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FAANG Interview Prep

A free, step-by-step playbook for landing big tech interviews and offers: what to apply for, how to get noticed, how to pass every round, and how to negotiate.

For students, new grads, and engineers with 0 to 3 years of experience. Pick your track below and open the first page.

Start with your track

Intern

For students who want a summer internship. Summer 2027 applications are in peak season now (as of Oct 2026), so apply while you prepare.

  1. How internships work: the month-by-month timeline and how return offers work.
  2. Finding and applying: the lists to watch and the week-one routine.
  3. Resume rules: one page, the right section order, what to cut.
  4. How OAs work: the first filter at most big tech companies.
  5. Problem lists: pick one list and finish it.
  6. Intern interviews: what the rounds look like by company.

New grad

For anyone graduating in the next 12 months, or graduated with under 1 year of full-time work.

  1. What jobs to apply for: role families, titles to search, and your target level.
  2. Application strategy: funnel math, timing, and the tracking sheet.
  3. Resume tailoring: one resume per job description, step by step.
  4. Referrals: how referral systems work and what to send the referrer.
  5. Coding patterns: the core patterns with linked problems.
  6. Story bank: 8 to 10 stories that answer most behavioral questions.

Experienced (0 to 3 years)

For working engineers moving to big tech or moving up a level.

  1. Level mapping: find your level at each company before you apply.
  2. How recruiters search: show up in LinkedIn Recruiter searches.
  3. Outreach strategy: who to contact for what, in what order.
  4. System design: who needs it: at 1 to 3 years, the design round often sets your level.
  5. Story bank: stories from real work, mapped to each company's values.
  6. Negotiation process: from the first recruiter call to the signed offer.

Tip: On a student visa or need sponsorship? Read International students before you apply anywhere.

All sections

  • 1. Jobs: roles, levels, where to find openings, and international student rules.
  • 2. Internships: timeline, programs by company, applying, and intern interviews.
  • 3. Resume: rules, bullets, tailoring, ATS, templates, and a final checklist.
  • 4. LinkedIn: profile setup, recruiter search, and posting for inbound messages.
  • 5. Outreach: finding people, message templates, referrals, cold email, and n8n automation.
  • 6. Online assessments: platforms, formats by company, and how to pass.
  • 7. Coding: topics, patterns, problem lists, practice method, and mock interviews.
  • 8. Companies: 60 company guides and 94 more question lists.
  • 9. System design: fundamentals, the interview framework, classic problems, and LLD.
  • 10. Behavioral: STAR, the story bank, and company values from Amazon to Netflix.
  • 11. Negotiation: comp basics, the process, and word-for-word scripts.
  • 12. Resources: every Ascend post and every tool on the site in one place.

How to use this in 3 steps

  1. Pick a 4, 8, 12, or 16 week plan on Start here and block the hours on your calendar.
  2. Open the interactive roadmap, choose your track, and tick tasks as you finish them. Progress saves in your browser, and so does every checklist on the site.
  3. Pick 3 to 5 target companies on Companies. Use their pages in the last 2 to 3 weeks before each interview.

Who made this

Jugal Bhatt is an AI Engineer at Amazon. Before that, he was a Founding Software Engineer at LiteLLM and, before the US, a software engineer at FamPay in India. He did his MS in Computer Science at UIUC, paid for through a TA position (post).

From his own search:

  • "When I was searching for my first US role, I sent around 700 applications and got 3 interviews." He fixed it with people, not a better resume, and now gets 50+ recruiter messages a month (post).
  • "Everyone told me I needed at least 400 solved problems before I could even think about applying to FAANG. I had 120." He cleared Amazon, Google, and Meta anyway. His 60-day pattern plan is in I Cleared Amazon, Google, and Meta With Only 120 LeetCode Problems.

Follow him for new guides:

  • Ascend on Substack: free weekly newsletter on job search, interviews, and AI careers.
  • LinkedIn: daily posts on job search and AI careers.
  • Instagram: short versions of the same.
  • GitHub: the source for this site. Open an issue if a link breaks.

Next: Start here