Learning C++ changed his life

Like you mentioned, I'm working as a software engineer in the pharmaceutical industry for about two and a half years now. Um before that I went to a local university, nothing too special. Um but yeah, I I I'm also doing an online master's program. And that's where I kind of got into the more like low-level, low-latency programming, C++, all that kind of stuff. >> Got it. How many years of experience do you have? >> Uh so I have two and a half years of experience now. >> Yeah. >> Okay. And primarily you said low-level, so more C++ stuff or are you more on the Python side? >> So my professional experience is pretty much strictly just Python, yeah. So pretty much REST APIs, CRUD apps, all the, you know, boring stuff. >> Sure. Um what got you interested in quant because you're coming from a pharma background and that's radically different. And it's not like you come from, like you said, like a top-tier school where they might focus heavily on math and finance and that sort those sort of topics. >> Yeah, yeah. So so like I mentioned, I um so after I finished my bachelor's degree, I got the return offer for my internship, you know. So I had like a job, which in the the 2024 job market was was pretty tough to get already, but I just felt like after I finished my degree, like and I got the job and everything, I just still didn't really like understand how computers work, I felt like, you know? And so so that's what made me decide to do my master's, and I did it in like a computing systems, so much more of low-level focus. And uh yeah, just really really fell in love with C++, I guess. Started watching a ton of uh like the C++ Con talks and stuff like that, and that's where I kind of noticed that like all the the coolest talks that were talking about the the highest tech and and really interesting stuff was all from uh people in a trading background. So kind of started looking into those kind of positions, and eventually came across your YouTube channel, and yeah. >> Okay. And then >> [clears throat] >> going into it, how did you start preparing? So, there was a point in time where you're like, "Okay, I want to switch from Python crud apps to, you know, C++ low-level programming." Where did your journey begin on the preparation front? >> Kind of how it started out was just like watching YouTube videos. Like, I watched the videos of people calling into the the stream here and the language knowledge questions and stuff. And actually, one time I I chatted in a stream and I said like, "How can I get into C++ positions as like a mid-level Python developer?" So, yeah, that actually just motivated me a lot. I was like, "Okay, this is like a really hard thing to do. So, I'm going to have to work really hard." So, yeah, I I kind of started off just doing like the traditional LeetCode and systems design prep. But then, yeah, once I heard about Get Correct, I was interested in it. And then, when I saw that there was a There was a discount on the lifetime membership. I think it was like 20% off or something. So, I got lifetime access for a very good price. And then, yeah, just been working on that ever since. >> Okay, good to hear. Other than Get Correct, what did you use? Did you use anything else? Did you find Get Correct sufficient? >> So, yeah, before before Get Correct, I mostly just used like the the NeetCode.io site and just like traditional LeetCode prep, reading reading the the DDIA book and all that stuff. And yeah, that's pretty much it, I think. >> Okay. And then, between NeetCode and Get Correct, I mean, they they kind of test two different skills. Where did you find Get Correct came in the most? For example, did you have like implement an order book sort of question? Did you have like C++ knowledge around? Where did it come into effect the most? >> Yeah, so I think the the biggest thing for me was just um having the the confidence that like, no matter what area that they ask me about, I can have a a good solid foundation. Um so, for For I did like the the quant dev 250 learning tree on get cracked and I really made sure to take the time to like read through all the resources and understand them before doing just like going through all the questions and stuff and I think that made a big difference for me confidence-wise. I think yeah, that um definitely the coding problems were very helpful as well. They were they very directly correlated to the problems that I was asked in the interviews. Um So yeah, I would say definitely like the learning tree and the coding problems were probably the the biggest helpful parts for me. >> Okay, and did you have any pain points um throughout your interview process where you like this part was super hard to learn or this part was super difficult or did you feel like you had like ample resources with get cracked to to push through those kind of what what did the challenges look like? >> Uh yeah, I would say maybe the biggest challenge for me was like the the networking side of things. I didn't really have any formal university training in networking and I bought the the TCP IP Illustrated book but it was very dense and kind of hard to get through. Thankfully, I didn't actually end up getting asked any networking questions during my interview process. Uh but yeah, I would say that's probably the the hardest part but yeah, not for lack of resources on the get cracked side more just because of my background. I didn't really know much about networking. >> Yeah, it's interesting because a lot of these books