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02:03 - "get really, really good at basics" - it's not the reason ;)

This situation happens due to many well-known human being specifics - it can not be solved just by "get really, really good at basics"

Just few of them and there are much more there:

High-stakes situations, like interviews, trigger the body's fight-or-flight response, releasing cortisol and adrenaline.
This can impair memory recall and focus, making it harder to retrieve information that you normally know well.

An interview requires you to juggle multiple tasks: answering questions, reading the interviewer’s reactions, structuring your response, and managing nerves.
This overloads working memory, making it difficult to retrieve information quickly.

When you know you’re being evaluated, fear of making mistakes can cause self-doubt.
Instead of recalling knowledge naturally, you may start second-guessing yourself, which makes recall harder.

Memory is often context-dependent. You may recall information better in familiar settings (e.g., your workspace).
An unfamiliar environment (interview room, video call) can disrupt memory retrieval.

@victortruong2538

Imagine preping for Google interviews with neetcode videos, and then you realize that he is the one interviewing you

@yang5843

When people are nervous emotionally, their logic brain doesnt work properly.

@sigfigronath

im really loving this series of personal stories

@puddleglum5610

I’d say it’s probably nerves. In one of my final interview rounds with Google, my brain pretty much just stopped functioning correctly and I completely lost track and started making stupid mistakes. The problem was easy too—if I had just taken a deep breath and recomposed myself, I would’ve crushed it.

Luckily, it didn’t end up hurting me too bad because I accepted a really good offer at another company (got an exploding offer) before I could get through Google HC.

@enrico8730

Id recognize neetcode's voice as soon as I heard it in an interview

@nomad6913

One constructive criticism I have for Neetcode, is that problems should be ranked with regard to acceptance rate. This has many benefits: 1) solving problems on your own 2) getting confident 3) gradually being able to solve harder problems.

@AnkitaNallana

After having gone thru some brutal interviews and listening to you say that 10mins in they're really struggling and that it's gonna be a long 35 mins ahead and that you felt bad for them - thank you for saying that, good to know that. As an interviewee I never get to know about that part of the interviewer so it's good to know that you were one of those!

@fakedevdutt

But if a person doesnt know how to write a loop then how could their resume got shortlisted for interview??? 
I have 2.5 YOE solved 650 on leetcode and I am not even getting filtered!!

@SquirtleSquadee

the dude who told you to pick harder questions explains everything about why programming interviews are a mess. too much focus on trivia and less on the skills that matter, like the ability to find solutions and execute on them with clean code. leetcode and sites like it, along with senior programmers like the one you mentioned need to stop existing

@Cosmaghz

How were you assigned to interview candidates? Was it randomly assigned? Or you could pick among candidates or nominate yourself to be considered as an interviewer for specific roles or areas. Also, do recent hires start interviewing candidates right away?

@Coderell

I think adding more easy problems is a good idea.

@schan263

I prefer to be interviewed than interviewing others.  I felt that I was more nervous than the candidates.

@marcjall

Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

@Darth_Bateman

4:55 How the HELL did this guy get into a google interview and cannot even write a loop???

@xPussySlayerx69420

At google I asked (find the avg of a set of numbers) as a warmup, I explicitly told them it’s not a trick question. I expected for this to take like 2-3 minutes but it usually ended up taking like 15m before I would abort the question and move onto the “real” question. Even the Stanford grads that I interviewed couldn’t do it within a few minutes. People really need to learn the basics.

@ness3963

Had a moment like this where I messed up on a basic if statement that would normally be automatic for me. The nerves make your brain go completely empty. It’s like suddenly you’re thrown back to the first time you took AP CS and everything becomes cloudy

@albertohuerta

When I failed an Amazon interview, I remember cramming leetcode trying to get all the information without practicing the basics.. guys I choked at a palindrome related question during whiteboard interview.

@madanmohan5661

this is so true for some of us.

@Epic-Adam

great insights