LUKE FISHER

My Anduril Interview Experience

Back in October of last year (2024), I had the incredible opportunity to interview at Anduril Industries for a software internship. They’re a high tech defense contractor run like a silicon valley startup, right up my alley. A tech lead on an AI program I previously worked on at Northrop Grumman generously gave me a referral and I was quickly ushered into their daunting interview process. From the very beginning of the experience I felt out of my depth. I had little to no LeetCode experience and I immediately felt a crashing wave of imposter syndrome; even if I got in, would I really belong at a place like that?

Regardless of those feelings of inadequacy, I had many people cheering me on and encouraging me. I frantically tried to temper people’s expectations as I had little confidence that I would pass the interviews. Besides, the people encouraging me, despite meaning well, really didn’t have the proper background in the field to understand that I was out of my depth. The first challenge was the online assessment (OA), I think I only completed two out of the four questions. It was to my great surprise that I heard back from them inviting me for a first round technical.

During this process I was doing some LeetCode, but honestly, the first few months are spent just learning how to use the platform effectively. For some people it comes extremely naturally (I’ve concluded that there is a strong correlation between people who are excellent at mental math/computation and those who pick up LeetCode quickly. I am most certainly not the former.) I did a lot of basic questions, but didn’t necessarily spend enough time digesting the information and internalizing the thought processes. Realistically, I had started doing problems way too late and there was too much pressure. To be fair, the referral was a surprise opportunity and I did not have the time I wanted to prepare.

I failed the technical interview. There were things that I could point to and say, “Oh, well maybe if this hadn’t happened I would’ve gotten the job” and I could complain about non-optimal conditions for the interview and so on and so forth. But even if everything had gone exactly perfectly, the reality is that I simply wasn’t ready. I didn’t have the knowledge or skill yet to do what was being asked of me in the interview. That really stung. Failing that interview seemed to have confirmed my internal fears, maybe I’m really not cut out for working at a place like that.

Post Interview Reflection

Maybe I’m not cut out for working at a place like that. And honestly, that’s really okay. Now, I’m not giving up, in fact, far from it. I’ve since spent 75 total days doing over 180 LeetCode problems. I feel mentally sharper and have greatly strengthened my problem solving ability. I’ve delved deep into more advanced topics such as graph theory, disjoint sets / union find, and dynamic programming. I even went back and began practicing mental mathematics in order to work on my memory and fill in some weak spots in my previous education. Am I a genius now? Or, in common lingo, am I cracked at LeetCode now? Nope. Far from it, I still sometimes spend way too long on easy problems and I often feel foolish for not recognizing obvious solutions. I review previously completed problems and forget how to solve them. Could I go back and crush my failed Anduril interview? Maybe, I don’t know. But the heart of what I’m saying is that I honestly don’t really care.

I don’t mean that I don’t care in some type of flippant or cavalier way, but rather that my identity is no longer wrapped up in my job title, salary, or place of residence. I have experienced more growth and joy simply learning new things because I find them intriguing, than I have grinding for interviews and constantly feeling behind. Maybe I’m stating the obvious, but the effects of this have been profound for me. The irony here is that caring too much about the outcome of an interview likely decreases your chances of being successful in that interview in the first place. But, not caring and just doing something you’re naturally interested in and then finding jobs that align with those goals, that’s what will lead you to success.

At this point, I have no plans on stopping solving problems on LeetCode. I enjoy it. I’ve surpassed the stage where a failed question feels like a stab in the chest. I know that I’m not a super genius, so there’s really no facade that I need to uphold. So LeetCode is now a fun way to keep myself sharp. Additionally, I feel extra satisfied when I get to use my Leetcode skills in my day job. (But at the same time, excessive optimization can lead to confusing code, so I use it only when it really makes an impact)

Who knows what the future holds? Maybe I’ll get so good at problem solving through casual LeetCode problem solving that I’ll go back to Anduril and breeze through the interviews. Or, maybe LeetCode interviews will be a thing of the past by then and I won’t use that knowledge. Or, maybe software engineers won’t even exist anymore due to AI and I will have to fulfill my childhood dream of being a plumber! Either way, I enjoy what I’m doing and I plan on continuing, maybe it’ll serve me in the future, maybe it won’t. Whatever it is, I’m just here for the ride.

Check out my LeetCode profile