are dense and they are large and a big objection that I hear is well, why would I need to use get cracked when I can just read these 12 600 page textbooks for free, right? I'm sure there's PDFs of a lot of these textbooks online but I think as you mentioned when you went through the learning path the learning path essentially tells you exactly which sections to read to like the third dot. So like 12.2.4, right? Because 12.2.4 is filled with a bunch of stuff that aren't important. So did you do find that level of specificity useful in saving you time? >> Yeah, I mean that was that was huge. So, I was I mean instead of spending, you know, like a week or something reading through that entire book, I was able to spend, I think, like like a a couple of hours or maybe like at most 4 hours over like a day or two um getting through all of the like core components in like the network path of that learning tree. Um so, yeah, that was a huge time savings, for sure. >> Yeah, perfect. That's exactly what I'm going for with the path, so it's nice to know that it it worked out. Um question about how long you ended up grinding. So, when did your process start, when did end, and then how long did you use Get Cracked throughout that process? >> Uh yeah, so I would say I probably was prepping sort of like informally for about a a month before I I felt like confident enough to start applying to places. And then, uh once I was actually filling out applications, I think my So, probably the total time that I was grinding on there was maybe around like 3 months or so. Um but yeah, during that time, I I definitely was spending uh many hours a day grinding. I think like during the like once I actually got an interview uh at the firm, I was probably grinding like like 4 to 6 hours a day, like Yeah. >> Okay. Yeah, that's uh that's a decent amount of time, especially when you have a full-time job, you know? It's kind of like all your free time after work. >> Yeah, exactly. >> Makes sense. Um how important would you say the community was for you? Like obviously, when I say community, just for people that don't know, we have a Discord community with a bunch of people all going through the same rounds, the same interviews, maybe even the same interviewers at times. And there, everybody's sharing information and knowledge. So, how where did that come into play on your preparation journey? >> Yeah, I mean that was that was hugely helpful. Definitely, I would say one of the most valuable parts of the platform. Being able to talk to people not only that have like interviewed at the same firms, but actually worked at some of these firms in the past. And just people that have, you know, many years of experience in the industry and are very knowledgeable about these kinds of things. So, a lot of great advice from people and just, you know, motivation, encouragement. Everyone's lifted each other up, so Uh yeah, that's really awesome. >> Yeah, that makes total sense to me. I think that's what a lot of people have mentioned. Um I guess what would you say to somebody that's considering it and they're thinking like, oh, you know, it's too expensive. 45 bucks a month, 50 bucks, 55 bucks a month. It's it's too expensive. What would you say to them? >> Uh I would say it's only too expensive if you don't land the offer. >> [laughter] >> If you if you get the offer, it's it's way well more than worth it. So, I mean, yeah, for me it was I think I think 250 bucks, something like that. And yeah, that's going to pay for itself in maybe an hour or two once I start my new job, so. >> Yeah, you [snorts] you were lucky. You got in early with the lifetime, so you just paid 250 once. But I I agree with you. It's essentially an expected value calculation. Like if you think you can even increase your chances by 5%, it's already paid for itself like four times over. >> Exactly. Yeah. >> So, that makes total sense. Let's pause here. Let me ask you this question. What was your TC before, so at your current role, and what's your TC going into your new role? >> Uh yeah, so so right now the company I work at is not really software focused, so I'm definitely more like a support role, so compensation sucks, to be honest. Uh I've worked here for 2 years and my total compensation now is probably around 83k base and then like eight or nine K in bonuses, so around like 92 K total. And yeah, each year has only gone up by like 3 to 5 K as well. Um whereas yeah, my now my my new role is going to be if I get the sort of like middle of the band for the discretionary bonus, it'll be over over 400 K, which is pretty insane. So. >> Yeah, [laughter] that's that's a four times increase. You up you're probably you're probably the candidate with the largest increase that's used the platform. So that's that's really impressive. I mean most people they go up maybe two times, some 50 K here, 100 K here, but 90 K to 400 K that's that's pretty crazy. But that's why quant is so lucrative. So yeah, once again congratulations, good on you there. >> Yeah, yeah, thank you. Definitely very grateful to to you for for putting the platform together and for all the the videos that I was able to use to study and all that kind of stuff. So yeah. >> Yeah, I appreciate it. And there's going to be more video content coming out that's exclusive for the site. So after this I'm going to be thinking about the script for a system design round that I'm going to film tomorrow and post probably Thursday on YouTube so people can >> Oh, I just want to mention too that