Behavioral & Negotiation
Your Next Steps
3 min read
Congratulations on completing this course! You now have a solid foundation in DSA patterns, system design, coding strategies, and behavioral preparation. Here's your action plan and where to go from here.
Your 90-Day Action Plan Recap
| Week | Focus | Daily Tasks |
|---|---|---|
| 1-4 | Foundations | 2 easy problems + data structure review |
| 5-8 | Patterns | 1-2 medium problems + 1 system design/week |
| 9-12 | Simulation | Timed problems + weekly mock interviews |
Immediate Actions (This Week)
- Choose your target companies -- Make a list of 10-15 companies in 3 tiers (dream, target, safety)
- Set up your practice environment -- Create LeetCode account, bookmark NeetCode 150
- Start your story bank -- Write down 3 STAR stories from your experience
- Begin daily practice -- Solve 1 problem per day, starting with easy
Mock Interview Resources
| Platform | What It Offers | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Pramp | Free peer-to-peer mock interviews | Free |
| interviewing.io | Anonymous interviews with real engineers | Free (limited) |
| Exponent | Practice with structured rubrics | Subscription |
| Record yourself | Practice explaining solutions out loud | Free |
Specialize for Your Target Role
This course covered the universal foundations. Now specialize based on your target role:
| If Your Target Role Is... | Take Next |
|---|---|
| ML/AI Engineer | ML/AI Engineer Interviews -- covers ML fundamentals, coding for ML, real-world problems, behavioral for AI roles |
| LLM/GenAI Engineer | LLM Engineer Interviews -- transformer architecture, prompt engineering, fine-tuning, production optimization |
| Data Scientist | Data Science Interviews -- statistics, SQL mastery, A/B testing, business cases, product sense |
| Data Engineer | Data Engineer Interviews -- SQL deep dive, pipeline design, big data systems, data modeling |
| DevOps/SRE | DevOps/SRE Engineer Interviews -- infrastructure, Kubernetes, CI/CD, monitoring, incident response |
| Cloud Architect | Cloud/Solutions Architect Interviews -- multi-cloud design, distributed systems, Well-Architected Framework |
| MLOps Engineer | MLOps Engineer Interviews -- ML pipelines, model serving, infrastructure, monitoring |
| Security Engineer | Security Engineer Interviews -- AppSec, cloud security, OWASP, incident response, GRC |
| Senior/Staff+ (Any) | AI System Design Interviews -- advanced architecture, scalability, distributed systems |
Key Takeaways
- Patterns over memorization -- Understanding 15 core patterns covers the majority of coding questions
- System design is for everyone -- Even junior engineers face design questions in 2026
- Behavioral matters -- Don't underestimate the STAR method and your story bank
- Negotiate every offer -- A single conversation can add $50K-$200K+ to your compensation
- Practice under pressure -- Mock interviews are the closest simulation to the real thing
- The AI era changes the game -- Understand code, don't just generate it
Final Thought
The best candidates aren't the ones who solve the hardest problems. They're the ones who communicate clearly, think methodically, and demonstrate strong engineering judgment. Master the fundamentals, practice consistently, and walk into every interview knowing you've prepared thoroughly.
Good luck!
Ready to specialize? Choose your path above and continue your interview preparation journey on NerdLevelTech. :::