Interview Day Operations
Interview days are high cognitive load. Your goal is to reduce avoidable variance.
Before the day
- Confirm schedule and tech setup.
- Prepare water/notes.
- Review your top 6 behavioral stories.
- Warm up with 1 easy coding problem (not a hard one).
During rounds
- Ask clarifying questions early.
- Write assumptions down.
- Timebox: if stuck, step back and propose alternatives.
- Summarize tradeoffs and next steps at the end.
Between rounds
- Don’t try to learn new topics.
- Write a 3-line note: what worked, what to fix next round.
After the loop
- Write a quick debrief while memory is fresh.
- Send a short thank-you to recruiter if appropriate.