Is the CareerCup Book Worth the money?

Question

I just couldnt find a decent review of this book http://www.careercup.com/

• Has anyone in this community tried it?
• Do you know any other alternatives?
• Do you have any other similar book recommendations for techies entering the job market?

Thanks.

Answer 1

Well i am not aware of the book but the site itself is awesome. I never came across any other forum which is so exhaustive and let you prepare for level of Google.

Answer 2

As an alternative, there is Land the Tech Job You Love, published by the Pragmatic Programmers whose scope is wider than just job interviews.

Answer 3

I have not read the book myself, so this is a second-hand report (based on what I hear from people who've read it), but it does seem to be an excellent resource and well worth the $25 they ask for it, in my opinion. The only way a book of that kind might not be worth such a modest price, after all, would be if it was really terrible or a total scam -- hypotheses that can be ruled out by sniffing a bit around the site and researching the site's principal's activities on the net, which are substantial.

There are a bazillion other interview-related books (I've read many of them when one of my main job responsibilities was interviewing candidates, just to make sure I wasn't asking the kind of questions that people might have prepared for through such books -- these days, thanks be, I spend much less of my time interviewing candidates, so I have not needed to keep up!) but most of the ones I've seen are pretty mediocre.

One book I have not seen (nor heard about) is the one by Andy Lester that another answer points to -- the publisher and author are a pretty good guarantee that said book isn't a scam nor a total mediocrity, too. It does cover far more than just the interview, which is valuable in itself but also means it cannot be quite as focused or complete about that specific subject as Gayle's book that you're considering.

Gayle, the careercup author and principal, also has an Amazon List that's not bad -- but that's because, beyond the first three entries, it's really comprised of very good general purpose books about software development, algorithms, and security...;-). Sure, knowing that stuff well will help you ace your interview... but that's because it will really help you become a better and more effetive developer in the real world, too!-)

Answer 4

It's the first time I've heard of it, so no feedback there. However, looking at its table of contents (TOC) it looks very similar to one of the books I had in mind as an alternate recommendation. CareerCup appears to be geared towards MS, Amazon, and Google type of interview questions, especially with topics like linked lists, trees, string manipulation and more. A few years ago I was curious about the types of questions people went through at those companies and I came across 2 recommended books during my search:

1. Programming Interviews Exposed: Secrets to Landing Your Next Job (currently in its 2nd Edition) - by John Mongan, Noah Suojanen, Eric Giguère. It's a little cheaper than CareerCup off of Amazon, especially if you get it from a 3rd party seller. Take a look at it's TOC. The reviews there should also be helpful in gauging its accuracy for what you're looking for and the types of experiences others have written about in terms of their applicability to interviews.

2. How Would You Move Mount Fuji? Microsoft's Cult of the Puzzle - How the World's Smartest Company Selects the Most Creative Thinkers - by William Poundstone. Not too hard to figure what this one's about! It's not directly programming related but covers all those brainteaser type of questions (why are manhole covers round, how many gas stations do you think this city needs, etc.). In the past these were pretty prevalent, but I think nowadays this focus has died down a bit, if not completely. Again, read the comments on Amazon for a better idea on its relevance.

I own a copy of both books and the 1st one was pretty useful and seemed to match questions being asked online. Working through the problems helped get the thought process going and are good exercise. The 2nd edition seems to include more languages now (I had the 1st edition and if I'm not mistaken it didn't cover C#) but generally once you get the idea you should be able to derive a solution in your language of choice. The 2nd book is very entertaining and also somewhat mind-opening. Sure, some of the questions can be a little out there, but the idea is how to start thinking of a solution through some reasoning.

There's also a book called Programming Pearls (2nd Edition) - by Jon Bentley. I haven't read this book, but it does seem to be recommended in Amazon reviews I've read and the TOC seems to cover some interesting problems you may find similar to CareerCup.

Good luck!

Answer 5

No. Because memorizing the answers to the questions won't make you perform better if you get the job, and you'll just be looking for another job. The best thing you can do is write more code and find a good mentor in an accomplished engineer to help you become a better developer.

Answer 6

Do a reverse hack - you want to find out what the guys who hire are really looking for I'd recommend Smart and Gets Things Done by Joel Spolsky (of Joel on Software fame, if that needs stating.) It's by far the best book on tech recruiting I've read, pretty much sums up what I'm looking for when I hire - clue: the answer is in the title ;)

Answer 7

I bought the book a couple months ago and I thought it was great. It's a great list of common interview questions (ranging from hard to easy), lots of solutions, and with great interview advice. Definitely recommend it!