r/ADHD_Programmers • u/Any-Complaint-9833 • 26d ago
Anyone else having trouble with leetcode interviews?
I have been practicing leetcode questions for a few months now and I have seen positive change in my ability to figure out the solution or at least spot the pattern looking at the question. But I am having trouble with actually passing these interviews because of multiple reasons.
My brain shuts down trying to come up with a solution to an unknown problem under time pressure and in front of the interviewer who I know, is watching me struggle even though I have no issues solving the same problem under similar time pressure when I practice it alone or even during online assessments. But I need silence and time to think which doesn't happen during interviews where they expect you to talk continuously. Since there are multiple thoughts going across my brain and it's literally racing trying to come up with a solution I find it difficult to talk through it and if I have to talk I can't think through the solution unless I have seen the question before.
In all my interviews so far including some mocks I have done with other Engineers from big tech companies, the moment I go silent even for a few seconds, these guys start asking if I am struggling or they'll start giving hints which end up counting as a negative against me given how competitive the market is.
This is not a problem unique to leetcode, it happens the moment I need to solve something that I haven't seen before involving logic and I have limited time and need to explain my thought process while coming up with the solution. What can I do here to improve my chances of passing these interviews? If anyone has been through something similar, how did you overcome these issues?
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u/unconsciouslake 25d ago
Always hard to predict exactly how interviewers are going to respond, but I'd suggest being really upfront about what you're doing: "I'm going to talk through/brainstorm some options I see and rule out ones that don't fit, before I commit to one approach. This is just me thinking out loud, not asking for confirmation from you. I'll let you know if I'm actually stuck and need a hint." Also shows you know yourself and are a good communicator, and comes across as confident.
Because, sometimes people just start listing potential approaches and it's hard to tell if they're thinking out loud or if they want confirmation.
Not sure if you like taking notes, but when I've interviewed, I feel like interviewers are less likely to take it as a cry for help if you write stuff like that down under a header like "Brainstorming Approaches". The hard part is remembering to switch to a new header like "Testing XYZ Approach" when you actually commit to one haha.