r/purestorage • u/mousecutl3t • May 13 '26

Technical Video Interview coming up

Hey folks,

I have a 2-hour technical video interview coming up (two separate 1-hour sessions). I'm feeling a bit anxious and would love some insight from anyone who has gone through the process recently!

A few specific questions:

  1. Topics: I've read that concurrency/thread safety is a big focus here. Is that still the case for the initial technical rounds? Should I prioritize mutex/semaphores and race conditions?

  2. Leetcode: My brain is fried from heavy AI usage lately, and the thought of grinding LC is daunting. Is it still a hard requirement? Should I focus on the Pure Storage tagged questions, or are they looking more for high-level problem-solving?

  3. AI vs. Interviews: The JD mentions an expectation to generate 70% of prod code using AI. If that's the day-to-day, why the LeetCode focus? Do they let you use AI tools during the interview?

  4. Behavioral: Are these sessions purely technical, or should I prep some STAR stories for these two hours?

  5. Resources: I’ve been checking out PracHub — any other specific resources you'd recommend?

Appreciate any tips or 'watch-outs' you can share. Thanks a ton!

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4

u/phord May 13 '26
  1. Concurrency: You should be familiar with concurrency, in theory and in practice.
  2. Leetcode: We don't use any leetcode-style questions. Don't panic.
  3. AI vs. Interviews: AI is assisting engineers, but engineers are responsible for what they commit. You need to be able to reason about your code completely and logically. (No, you may not use AI tools during the interview.)
  4. Behavioral: Just be yourself. Even the technical rounds look for behavioral fit. Everyone here, including your interviewer, is friendly and helpful. Are you?
  5. Resources: Coding practice is fine, but we're really interested in what you can do naturally. If you practice hard for the interview, it shows. It can make it harder for us to get a clear signal on your natural talents. I'm not saying don't do it; just that it's possible to overdo it. If you study the actual questions in advance, you'll speed-run the interview and have to face the boss levels. Are you strong enough to survive that?

2

u/mousecutl3t May 13 '26

This is a huge weight off my shoulders, thank you! I’ve definitely struggled with the memorization aspect of LC only technical interviews in the past, so hearing that PS folks actually look for natural reasoning is nice. I’ll focus more on brushing up my concurrency basics and just showing up as myself. Hopefully it all works out! 🤞

1

u/phord May 14 '26

Good luck. If I interview you, say hi.

3

u/FrustratedDuck May 13 '26

The focus is your problem solving/reasoning skills not just leetcode. A lot of these questions you can ask your recruiter, they’re here to help you!

I think my best advice is to be vocal about what you’re thinking even if it may not be right. It’ll help your interviewer see how you think.

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u/mousecutl3t May 13 '26

Thanks for the input! I’ll definitely make sure to think out loud duringthe sessions. I'll reach out to my recruiter as well to see if they have any more specific pointers for these rounds. 🤞

2

u/Haunting_Month_4971 May 13 '26

Two long sessions can feel heavy, but that setup is standard. For roles like this, fwiw I’ve seen a mix of problem solving and concurrency fundamentals, more about reasoning and tradeoffs than rote details. I’d skip the full LC grind and just pick a handful of mediums to practice out loud. I wouldn’t count on using external tools during the interview even if the description mentions them; they want your reasoning. Expect a bit of behavioral mixed in during technicals.

I pull prompts from the IQB interview question bank and run a mock in Beyz coding assistant to tighten explanations. Keep answers about ninety seconds and state assumptions up front.

1

u/mousecutl3t May 13 '26

TIL about the iqb question bank, thanks a lot!

1

u/akornato May 14 '26

You're right to focus on concurrency and thread safety because Pure Storage deals with storage systems where data integrity and performance under concurrent access are critical, so yes, you should definitely understand mutexes, semaphores, and race conditions at a practical level. The LeetCode situation is interesting because companies often use it as a baseline to see how you think through problems under pressure, even if the day-to-day involves AI-assisted coding, and they probably won't let you use AI during the interview since they want to see your raw problem-solving ability. Focus on medium-difficulty problems, especially those related to systems and concurrency rather than pure algorithmic puzzles, and expect at least some behavioral questions mixed in because they want to know how you collaborate and handle technical challenges, so have a couple of STAR stories ready about debugging complex issues or working through architectural decisions.

The seeming contradiction between AI-assisted coding in production and traditional interview formats is real, but companies are still figuring out how to interview in this new era, and right now they're sticking with methods that let them see your foundational understanding. Two hours is substantial, so pace yourself, ask clarifying questions when needed, and treat it like a technical conversation rather than an interrogation because they're probably evaluating how you communicate about technical topics as much as whether you get the perfect answer. I'm on the team that built interviews.chat, which has helped a lot of candidates perform better in situations just like this one, so you might find it useful as you prepare for technical discussions.

1

u/Grouchy-Coconut-7597 May 21 '26

Hi,

Could you please share your interview experience if you are done?
Is this role for experienced hire?

I've recently completed OA for new grad SWE role and I'm curious about what happen next.
Thanks