I'm all for interview prep, but this sounds like a fairly standard tech company loop.
I usually take a few days to brush up on algorithms and structures for the first one I do in a batch, and have some canned answers for the personal questions, but otherwise go in with what I know. Some of that's experience now, but I don't remember any point in my career where I'd have done something this extensive. I hope the poster doesn't feel they need a month's prep every time they want to go test the waters on the job market!
I do agree with the frequent recommendations for Cracking the Coding Interview. As a lead who interviews frequently, my biggest tip is to be honest about what you do and don't know--take what you do know right to the limit then talk about how you'd figure out the rest given normal professional time and resources.
I'm not usually grading someone on whether they can solve my specific problem so much as whether I think they're someone I can work with while they do it. That said, if it's on your resume you'd better be able to talk intelligently about it to whatever level makes sense for your experience. I definitely probe around that stuff to figure out if I can trust the rest.
I usually take a few days to brush up on algorithms and structures for the first one I do in a batch, and have some canned answers for the personal questions, but otherwise go in with what I know. Some of that's experience now, but I don't remember any point in my career where I'd have done something this extensive. I hope the poster doesn't feel they need a month's prep every time they want to go test the waters on the job market!
I do agree with the frequent recommendations for Cracking the Coding Interview. As a lead who interviews frequently, my biggest tip is to be honest about what you do and don't know--take what you do know right to the limit then talk about how you'd figure out the rest given normal professional time and resources.
I'm not usually grading someone on whether they can solve my specific problem so much as whether I think they're someone I can work with while they do it. That said, if it's on your resume you'd better be able to talk intelligently about it to whatever level makes sense for your experience. I definitely probe around that stuff to figure out if I can trust the rest.