Avoid Common Mistakes and Stand Out in Your Technical Interview

Technical interviews can be scary, but they are great opportunities to display your problem-solving mindset, not simply your coding ability. However, all candidates are prone to making easily avoidable mistakes that eventually lead to them losing the opportunity. Let's go through the most common mistakes and how to avoid them.

1. Jumping into Code Too Quickly
Much more than finding the fastest solution, interviewers want to see what you, the candidate, are thinking. Take a breath, ask yourself a few clarifying questions, and outline your thoughts before jumping into your first line of code.

2. Forgetting Edge Cases
It is great that you can write a function given standard input, but don't forget to have your tests include edge cases. Interviewers want to see that you truly thought through the problem, so when they ask ,Can you test for these special cases, you will be prepared to address those questions.

3. Poor Communication
Interviewers can't read your mind, so you need to verbal work out loud, communicate clearly in a confident manner, and they want to see your self-awareness and ability to work on a team.

4. Not Enough Real-time Coding Practice
Get some practice typing in an edior, and writing code on a whiteboard or shared document – these are realistic coding scenarios. Also, include some timed exercises in your practice.

5. Ignoring Behavioral Questions
While you are interviewing, they are also assessing how you will fit into their team, how you react to certain situations, and your reaction to change. Share a couple of brief stories of professional growth situations to highlight your skills.
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