Interviews are hard. No matter what level you're at.

Over the past 2 years, I've applied to over 300 companies, got my first (and second) software developer job, and been on both sides of the interview.

As a candidate, once I started using these strategies to approach interviews, things became a lot easier.

Check out this video for further detail:

The framework I use to approach interviews

1. Build a mental model, engage your interviewer, ask questions/assumptions
2. Pseudocode, think aloud, break down each step
3. Write out actual code, demonstrating your thought process to the interviewer

A big mistake that I made, in the beginning, was to be silent throughout the whole process while coding. In my opinion that was a mistake, because it gave the interviewer no insight on my thought process, how I approach problems and didn't open up the interview to any conversation.

An interview is much more than perfecting the technical portion - it's also about your soft skills, communication, and general proficiency. First impressions are everything - if you're silent, you'll really hurt your chances of getting the job.

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What are your biggest challenges in interviews? Thanks for reading!