Coding Round Tips-Tricks-Mistakes.

1. Type of coding round : It is very important to connect with people or read interview experiences of how exactly the company had taken the coding round previously. The number of questions, the difficulty level, the type of coding round (MCQ’s/ coding questions/ both), the topics for the coding round different for coding questions and different for theory. Note everything into a doc. Prepare yourself around these.

2. Pre-planning the round: Decide how much time will it take to solve a problem and how many problems are being asked. Pre-plan this depending on-number of questions being asked. If it’s a mixture of MCQ’s and coding questions,I would always finish the coding questions first and then go to MCQs. It’s easier to handle MCQ's in stress during the last few minutes of round than coding out problems during the same time. Still Decide what fits you the best.

3. Read the entire problem, recommended to read it twice. We tend to make this mistake of reading half the problem and assuming the rest. This happens with many of us, we read 70–80% of the problem and directly rush to write the code and this is where the brain makes assumptions. Always make sure you read the entire problem and then go for the code

4. Reading one problem at a time and solving it and then moving to the next. Initially I used to read all problems and then select the best one but was always disturbed if other problems were tough. Speaking on a personal level, reading one problem at a time and solving and then moving forward worked for me. You can decide for yourself but make sure you pre-plan this thing whether to read all or go one by one.

5. Don’t solve hard questions 1 hour before the round, what happens is your brain gets exhausted and you don't feel fresh for the coding round.Eat something, drink water and freshen up yourself before the round.

6. You can have a look at some syntax or any other go through notes you have made. But don’t push it to the limits, keep it light. Or best would be to go through how to get unstuck when solving competitive questions(https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/affan-shaikh_programming-softwareengineering-coding-activity-6696861370891194368-8E-P/)

7. You want your brain to function at full power so make sure you get a proper sleep on that day and your usual routine is not disturbed due to extra preparations done a night before.

8. Presence of mind: This used to happen during the initial interviews, and its most important. Don’t hurry, don’t be excited or hyper it’s just your coding round which you have to crack at any cost. This excitement makes us forget the clock and our pre-planned timing. Be calm and solve it with a positive attitude.

9. Most important mistake: giving up too early: Always try till the last minute. In one of my coding round of 1 hour, having 2 questions, on the 40th minute i had thoughts of giving up but this advice from one of my mentors kicked in, I had then submitted the code on the 57th minute and and then cleared the coding round, cleared the telephonic and as a matter of fact also reached the onsite. Make sure you are at it till the end of the round.

Just a simple piece of advice from someone got me 6 more interviews of the same process. Who knows you might land that job with these tips.

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