the the existing video content that's on the site for the like salary negotiation. I was able to to use that as well to to get a little bit more money even though I didn't have any competing offers or anything like that. So that was that was definitely very helpful as well. >> Perfect. Yeah, I love hearing that. That's good. Okay, the next thing that I want to ask you is there's there anything you want to mention or bring up or wish I would have asked you just like right now in this talk? >> Yeah, I think the the biggest thing that I would say is that it can feel really daunting applying to some of these more prestigious firms or or like applying to a job that on paper you're maybe not the most qualified for and knowing that you're going to be up against candidates that are from, you know, Ivy League schools, may have more experience, more relevant experience, but that hard work is is really going to beat like prestige or background or whatever in the long run, hard work will always win out. And so, if you, you know, keep putting in the work, keep putting in the hours, and just work hard, then things will work out eventually. They did for me, so. >> No, perfect. I love to hear it. There's a lot of gatekeeping, especially online on places like Reddit. They say if you don't come from a top school and, you know, you don't have the top grades, it's essentially over for you. And I don't really like that level of elitism and gatekeeping. At the end of the day, it's like if you can do the job and you have the final fundamentals and you're able to pass the interviews, there's no reason that where you went to school should like be a hindrance. >> Right. Yeah, I think the the biggest thing that I've heard like from people in the Discord and stuff is that for like the resume screen, it's a lot harder if you're not from a top-tier university, right? But once you're once you're past that sort of initial screen, it's really just up to you and your performance and just showing them what you can bring to the table. So. >> Yeah, I agree. I agree. Okay, what we'll do now is we'll open it up to questions from chat. I'm going to put chat back up on the screen. Chat, do you have any questions for the caller? This is your chance to ask because, you know, he came from like a like he mentioned a non-prestige school, a non-target school, comp before accepting an offer at a tier one was 90k. Now he's jumping up to 400k. May- maybe while I'm looking for questions, talk to me about how that you think will change your life. Like a four times increase essentially in the standard of living. Do you have a family? Do you have like kids? How does it look for you? >> Yeah, yeah. So, I have a wife and a daughter, so um it's going to be definitely huge for us to be able to, you know, I live kind of in like rural America right now, so to get to move to like a big city, have a nice place to live there, daughter can go to great schools, I will be able to, you know, travel all over the world, and all that kind of stuff. It's it's really exciting, so. >> No, good for you, well deserved. So, somebody asked here, uh caller, how much time would you say you devoted to computer architecture {slash} OS topics? >> Uh yeah, okay. So, I will say that uh those sections of the the Get Cracked like questions and learning tree kind of came very naturally to me because I uh I took courses specifically in those topics in my in my master's degree. So, um yeah, I've spent probably a few hundred hours at this point at least um studying those topics both in the like academic and uh you know, at-home setting. Um but I would say those are definitely very important things. Like topics like uh cache locality of different data structures and things like that definitely came up during um like my my onsite rounds and those things matter a lot in in these kinds of spaces. So, um definitely I would recommend devoting a lot of time to those topics if you're not already familiar. >> Yeah, that makes sense. And we have an entire learning tree on the Get Cracked uh platform for operating systems. I would like to expand it more into more like Linux and kernel-related operating systems concepts, but >> [clears throat] >> did you find the OS learning tree helpful on the platform? >> Yeah, yeah. I think it it aligned very much with with uh what I learned in my my education. And so, if you don't want to pay for a master's education, you can get a lot of the the same material just by uh reading the resources that are in the learning tree. And I think having the questions alongside that to directly test your knowledge is a great way to sort of like retain that information better. So, yeah. >> Makes sense. Um let's see here. Somebody said, how long did it take you to get up to speed in C++ cuz you come from a Python background. So, how long did it take to to do that? >> Yeah, so that's actually a great question. Um so, when I started my master's degree, this was in like 2024 or so, I actually had not written a line of C++ in my life before that. So, like all my work experience was exclusively Python, all my schooling was all like higher-level languages. I think uh you know, Java, Python, stuff like that. So, I would say I still feel like I'm not up to the point of C++ where I want to be, but I've I mean, I'm good enough to at least pass like the interview rounds and stuff like that. But um I guess in terms of hours, I'd say probably like 3 or 400 hours, something like that, is where to get to the point where I'm at now. Um a lot of that