In 2019, I had failed four coding interviews in a row.
And each time, I walked away thinking ,
“Maybe I’m just not cut out for this.”
The last one was with a startup I really liked.
The question was about linked lists (something I had practiced a dozen times). But when the interviewer asked me to optimize it, I froze. My brain knew the concept, but I could not recall and my mouth couldn’t explain it.
By the time I realized what I could’ve done differently, the interview was over.
That day, I didn’t just fail a test — I failed to communicate my thought process.
And that failure turned out to be my biggest teacher.
So, what did I learn?
Turning Failure into Feedback
I used to close the laptop right after an interview and try to forget about it.
This time, I did something different.
I opened a notes app and started writing everything I remembered.
- What was asked?
- Where did I stumble?
- Did I understand the question clearly?
- Could I have started with a simpler solution first?
This changed everything.
Over the next few weeks, those notes turned into patterns.
I did fail a few more companies here and there. But I got to know myself.
I was overcomplicating problems, second-guessing myself, and under-explaining.
It wasn’t a skill issue.
It was a mindset issue.
So, what did I do?
Mindset Shift
Shifting from “Clearing” to “Learning”
I stopped chasing “the offer” and started chasing “understanding,” and the pressure disappeared.
I told myself everyday. If it does not happen today, it’ll happen some other day.
The other thing was mock interviews. Each mock interview became a rehearsal, not a judgment. I got myself a laptop-table for a change. So, I could study on the bed too.
More importantly, I began asking myself:
“What is this question really testing?”
For example, when asked about binary trees, instead of memorizing solutions, I started learning why recursion fits, how iteration compares, and when each approach matters.
From solving for a company to solving for myself, it made all the difference.
The Power of Thinking Out Loud
Another thing I learned: silence can kill your chances.
In one interview, I got stuck for 30 seconds and it felt like 30 minutes.
Later, a friend told me: “You should’ve just explained what you were thinking. They care more about your reasoning than the final code.”
So I started practicing that.
Now, even if I’m unsure, I say things like:
“I’m considering a hash map here, but I want to check if a simpler brute force works first.”
That one sentence shows structure — and buys you time to think.
If You’re Failing Interviews Right Now…
You’re not behind.
You’re just debugging your own process.
- Every rejection hides a hint. A weak spot waiting to be fixed.
- The people who make it aren’t the smartest ones. They’re the ones who learn faster from failure.
And the beautiful thing about coding interviews is: you don’t need to clear them to grow from them.
Sometimes, failure is the syllabus.
In case we are meeting for the first time, come over here, it’ll be worth the roller coaster of articles that are gonna come up in the next few weeks.
Have you read this -How a Single Line of Python Code Broke Production?