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The 'Trick' To Algorithmic Coding Interview Questions (dice.com)
Nerval's Lobster writes: Ah, the famous "Google-style" algorithmic coding interview. If you've never had one of these interviews before, the idea is to see if you can write code that's not only correct, but efficient, too. You can expect to spend lots of time diagramming data structures and talking about big O notation. Popular hits include "reverse a linked list in place," "balance a binary search tree," and "find the missing number in an array." Like it or not, a "Google-style" coding interview may stand between you and your next job, so it's in your interest to figure out how to deal with it. Parker Phinney, founder of Interview Cake, uses a Dice column to break down a variety of example problems and then solve them. But it's not just about mastering the most common kinds of problems by rote memorization; it's also about recognizing the patterns that underlie those problems.
No offense, but why the hell would you want to work there without being an engineer and getting the stock options?
Because you still get a lot of the benefits, as well, even though you explicitly don't get all of them, since companies are required to not treat contractors exactly the same as employees, including having limited terms of employment, and "air gaps" in employment history with the company. But it's not like you don't get the food, or access to most of the athletic stuff, etc..
Plus, you get to hang out with very smart people, and, if you impress them, it's possible that they will pursue you for full time employment. Even without that, however: you get to put "Google" on your resume.