I Asked 100 Googlers How To Pass A Coding Interview

TL;DR: Passing isn’t puzzle speed. It’s legible thinking under pressure—restate, constrain, baseline, optimize, test edge cases, narrate trade-offs. That aligns with structured interviewing and work-sample evidence (see 1, 2, 3).

For a deeper dive, watch my YouTube video where I break it down.

What Interviewers Actually Score (Use This Lens)

Clarity & constraints — Restate I/O, assumptions, ranges, performance targets. Signal: interviewer can score you consistently 1 2 3.
Baseline → Optimize pivot — Correct first, then principled improvement with explicit trade-offs. Mirrors work-sample validity 1.
Proactive edge testing — Ø, dupes, negatives, bounds, skew/degenerate structures. Predicts fewer late surprises; supports rubric reliability 2.
Reasoning out loud — Short, task-relevant narration (not a monologue). Think-aloud, when focused, doesn’t harm performance and surfaces cognition 4 5.
Composure under time — Stress-trained candidates execute cleaner and recover faster 6 7 8.

Your 4-Step Loop (Say It, Then Do It)

Restate → Constrain → Brute → Optimize

Microscript:

I’ll restate and set constraints first.
Baseline correctness > speed — I’ll start brute, then optimize.
I’ll call trade-offs and test edge cases as I go.

This scaffolds a structured evaluation, which research shows is more predictive than ad-hoc interviewing 1 2 3.

14-Day Plan (Stress-Ready, Not Just Syntax-Ready)

Daily (25–30 min AM + 25–30 min PM)

AM: New medium, 25-min timer. Run the 4-step loop out loud 4.
PM: 5–7 min video review → log misses → redo/apply the right pattern.

Cadence for stress inoculation: D1,3,6,9,12 add a 60-sec "interruption"; D4,8,14 full camera-on mock; D10–14 one panel day (two problems, 3-min break). This is graded exposure → lower anxiety, better execution 6 7 8.

Coverage focus (adjust to weaknesses):

D1–3 Arrays/Hashing/Two Pointers; D4–5 Stacks/Queues/Sliding Window; D6–7 Trees/Graphs; D8–9 Binary Search on answer + Heaps; D10 Intervals/Sweep/Prefix; D11 DP-lite; D12 mini System Prompt; D13 Mixed; D14 Sim.

Session non-negotiables

Edge pass first: Ø, single, dupes, negatives, extremes, sorted/unsorted, skewed trees/graphs.
Complexity call before run.
Micro-tests → then larger.

Micro-Skills That Move the Needle (With Research Callouts)

1) Clarity Burst (≤20 seconds) — 1 2 3

Say I/O, constraints, target complexity. Example: “N ≤ 1e5 → aim O(n log n) memory O(n).” This enables reliable scoring and reduces interviewer prompts.

2) Baseline-First Reflex — 1

State and prove a correct O(n²) or safe approach on small cases, then offer an O(n log n)/O(n) improvement. Work-sample style evidence supports performance prediction.

3) Edge-Case Script — 2

4) Think-Aloud Hygiene — 4 5

Narrate only task-relevant state changes: “build map → slide window → shrink on >K.” Evidence: focused think-aloud doesn’t materially impair task performance.

5) Recovery Protocol — 6 8

Bug? Pause → tiny case → print state → confirm invariant → resume. SIT literature: pre-planned coping scripts preserve performance under pressure.

6) Reappraise Stress — 8

Rename symptoms: “Heart rate = fuel.” Brief reappraisal improves outcomes in high-stakes tasks.

7) Time Checks That Help — 3 6

At 7:00 and 12:00 say: “Complexity now is … next move is … edge test will be …” Keeps you in a structured loop; doubles as stress cue-exposure.

8) AI as Coach, Not Crutch — 1 6

Ask AI to: (a) time-check & request complexity; (b) simulate skeptical interviewer; (c) score only on Clarity, Pivot, Edges, Reasoning, Poise. Mirrors structured eval + stress inoculation.

Pattern Mini-Library (Copy-Ready)

Two Pointers (dedupe/partition)

i = 0
for j in range(1, len(nums)):
    if nums[j] != nums[i]:
        i += 1
        nums[i] = nums[j]
# kept [0..i]

Monotonic Stack (next greater)

st = []
for i, x in enumerate(arr):
    while st and arr[st[-1]] < x:
        j = st.pop()
        # arr[j] -> next greater is x
    st.append(i)

BFS (levels)

from collections import deque
q, seen = deque([start]), {start}
while q:
    for _ in range(len(q)):
        u = q.popleft()
        for v in adj[u]:
            if v not in seen:
                seen.add(v); q.append(v)

Binary Search on Answer

lo, hi = L, R
while lo < hi:
    mid = (lo + hi)//2
    if feasible(mid):
        hi = mid
    else:
        lo = mid + 1
return lo

Game-Day: 7-Minute Warmup

2-min paper micro-problem. 2) 1-min complexity calls. 3) 1-min edge mantra. 4) 1-min box-breath 4-4-4-4. 5) 2-min loop reminder (Restate → Constrain → Brute → Optimize).

After the Interview (48-Hour Loop)

Write 5 bullets: helped, hurt, hesitations, missed edges, phrasing to improve.
Redo on a similar pattern within 48h. Cement the fix.
If allowed, send a concise thank-you highlighting one explicit trade-off you handled.

References & Further Reading

Schmidt & Hunter (1998); Campion et al. (1997); Levashina et al. (2014) — Structured interviews outperform unstructured; define attributes, standardize questions, use rubrics. DOI
Google re:Work / Careers — How we hire & structured interviewing guidance (no brainteasers; rubric-based). Google Careers
Kuncel, K.A., Hezlett, S.A., Ones, D.S. (2004) — Predictive validity of cognitive/work-sample measures.
Ericsson & Simon (1993) — Verbal protocols; task-focused think-aloud can capture reasoning without degrading performance.
Recent experimental reports — Think-aloud vs. control shows no significant performance drop when prompts are task-relevant. Google Scholar
Meichenbaum (2007) — Stress Inoculation Training; graded exposure improves coping under stress. ResearchGate
Beilock & Carr (2001); Baumeister (1984) — Choking under pressure & attentional control. DOI
Jamieson et al. (2013) — Reappraising arousal improves performance in high-stakes tasks. DOI

Watch & Get the Planner

🎥 YouTube breakdown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvMkYTdg5cI
🧾 Printable rubric + 14-day planner: in my newsletter
📨 Borderline → hire signal: https://alextechhq.com/newsletter