Placement and Interview Prep Skill for Claude

Your placement-prep coach inside Claude. DSA with Striver's A2Z sheet taught pattern by pattern, CS fundamentals, LLD, aptitude, mock interviews, resume builder, and a GSoC org finder that matches your skills. It remembers where you stopped, even across chats.

If this helps you, star the repo so other students can find it.

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Why students use it

• Stuck on "what do I solve next?" Say "continue Striver A2Z" and it picks the next problems, teaches the pattern first, then gives hints before the answer.
• Studying for days, not hours? It prints a PREP CHECKPOINT. Paste it into a new chat and you resume exactly where you left off.
• Interview in two weeks? Tell it your days and hours, and it builds a 30/60/90/180-day plan.
• Want an honest interviewer? Mock interviews are scored out of 10 on correctness, clarity, depth and communication.
• Starting open source? Tell it your language and interests, and it shortlists GSoC organizations from real 2016-2026 data.

Get started in 2 minutes

Claude.ai (web / desktop)

1. Click Code > Download ZIP on this page.
2. In Claude, open Customize > Skills (or Settings > Capabilities > Skills) and upload the ZIP.
3. Start a new chat and type: I have 60 days for placements, make me a plan.

Claude Code (terminal)

git clone https://github.com/BEASTSHRIRAM/placementprepskill.git ~/.claude/skills/placement-prep

On Windows, clone into %USERPROFILE%\.claude\skills\placement-prep.

Use the whole folder. SKILL.md alone is not enough, because it loads the files in references/ only when you ask about that topic.

How to turn it on

• Claude Code: type the slash command /placement-prep to load it on demand. The command is the skill's folder and name, so keep the folder name as is. After that, just talk normally.
• Claude.ai: after uploading, make sure the skill is switched on under Customize > Skills. There is no command to remember: Claude loads it automatically when you ask about interview prep, DSA, Striver, GSoC, resumes and so on. If it does not kick in, start with Use my interview prep skill and then your request.

Try these prompts

You type	What happens
Continue Striver A2Z from problem 61	Next 3-5 problems, pattern first, hint ladder, complexity
Make me a 60 day plan, 4 hours a day	Asks 6 quick questions, then a week-by-week plan
Mock interview me for Amazon SDE-1	One question at a time, scored out of 10
Explain deadlock like an interview answer	Definition, mechanism, example, follow-ups
Design a parking lot	LLD round: classes, patterns, code skeleton, follow-ups
I know Python and a bit of ML, which GSoC orgs?	Shortlist of orgs from 2016-2026 data, plus a first-PR roadmap
Build my resume	Choose HTML or LaTeX (ATS) and get a ready resume
Quick revision of OS	Compact cheat sheet from WARP.md
save or done for today	Prints your PREP CHECKPOINT to paste next time

What is inside

Area	What you get
Striver A2Z sheet	All 452 problems in sheet order, each with a pattern, key idea and TC/SC, plus a Pattern Playbook for every topic
DSA	Data structures, patterns, a pattern-recognition cheat sheet, constraint-to-complexity table, 50 must-solve problems
Operating Systems	Scheduling, sync, deadlock, memory, plus worked numeric examples (Banker's, page replacement, disk scheduling)
Computer Networks	OSI, TCP/UDP, DNS, HTTP, plus subnetting and handshake worked examples
DBMS and SQL	Normalization, transactions, indexing, and a 12-query SQL practice set
OOPs and design	Four pillars, SOLID, design patterns, advanced Q bank
LLD and system design	10 classic LLD problems, HLD concepts, 9+ case studies
Core CS	Computer architecture, compilers, theory of computation, discrete math
Languages and web	Java, Python, C++ internals; REST, auth, Docker, JS/React
Aptitude and puzzles	Quant, reasoning, verbal, 25 puzzles, data interpretation, tricky code snippets
HR and resume	STAR stories, common questions, resume builder (HTML or LaTeX/ATS)
GSoC and open source	Guide plus 509 organizations (2016-2026) by technology, year and directory
Study plans	30/60/90/180-day plans mapped to Striver problem ranges

Studying across several days

Claude does not remember previous chats. This skill works around it:

1. After each topic, and when you say "save" or "done for today", Claude prints a block like this:

PREP CHECKPOINT (updated 2026-10-08)
Goal: SDE-1 at product companies, Jan 2027   Level: intermediate   Language: Java
Striver A2Z: done 1-104, 105-136; current topic Strings (id 17176); weak patterns: sliding window
Revise later: 111, 119, 133
Mocks: 1 (6/10, needs to state complexity earlier)
Next up: problem 137

2. Copy it and paste it as your first message in the next chat, then say continue.
3. In Claude Code, the same block is also saved to prep-progress.md automatically.

Repository layout

placement-prep/
├── SKILL.md              <- Core instructions and routing for Claude
├── WARP.md               <- 5-minute revision cheat sheet
├── CLAUDE.md             <- Rules for contributors using Claude Code
├── CONTRIBUTING.md       <- How to contribute
├── scripts/
│   └── build_gsoc.py     <- Refreshes references/gsoc/ from api.gsocorganizations.dev
├── references/
│   ├── dsa.md            <- DSA patterns and problems
│   ├── striver-a2z.md    <- Striver A2Z index (452 problems, routes to chunks)
│   ├── striver/          <- 5 chunk files: per-problem pattern, idea, complexity + Pattern Playbook
│   ├── os.md, cn.md, dbms.md, oops.md   <- CS subjects with Q banks
│   ├── core-cs.md        <- COA, Compiler Design, TOC, Discrete Math
│   ├── languages.md      <- Java, Python, C++ interview fundamentals
│   ├── web-backend.md    <- REST, auth, SQL vs NoSQL, Docker, JS/React
│   ├── system-design.md  <- HLD frameworks and case studies
│   ├── lld-problems.md   <- 10 classic LLD interview problems
│   ├── aptitude.md       <- Aptitude formulas and tricks
│   ├── puzzles.md        <- Puzzles, data interpretation, output prediction
│   ├── hr.md             <- HR and behavioural round prep
│   ├── study-plans.md    <- 30/60/90/180-day plans
│   ├── git-github-gsoc.md <- Git, GitHub and GSoC basics
│   ├── gsoc.md           <- GSoC starter guide (skill-based org picking)
│   └── gsoc/             <- Generated data: directory, by technology, by year
└── resume-builder/
    └── templates/        <- HTML+CSS and LaTeX (Overleaf) resume templates

Data sources and honesty notes

• The problem list and order of the Striver A2Z sheet come from takeUforward's public sheet page. The pattern names, key ideas and complexities were written for this skill and are not Striver's official tags, so check them against the videos if they differ. This project is not affiliated with takeUforward.
• GSoC data comes from gsocorganizations.dev (api.gsocorganizations.dev). It is a snapshot: confirm the current year's accepted organizations and dates on the official GSoC site. Refresh it with python -I scripts/build_gsoc.py.
• Content was drafted with AI assistance and checked, but errors are possible. If you find one, please open an issue or a PR.

Who it is for

Any student or fresher preparing for tech placements and interviews: BTech, BE, BCA, MCA, MSc or self-taught, in any branch. It targets product companies, service companies and startups (SDE-1, Software Engineer, Graduate Engineer Trainee), and also helps anyone starting open source or GSoC.

Contributing

Found a mistake, want a new company question bank or a topic added? Read CONTRIBUTING.md and open a PR. Small fixes are very welcome.

Support

If this helped you land an interview or an offer, star the repo and share it with your batch.

Licensed under the MIT License.