# Senior Engineer: 4-Month FAANG Prep Plan **Target:** Staff Engineer / L5–L6 (senior; potential principal track) **Timeline:** 16 weeks, ~12 hours/week (you're busy; this is surgical) **Outcome:** Ready for 2–3 FAANG loops; negotiating principal offers --- ## **Overview** | Phase | Weeks | Focus | Goal | | ---------------------- | ----- | ------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------- | | **Calibration** | 1–3 | Understand senior bar; refresh on medium-hard DSA | Know what you're preparing for | | **Depth & Leadership** | 4–11 | Principal-level designs + strategic thinking | Ready for senior/staff interviews | | **Application & Loop** | 12–16 | Focused applications + real onsites | Principal offer in hand | --- ## **PHASE 1: CALIBRATION (Weeks 1–3)** **Mindset:** Senior interviews are NOT harder DSA; they're about judgment, strategy, and impact. **Time commitment:** 10 hours/week ### **Week 1: Self-Assessment** | Day | Activity | Output | | ------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------- | | Mon | Review [senior bar](../../00-START-HERE/02-Interview-Loop-At-A-Glance.md) for your company | Notes on expectations | | Tue | Read 3 senior-level system design interviews (Palantir, Jane Street, etc.) | Understand the depth required | | Wed | Record yourself designing a system (untimed); compare vs. junior approach | Identify gaps | | Thu–Fri | Skim DSA hard problems; time yourself on 3 (LeetCode) | Ensure speed (< 20 min each) | | Sat–Sun | Light: read [career progression](../../08-CAREER/05-Company-Archetypes-and-How-to-Prepare.md) docs | Calibrate expectations | **Output:** Clear picture of senior bar; confidence in existing skills. --- ### **Week 2–3: DSA Maintenance + Signal** **Goal:** You can code fast; prove you think big. | Day | Activity | Format | Time | | ------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------- | ---------- | | Mon–Wed | 3 hard problems per day; aim for < 20 min (with explanation) | LeetCode | 60 min/day | | Thu | Record coding session; focus on _explaining_ your approach | Self-record | 45 min | | Fri | **Mock coding interview 1** (60 min; hard problem) | Peer-led | 90 min | | Sat | Debrief; identify communication gaps (not correctness gaps) | Self-study | 30 min | | Sun | Rest | Rest | Rest | **Weeks 2–3 parallel:** Read 2–3 architecture blogs (AWS Well-Architected, Google SRE Book excerpts). **Output:** Fast problem solving + clear explanation; DSA not a bottleneck. --- ## **PHASE 2: DEPTH & LEADERSHIP (Weeks 4–11)** **Mindset:** At senior level, interviews test your _judgment_, not your _speed_. Take your time. Think aloud. **Time commitment:** 12 hours/week ### **Week 4–6: Strategic System Design (I)** **Goal:** Design systems that matter; discuss tradeoffs like a principal engineer. | Day | Activity | Problem | Notes | | --- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | Mon | Study: [capacity planning](../../04-System-Design-Library/01-Capacity-Planning-Cheatsheet.md) | Numbers precision | Get numbers exactly right | | Tue | Study: [patterns & failure handling](../../04-System-Design-Library/02-Design-Patterns-and-Failure-Handling.md) | Theory depth | Understand _why_ patterns matter | | Wed | Design: URL Shortener, BUT add: analytics, real-time dashboard, ML recommendations | Deep design | Think 3 years out | | Thu | Design: News Feed; focus on ranking system (ML + data infrastructure) | Data pipeline | Show data thinking | | Fri | **Mock Design 1** (90 min; novel prompt) | Peer-led | [Rubric](../../05-Mock-Interviews/01-Self-Evaluation-Rubric.md): Expect 4.5/5+ | | Sat | Debrief; ask peer: "What would a principal engineer do differently?" | Mentorship | Incorporate feedback | | Sun | Rest | Rest | Recharge | **Weeks 5–6:** Repeat with: - Rate limiter (add: fairness across users, dynamic adjustment) - Chat system (add: encryption, compliance, geo-distribution) - Video streaming (add: bitrate adaptation, licensing, monetization) **Output:** 6 designs where you think about business + technical depth. --- ### **Week 7–9: Senior