Master 15-20 coding patterns - Not 500 random LeetCode problems
3. Learn 8 system design concepts - Not every distributed systems paper ever written
4. Prepare 8 behavioral stories - Using the STAR method
5. Do 5-10 mock interviews - Practice under real interview conditions
6. Follow the 8-week plan - Structured preparation beats random studying

Ready to start your FAANG interview preparation? Begin with the Two Pointers pattern today. In 8 weeks, you will be ready to ace your Google, Meta, or Amazon interview.

Good luck with your tech interview preparation!