Gayle Laakmann McDowell (born 1982)[1] is a software engineer and author.[3] She is the author of the career development book, Cracking the Coding Interview.
Gayle Laakmann McDowell | |
|---|---|
 Gayle Laakmann McDowell in 2014 | |
| Born | Gayle Laakmann 1982 (age 41–42)[1] |
| Education | Episcopal Academy[2] |
| Alma mater | University of Pennsylvania (BSE, MSE) Wharton School (MBA) |
| Known for | Cracking the Coding Interview |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Recruitment Coding interviews Computer science Career development Software engineering |
| Institutions | Apple Microsoft CareerCup |
| Website | www |
Education
editMcDowell was educated at the Episcopal Academy[2] and the University of Pennsylvania where she was awarded Bachelor of Engineering (BSE) and Master of Engineering (MSE) degrees in Computer Science in 2005.
Career
edit
After working as a software engineer for Google she joined a small venture capital-funded startup company as the Vice President (VP) of engineering before being awarded a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.[3] McDowell subsequently founded her own business, CareerCup.com, which helps people prepare for interviews at tech companies.[3]
First published in 2008, her book Cracking the Coding Interview provides guidance on coding interviews including worked solutions to common problems with example algorithms and data structures.[4][5] As of 2015, the book was in its sixth edition and have been translated into seven languages, with a seventh edition scheduled for 2025.[6]
McDowell has also written the books Cracking the PM Interview (for product managers: PMs),[7] Cracking the PM career[8] and Cracking the Tech Career.[9] Her books have been covered by The New York Times,[10] The Guardian,[11] The Wall Street Journal,[12] USA Today,[13] U.S. News & World Report,[14] and Fast Company.[15]
McDowell gave the graduation speech at the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science Masters Commencement in 2016.[16][17][18]
References
edit- ^ a b Gayle Laakmann McDowell at Library of Congress
- ^ a b Laakmann McDowell, Gayle (2012). "Technology — Past, Present, Future". youtube.com. YouTube.
- ^ a b c Hess, Ken (2012). "Women in Tech: Gayle Laakmann McDowell excels beyond the stereotypes". ZDNet. Archived from the original on 2019-12-31.
- ^ McDowell, Gayle Laakmann (2015). Cracking the coding interview : 189 programming questions and solutions (6th ed.). Palo Alto, CA. ISBN 978-0-9847828-5-7. OCLC 913477191.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Tay, Yangshun (2022). "How to Rock the Coding Interview – Tips That Helped Me Land Job Offers from Google, Airbnb, and Dropbox". freecodecamp.org. freeCodeCamp.
- ^ McDowell, Gayle Laakmann; Mroczka, Mike; Lerner, Aline; Mamano, Nil (2025). Beyond Cracking the Coding Interview. Palo Alto, CA. ISBN 195570600X.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ McDowell, Gayle Laakmann; Bavaro, Jackie (2013). Cracking the PM interview : how to land a product manager job in technology. Palo Alto, CA. ISBN 978-0-9847828-1-9. OCLC 866799668.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Bavaro, Jackie; McDowell, Gayle Laakmann (2021). Cracking the PM career. Palo Alto, CA. ISBN 978-0984782895. OCLC 1239322919.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Laakmann McDowell, Gayle (2014). Cracking the Tech Career : Insider Advice on Landing a Job at Google, Microsoft, Apple, or any Top Tech Company. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley. ISBN 978-1-118-96809-3. OCLC 890441660.
- ^ Lu, Yiren (2014). "Silicon Valley's Youth Problem". nytimes.com. The New York Times.
- ^ Holpuch, Amanda (2012). "How to pass a Google interview: busting the brain teaser myth". theguardian.com. London.
- ^ Gellman, Lindsay (2015). "The Workers Who Say 'Thanks, but No Thanks' to Jobs". wsj.com. New York: The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ Swartz, Jon (2011). "Tech jobs boom like it's 1999". usatoday.com. USA Today.
- ^ Smith-Barrow, Delece (2013). "Start a Business in B School". usnews.com. U.S. News & World Report.
- ^ Porter, Jane (2016). "Former Employee Of Google, Apple, And Microsoft On How To Master The Tech Interview". fastcompany.com.
- ^ Gao, Laura (2017). "Gayle McDowell on Writing Code to Writing Books". thesign.al. Archived from the original on 2018-03-18.
- ^ Berger, Michele W. (2017). "Unique, dynamic speakers take part in Penn's 2016 graduation ceremonies: Penn Today". upenn.edu. University of Pennsylvania. Archived from the original on 2020-01-12.
- ^ Anon (2016). "Penn Engineering Masters 2016 Commencement Address: #SayYes". youtube.com. YouTube.