Lens on ML/Data/Infra** **Choose your strongest domain OR the one you want to own at senior level:** #### **If Backend/Data:** - Design: Distributed transaction system (ACID guarantees at scale) - Design: Data warehouse (query optimization, cost, performance) - Read: [ML system design templates](../../05-ML-MLOps/03-ML-System-Design-Templates.md) (even if not ML-track; understand ML infrastructure thinking) - Deep dive: Consistency models (strong, eventual, causal) - Mock: 3 backend-centric designs #### **If ML/Data Science:** - Design: Recommendation ranking at scale (10B queries/day) - Design: LLM inference + serving (batching, caching, cost optimization) - Read: [ML testing + MLOps](../../05-ML-MLOps/04-ML-Testing-and-ML-Test-Score.md) - Deep dive: Feature store architecture; online/offline serving gaps - Mock: 3 ML-centric designs #### **If Infra/SRE/Platform:** - Design: Observability system at scale (Prometheus + tracing + logs) - Design: Canary deployment + incident detection system - Read: [incident response](../../07-Infra-DevOps/05-Incident-Response.md), [observability](../../07-Infra-DevOps/06-Observability.md) - Deep dive: Distributed tracing; cost of observability - Mock: 3 infra-centric designs **Output:** Expertise in your domain; ability to talk to cross-functional leads. --- ### **Week 10–11: Leadership + Strategic Thinking** **This is what separates L5 from L6.** | Activity | Time | Focus | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---- | ----------------------------------------- | | **Mon:** Write 10 leadership stories (vs. mid's 15 generic ones) | 2h | Emphasize: decisions, outcomes, influence | | **Tue:** Record yourself; focus on impact metrics | 1h | "We improved X by Y%; it saved Z" | | **Wed:** Mock behavioral (90 min; hard questions: "Tell me about a time you disagreed with your manager") | 1.5h | Leadership signal | | **Thu:** Debrief behavioral; identify weak stories; replace them | 1h | Iterate | | **Fri:** Full loop mock: Coding (60 min) + Design (90 min) + Behavioral (60 min) | 3.5h | Full pressure test | | **Sat:** Debrief full loop; score on rubric | 1h | Calibrate | | **Sun:** Rest | Rest | Rest | **Interview readiness check:** Are you scoring 4.5+ across all dimensions? If not, identify weak area and focus Week 12 on that. **Output:** Polished leadership narrative; full loop comfort. --- ## **PHASE 3: APPLICATION & LOOP (Weeks 12–16)** **Mindset:** You're selective. Target 2–3 companies. Go deep. **Time commitment:** 10–12 hours/week (mostly interviews; less prep) ### **Week 12: Targeting + Deep Dive** | Day | Activity | Output | | ------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------- | | Mon | Identify 2–3 target companies (don't spray resume) | Final list + research | | Tue | Research each company's engineering culture, scale, challenges | Deep notes | | Wed | Tailor resume/cover for each company; emphasize relevant scale | Custom materials | | Thu | Reach out to network at each company (LinkedIn, prior colleagues) | Referrals | | Fri | Apply officially; include referral or custom cover letter | Applications sent | | Sat–Sun | Maintain coding (2 problems/week; easy/medium to stay warm) | Light prep | **Expected:** 1–2 recruiter calls Week 13. --- ### **Week 13–14: Phone Screens** **Assume 1–2 phone screens per company.** | Weekly Schedule | Activity | Time | | ---------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ | --------- | | **3x per week** | Coding reps (1 per day; medium hard; 45 min) | 2.5h/week | | **1x per week** | System design deep dive (new problem; untimed; 90 min) | 1.5h/week | | **As scheduled** | Phone screen (with company) | 1–2h | **Debrief after each screen:** What went well? What surprised you? **Apply to parallel backup companies:** If 1 company slow, have 2–3 more in pipeline. **Expected outcome:** 1–2 advances to onsite by Week 14. --- ### **Week 15: Onsite Preparation** **Assume 1–2 onsites scheduled for Week 15–16.