is like the learncpp.com and doing the coding problems on Git Krakt and and just doing, you know, side projects, school projects, stuff like that. But yeah, definitely worth investing the time there. >> Yeah, I think when somebody hears that, they think it sounds quite daunting, but these hours add up really quick. So, you know, 300 to 500, uh it's it's not as much as people think. And it's actually quite an impressive amount to be able to crack quant. As when I say impressive, I mean like it's relatively little compared to the amount that I would have expected somebody to need to get up to speed for a position like this. So, good on you. >> Yeah, yeah. And I think a lot of that comes down to uh being efficient with the resources that I chose for learning and stuff like that as well. >> Yeah. >> Um so, I think that that can cut down a lot on the time that's needed to kind of get to the the level that's required. >> The caller can never know this for real, but somebody did ask um what do you think made you stand out versus your competition? Did you know anybody you were competing with? Did you have a sense for that? Like you know, cuz it's obviously they were there were other candidates. So, I guess they're trying to ask why did this tier one company pick you, in your opinion? >> I think in my opinion, it comes down to that I genuinely love programming and especially the lower-level stuff, like just getting to interface directly with the the hardware and and the operating system and all the the really core components. It just like is really exciting to me and I think that comes out and when I'm talking about these topics and when I'm writing code and I think that that's something that you you can't really fake, you know, and it's not that necessarily everyone has to has to feel that way, but I think when you do they can tell and that's the kind of thing that I think usually makes a candidate that will that will do better because they're willing to put in the time to to learn and improve. Uh versus just like kind of clocking in and clocking out, you know. >> This is a simple question, but you can obviously skip it if you feel it's too personal. Somebody says like around how old are you? You don't have to give an exact day, month, year, whatever, but >> Uh yeah, I don't mind sharing. I'm 23, so. >> Okay. Wow, man. 23, family, I'm 30 and I can't even imagine having a family, so. >> [laughter] >> You're very mature. >> Yeah, yeah, it's uh it's it was definitely tough at first, but totally totally worth it. It's an amazing experience. Awesome. So. >> Cool. Somebody asked how many applications did you send out versus the number of interviews you got? >> Uh let's see. I probably applied to maybe 10 firms in total. I spent a lot of time putting in really uh solid applications and you know, tailoring my resume to each one and stuff like that. And yeah, pretty much all of them I got instantly rejected from except for uh the firm that I made it all the way, so. It's it's definitely tough when you don't have like those top-tier schools or like direct related experience to get in the door, but if you can get somebody to just kind of give you that chance, then you just got to really capitalize on that and and you know, make sure that you're the best candidate, so. >> Yeah, I mean, like I said, uh the amount of effort you put in is proportional to your success, but um there are still there is still that in my opinion outdated mindset of some firms will want you to have that like top school background, and they're not going to look at your resume if you're not. But, listen, the firms that overlook those, in my opinion, like trifling qualifications, they come out and they hire the best candidates. So, so good on you. How important did you find, I guess, like the standard lead code questions in your interviewing process? >> Uh I'd say it's only only relevant for like the online assessment, and even then I think I mean, a lot of it depends on the firm, obviously, but at least in my personal experience, it was a lot more of the like um design a system that does this, and they give you an API, and you just have to like fill that out. So, like there's still some like uh you know, obviously, like data structures and algorithms involved there, but it's a little different from like your traditional lead code. I'd say it's a lot some more similar to um the questions that you see on Get Cracked. >> Okay, perfect. Um last one, any projects you did specifically for quant? So, when you were tailoring your resume to the sort of position, and you were building stuff outside of work, did you build anything that you put on your resume that was quant specific? >> Um I didn't do anything that's like 100% quant specific like at directly in the finance domain, but I did pick projects on my resume that I thought would um demonstrate skills that they would directly be looking for. Um so, I've done quite a wide variety of different side projects, but the three that I picked to put on my resume were a compiler, a distributed file system, and um uh like proxy server using like low-level POSIX IPC. Um and so, those I felt like showed a good breadth of knowledge and skills that they'd be looking for. Um so, yeah. >> Awesome. Perfect. Well, listen, man, I wanted to thank you for getting on this call. You didn't need to, but you you to, and I'm really grateful for that. Um, yeah, thanks, man. I appreciate it. >> Yeah, thanks for having me on. >> Awesome. All right, I'll talk to you later. >> Yep, bye.