Sprint Challenge: Data Structures & Career Readiness
Sprint Challenge Overview
Complete the following requirements to successfully complete this sprint challenge.
Resume Submission
Submit Your Professional Resume
Submit your completed resume that follows the instructions and guidelines provided throughout the course modules. Your resume should demonstrate the application of career readiness concepts covered in Module 4.
Your resume should be created using the BloomTech resume template and include all sections covered in the career readiness modules. Submit the link to your Google Doc resume that was created by copying the BloomTech example resume template.
Ensure your resume includes updated technical skills, projects from your coursework, and properly formatted experience sections as outlined in the module instructions.
Technical Coding Assessment
Complete LeetCode Problems
Complete the following LeetCode problems to demonstrate your understanding of:
- Dictionary manipulation and character counting techniques
- Caching strategies and optimization implementations
- Linked list operations and object reference handling
- Data structure design and algorithm efficiency
Required LeetCode Problems:
Complete at least 4 of these 5 problems and submit links to your solutions or screenshots showing your completed work.
General Code Assessment (GCA)
Complete the Official GCA Test
As part of this sprint challenge, you are required to attempt the official General Code Assessment (GCA) test. This standardized assessment evaluates your coding skills and provides a score that reflects your programming proficiency.
For this sprint, you must attempt the GCA test. While there is no specific score requirement to pass the sprint, you should aim to achieve a score of 295 or higher.
About the GCA:
- The assessment consists of 4 programming tasks to complete in 70 minutes
- Your highest score is tracked in the BloomTech database
- You can achieve a score of 295 by getting 100% on tests and passing any task (Task #1 is generally the easiest)
Taking the GCA:
Remember: Regular practice on LeetCode problems using the 4-step problem-solving framework will help you succeed on the GCA. Focus on understanding problems thoroughly before implementing solutions.
Sprint Challenge Resources
Data Structures and Algorithms
- Big O Cheat Sheet
- Real Python - Linked Lists in Python
- GeeksforGeeks - Advanced Memoization Techniques
Career Development
Problem-Solving Practice
Next Steps
- Continue practicing advanced LeetCode problems to strengthen your data structure skills
- Analyze your GCA results to identify areas for improvement in algorithm optimization
- Conduct informational interviews using the networking strategies from Module 4
- Continue building your professional presence with GitHub projects and resume updates
- Apply the caching and optimization techniques learned to personal projects