Hey there,

Have you ever failed a technical interview simply because you didn’t know what to do next?

It’s not that you don’t understand the problem, and it’s not that you can’t code.

The real issue is that when the question comes up, you feel pressure to jump straight into coding or explaining the first idea that comes to mind. Without slowing down to ask the right questions or lay out a clear plan, interviews tend to break down.

That’s why today I want to give you a simple 7-step recipe for handling a technical interview.

Not something you make up on the spot, but a fixed sequence of steps you can follow every single time.

Step 1: Read and understand the problem

Before you do anything, make sure you actually understand what you’re being asked.

You can’t solve a problem you don’t understand, and people mess this up more than they think because they rush or assume details that weren’t stated.

Step 2: Ask clarifying questions

You’re often not given every detail on purpose, because real software work is ambiguous.

The interviewer wants to see if you can handle missing information the same way you would on the job.

So ask about constraints, edge cases, and what the inputs can look like, because otherwise you might build a solution that fails for a case you didn’t even know existed.

Step 3: Propose multiple solutions, then choose one

Instead of jumping straight to code, you lay out a few ways you could solve it.

Then explain which one you would pick and why, including the trade-offs.

If you can clearly explain “Option B is best because of X and it avoids Y,” that looks really strong.

Step 4: Write the solution

Once you’ve explained what you’re going to do, coding becomes much more straightforward.

If you really know what you’re doing, writing the code should take a couple minutes, because you’re not inventing the solution while you type, you’re just implementing what you already described.

Step 5: Rubber duck your code

Everyone makes mistakes. What matters is catching them.

Walk through your code step by step, like you’re explaining it to a rubber duck, and look for issues, missing cases, or logic errors.

It always looks better if you find problems before the interviewer does.

Step 6: Talk about pitfalls and possible improvements

After the code works, you mention what could break, what edge cases you accounted for, and any improvements you could make.

This shows you’re thinking like an engineer, not just trying to pass a puzzle.

Step 7: State time and space complexity

Close by explaining runtime and memory.

Companies care because their systems run at scale, and they want to know you understand efficiency, not just correctness.

REMEMBER: A good technical interview is meant to feel collaborative, not like a test you take in silence.

Your goal is to make sure the interviewer can follow your thinking as it happens, what you’re doing, why you chose that approach, and what trade-offs you considered.

When you do that, your reasoning stays clear, confusion drops, and the interview feels far more controlled from your side.

P.S. If you want to see how this process actually plays out in a real technical interview, this video walks through everything step by step.
YouTube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky1WodwYUA8&t=598s