** | Daily Routine | Time | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------ | | **Morning:** Coding warm-up (2 problems; easy/medium; 45 min) | 45 min | | **Mid-day:** Deep system design (new problem; 2 hours; focus on reasoning not speed) | 2h | | **Evening:** Behavioral prep (record 2 stories; iterate; 45 min) | 45 min | | **Onsite day:** Interview + debrief (3.5–4.5 hours) | 4h | **Before onsite:** Review company-specific [hiring archetype](../../08-CAREER/05-Company-Archetypes-and-How-to-Prepare.md); know what they care about. --- ### **Week 16: Decision + Negotiation** | Activity | Timeline | Expected | | ---------------- | ---------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Offers received | Week 15–16 | 1–2 offers | | Debrief feedback | Week 16 | Understand your strongest loop | | Negotiate | Week 16 | [Use playbook](../../07-Offer-Negotiation/salary-negotiation.md); emphasize your senior impact | | Decide | Week 16 | Accept offer | **Senior negotiation tip:** Emphasize _scope_ not just salary. What will you own? What's the bar for promotion to principal? --- ## **Success Metrics** ### **By Week 3** - ✅ Senior bar understood - ✅ DSA speed maintained (< 20 min for hard problems) - ✅ 1 mock coding scored 4.5+ ### **By Week 11** - ✅ 9+ systems designed at principal level - ✅ Domain expertise clear - ✅ 10 leadership stories; 3+ with strategic decisions - ✅ Full loop mock scored 4.5+ across all dimensions ### **By Week 16** - ✅ 2+ onsites completed - ✅ 1+ principal/senior offer - ✅ Negotiation complete; offer accepted --- ## **Daily Routine (Senior)** **Time budget: 12 hours/week = ~1.5–2 hours/day average** - **Quick:** 2 coding problems (45 min total; warm-up + explain) - **Deep:** 1 system design OR leadership prep (90 min) - **Optional:** Read (30 min; blogs, papers, architecture docs) **Reality:** Some days you'll do 4 hours (interview day); others just 30 min (maintenance). --- ## **Interview Strategy** ### **Coding Round** - **Approach:** Solve correctly first; then optimize. - **Communication:** Explain your thinking out loud; don't hide. - **Red flag:** If you get stuck, ask clarifying questions; don't sit silent. ### **System Design Round** - **Approach:** Take 5 min to clarify requirements; then design slowly. - **Communication:** Discuss tradeoffs explicitly. "Option A is faster but costs more. Option B is cheaper but has latency. Here's why I'd choose A..." - **Senior-level thinking:** Ask about business requirements first; don't assume technical specs. - **Red flag:** If you're moving too fast, _slow down_. This is about judgment, not speed. ### **Behavioral Round** - **Approach:** Tell stories that show _decisions you made_, not just actions you took. - **Communication:** Include metrics. "We improved latency from 200ms to 50ms, which increased conversion by 3%, worth $2M ARR." - **Senior-level thinking:** Discuss _tradeoffs_ in your decisions. "We could have done X, but chose Y because of Z..." - **Red flag:** If your stories don't include business impact, rewrite them. --- ## **Red Flags (Adjust Plan if You See These)** - ⚠️ Week 4: Can't design a system that feels "principal-grade" → Read more theory; study existing senior designs; slow down - ⚠️ Week 8: Your domain expertise isn't landing → Shift focus; pick a different specialization - ⚠️ Week 12: No recruiter calls after referrals → Reach out more aggressively; consider lateral roles (not just staff track) - ⚠️ Week 14: Phone screen feedback is "too confident" or "too detailed" → Calibrate your style; ask interviewer what they're looking for --- ## **Resources** - **System design:** [Palantir interviews](https://www.palantir.com/careers/), [Jane Street blogs](https://blog.janestreet.com/), [Stripe Press](https://press.stripe.com/) - **Coding:** LeetCode Hard, but focus on communication (screenshare with peer) - **Behavioral:** [Leadership principles](../../02-Role-Roadmaps/01-SWE-Generalist.md) for your target companies - **Negotiation:** [Salary guide](../../07-Offer-Negotiation/salary-negotiation.md) + talk to current senior engineers at target companies --- **You've prepared well. 16 weeks to a senior/principal offer.** 🚀