In technical interviews, we all improvise.

In technical interviews, we all improvise.

You can study, use STAR, do mock interviews…

and still, there will always be something that goes off script.

If a camera recorded your interview, you would see things that are not about not knowing:

– silences without explaining what you think

– logical jumps that only you understand

– starting to code without aligning the problem

– correcting yourself without saying why

– freezing when something doesn’t work out

Interviews do not only evaluate knowledge.

They evaluate how you think when you don’t know.

That’s why interviews are not “prepared”.

They are iterated.

Each interview is a new version of the system.

And as engineers, we know that no system is optimized in the first version.

No matter how much you study, there will always be something:

a poorly phrased question,

a better approach,

a reaction you could have handled differently.

The difference between those who advance and those who fall behind is not avoiding those moments.

It’s reviewing them, learning, and trying again better.

The next time you leave an interview, don’t ask yourself:

“Did I pass or not?”

Ask yourself:

Would I hire myself watching me think?

If this post made you think about your interviews, I usually share more reflections like this on how to grow as a dev.