TechSprint × Google — Tech Interview Prep Session
A structured technical interview preparation session run as part of TechSprint'26 — covering DSA patterns, system design fundamentals, and mock interview practice.
The Session
The second leg of TechSprint'26 — a focused, practical session on technical interview preparation, run in collaboration with Google engineers and GDG mentors.
The thesis was simple: most students know they need to prepare for technical interviews but don't know how to structure that preparation. This session was about building a framework, not just covering problems.
What We Covered
DSA Patterns — Rather than teaching individual problems, we taught pattern recognition. Two-pointer, sliding window, BFS/DFS, dynamic programming patterns. Recognizing the shape of a problem is the skill that transfers.
System Design Fundamentals — Scaled back for students who haven't shipped distributed systems. Load balancing, database tradeoffs, caching, API design. The goal was vocabulary and mental models, not comprehensive depth.
Mock Interview Practice — Paired practice in front of small groups. The discomfort of working through a problem while someone watches is exactly what needs to be trained. You can't prepare for that feeling by practicing alone.
Resume and screening — A short block on what actually gets a resume past the first filter. Not generic advice — specific patterns from people who'd been on the other side of that decision.
What Worked
The mock interview component was the most valuable and the most uncomfortable for participants — which is exactly the point. Several students said it was the first time they'd thought through a problem out loud in front of others. That's the skill that matters on the day.