Gayle Laakmann McDowell facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Gayle Laakmann McDowell
Gayle Laakmann McDowell in 2014
Born	Gayle Laakmann 1982 (age 42–43)
Education	Episcopal Academy
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 Google Microsoft CareerCup

Gayle Laakmann McDowell (born 1982) is a software engineer and author. She is the author of the career development book, Cracking the Coding Interview.

Education

McDowell was educated at the Episcopal Academy 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

Cracking the Coding Interview cover

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. McDowell subsequently founded her own business, CareerCup.com, which helps people prepare for interviews at tech companies.

First self-published in 2008, her book Cracking the Coding Interview provides guidance on technical job interviews, and includes solutions to example coding interview questions. As of 2015, the book was in its sixth edition and have been translated into seven languages.

McDowell has also written the books Cracking the PM Interview (for product managers: PMs), Cracking the PM career and Cracking the Tech Career. Coverage of her books include The New York Times, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, and Fast Company.

McDowell gave the graduation speech at the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science Masters Commencement in 2016.