Live SQL coding Interview

So.. You already know SQL, that’s good right?

Well, yes. But these questions can be tricky as hell. Personally, I’ve been using SQL for 30 years, and I only managed to scrape out a pass on the Leetcode 50 questions.

Leetcode is a popular site that has access to the actual questions that companies ask. (I have no affiliation with them, and I used the free version of their service). The “SQL 50” questions should be practiced by any candidate in data.

The problem with SQL is that the code is so vast that you may only use some syntax once a year. Meaning it’s very hard to master. Can you use “Having” syntax right now?

Here is a graphic showing the number of times a question was used at a specific company.

It’s simple - practice these 50 questions, until you know and understand them backwards, and you’ll go very well in the coding interview.

This reddit thread is about the SQL50 questions. A lot of people complaining but ultimately it proves my point. Just practice the questions, and you’ll be fine.

Once you get the hang of the question style, concentrate on execution speed.. everything counts.

A few notes:

There are competitors to Leetcode, go ahead and try them but Leetcode seems to be the industry standard.

HackerRank.com
NeetCode.io
CodeWars.com

Use the free version, the premium features don’t seem to be worth it considering that if you search for “Leetcode SQL 50” on Google or YouTube there are many videos which have detailed explanations of the answers.

If you ace the live coding challenge then you’ll almost certainly move to the final stages of the interview process.

Good Luck Shano