Changing your mindset to pass technical interviews

On May 2019, I decided to look for new opportunities after a year as an UI Engineer at Apple. In the next 2 months, my schedule included tedious hours of practicing Leetcode and Cracking the Coding Interviews problems, several phone calls and back-and-forth emails with recruiters, and - most importantly - nerve-racking interviews. Finally, I am extremely excited to get an offer and will join Citadel Securities in a week.

My journey is not without struggles. I have been ghosted by recruiters. I have been rejected by companies. But, what frustrated me the most was how I was too nervous and completely shut down my brain during interviews.

My first real test after 4 years (I was interviewed by 3 electrical engineers at Apple and did not go through a traditional big-tech interview) was the first phone interview with Goldman Sachs. One minute into the coding challenge, my heart started to race, my breath shortened, and my brain completely froze. I knew the question was well within my reach. I knew I had what it takes to pass these technical interviews. Yet, I failed. That is frustrating.

The main issue is definitely my insecurity and my fear of failures. I hated whiteboard interviews. I believed that technical whiteboard interview is a bad judge of developers. But, I know deep down that I was just too scared that I am not good enough. So scared that I refused to actively study for my dream job at Google because I convinced myself that their tests are "stupid". Without proper preparation, I got rejected. Twice.

However, I have learned my lessons and changed my approach this time. I have been practicing Leetcode problems non-stop for over a month, to the point that I can solve almost all easy and medium problems in under 30 minutes. I have constantly gained insightful knowledge and experience for over 4 years. With the newly-found confidence in my technical ability, panicking during interviews is ridiculous.

Then, an idea came to me while reflecting the experience: I was constantly thinking about how well I was doing. By concerning too much about how the interviewer was seeing me, I let my fear of failures take over. The more nervous I was, the more scattered my mind became, which made me even more nervous because I was failing. The solution? Redirecting my attention to what I am good at - the technical challenge - with one simple phrase:

I am here to solve problems.

It sounded simple but I did not know whether this trick would work. However, I had nothing to lose and just enough self-belief to make it work. So, I took a minute before the next interview to reassure myself that I am good enough and that I am here to solve problems. To my surprise, by actively orienting myself to the problem, everything else faded into the background. The interviewer became a co-worker who is there to discuss the best solution with me. I was able to breathe again. A sense of calmness came to me and I could present my best because I was at ease.

Again and again, I repeated this technique before every interview. The more I use it, the calmer I feel and the better I perform in interviews.

Admittedly, I was lucky to meet nice interviewers and was given relatively easy tasks when I first tried this technique. However, even if I did not pass the interview, I would at least feel good about myself for staying calm, which was an big improvement. Passing the interview was almost a natural outcome because a relaxed person is a more creative person and a better thinker. So, if my situation sounds familiar to you, I hope sharing my technique helps you ace your next interview. Best of luck to you, my friends!