Mdthbs

I perform very poorly on coding interviews, I believe many people underperform in those interviews, but I feel like I am showing like 20% of what I got. In my last interview, the question was so simple that, I thought there must be a mistake, or tricky point, and spent a good 10 minutes for a question I would do in a minute, if it was not an interview.

I never explained this to interviewers, I am curious, is tackling with the stress is part of the interview, or should I explain upfront that I am terrible with interviews. In the latter case, I guess they will ask then, how can I show I am good.

So how can I show I that am a good coder? People say that contribute to github projects that I use daily, well there is not any software I use daily.

I have a bit of experience with this question. I have sat in two job interviews as a candidate, and tens as an interviewer, so I do know both sides of the story.

As an interviewer, I don't care if you think you're not good at interviews. You just need to give it a red hot crack. To be fair to all candidates, there needs to be a systematic and uniform approach.

It's never about the actual answer, or the actual solution, it's about the thought process that counts in an interview. So, if you're not getting the question, vocalize the thought process. Ask questions. Probe the scenario.

Regarding contributing to projects on github. I think it's a bit of bad advice to contribute to projects you use daily. My advice would be to pick something that interests you. Smaller projects are easier to get started with.

Even if you were excellent at interviews, you should still try to build a portfolio of work that you can show off. You never know on the day how you will do, and who you are up against. And keep in mind, it's not just about the code that you push to projects, it's how you interact in pull requests when you get feedback.

As an interviewee, the first interview I didn't expect to land, so I went in there very casually, more looking for experience than anything. I did very well. I got the job. In the second interview, I was really nervous. I really wanted the role at that company. I completely panicked and really struggled to complete the tasks. I walked out of that interview feeling very dejected. I got the job.

So regardless of how you are going in an interview, it's usually not as bad as you think.

Obviously I can't speak for everyone (and I'm sure there are some interviewers who would disagree), but I never have a problem with interviewees telling me up front that they are nervous.

It won't lower the interviewer's standards for whether or not your answer is "good". However, in my opinion, if someone can acknowledge that they are in a stressful situation and that they need to use strategies to deal with the stress, it can be a good sign. At the very least, it shows a level of self-awareness

Try indicating to the interviewer what your thought process is. Coding questions are generally about more than "can this person solve this problem?", they are about trying to understand a person's whole problem solving process.

So if it takes you twice as long to actually get to the answer, but you are sharing with the interviewer the steps you are going through in your head in order to reach a solution, that can be just as positive as getting the answer in half the time. Plus, I find that actually talking through a problem can help with nerves.

Yes, tackling with the stress is part of the interview. I've found below 3 steps help me not have interview stress:

1. Ask meaningful questions for every problem asked - think aloud - a lot of the discussion would help clear the interviewer's expectations




2. Never jump to writing code directly - even if you know the problem, discuss with the interviewer your approach, this will help reinforce the solution in your mind, and make any corrections if required




3. Don't try to guess the interviewer's intentions from the problem - rather just focus on the problem at hand, and try to solve it - everything else will fall into place on its own

As for

how can I show I that am a good coder

While good StackOverflow, github profiles, personal projects, blogs help swing the perception in your favor, in my experience as an interview panelist, I have not seen even once someone being hired if they had these profiles but didn't do well in interviews. However, the reverse happens quite frequently and is almost the norm. So I would suggest to priortize interview preparation and problem solving over these profiles.