00:00:00So let's talk about coding interviews. Believe it or not, software engineers hate coding interviews
00:00:05more than they hate socializing. Maybe it's not a big deal if you're one of those people who has
00:00:09grinded 500-leak code problems. But for the rest of us who fall asleep when trying to solve a question
00:00:16and secretly take help from AI to mark the question as completed, it's a big deal. But here's the worst
00:00:21part. Even if you have solved 500-leak code questions, you can still get rejected. That's not
00:00:27just my opinion. I was going through Reddit, reading real stories from candidates who did everything
00:00:33right and still failed. So if you don't want that to happen, this video will help you. Because today
00:00:38I am going to give you a clear, repeatable framework that you can actually use to crack your
00:00:43coding interviews. I call it TECT. This framework helped me land my first job and after researching
00:00:49how successful candidates perform in interviews, I realized something interesting. Most top performers
00:00:54subconsciously follow this exact same process. So let's see how you can use this tech framework in
00:01:00your coding interview. So T in the tech framework stands for think. So what this means is let's say
00:01:06your coding interview just started and your interviewer gave you the question. So the first
00:01:10stage is to think about the solution. So many of you might be thinking that this is so obvious,
00:01:16but stay with me for a while. The mistake you should avoid in this phase is thinking about the
00:01:21optimized solution first. Don't think about how you can use less memory or run the code faster.
00:01:26Just think about how you will solve it. But what if you know the optimized solution? There can be
00:01:31cases where you're already familiar with the question and know the optimized solution. What
00:01:35should you do then? I'm going to answer this in the second phase. So the output of this first phase
00:01:40should be that you should have a solution in your mind on how to solve it. So after you know how to
00:01:44solve it, that brings us to the second phase. Explain. So what most people do is they just
00:01:50think about the solution and directly jump to implementing it without talking a single
00:01:55word from their mouth. But that's a red flag for most interviewers. What you should be doing is
00:02:00after you have your solution in mind, then you should explain it to the interviewers about the
00:02:04solution and your overall thought process. Let's say the question you got on your interview is the
00:02:08famous threesome problem. So rather than thinking and directly jumping to code, think and communicate
00:02:14with the interviewer first. You can say something like, since we need to find three numbers that
00:02:19add up to a target, one straightforward approach is to use nested loops and check every possible
00:02:23combination. In this manner, just split out your entire thoughts on how you're solving and why it
00:02:28will work. So if you have done the question before and know the answer, you shouldn't talk about the
00:02:33optimized solution first. Before that, acknowledge the brute force solution. That's because directly
00:02:39talking about the optimized solution can feel like you've memorized it. So to avoid that, just start
00:02:45by explaining your thought process from the brute force approach and then only talk about the
00:02:49optimized solution afterwards. You can say something like, this works but it's not optimal. Instead of
00:02:55using three loops, we can sort the array and use a two-pointer approach to reduce the time complexity
00:03:01and split out your entire thought process. So before we move on to the next part of the
00:03:05tech framework, I want to quickly talk about the sponsor of this video. If you feel leak code is
00:03:11hard and always end up memorizing the solution, Allgo Monster is for you. It is a coding interview
00:03:16preparation platform that focuses on pattern-based learning instead of random practice. The idea is
00:03:22simple. Most interview questions are built from a small set of core patterns and once you truly
00:03:27understand those patterns, you don't need to memorize hundreds of problems. They provide flow
00:03:32charts to help you systematically approach any question plus reusable code templates you can apply
00:03:38during interviews. Allgo Monster is not a platform where you just get a list of questions to practice.
00:03:44It provides you with a more structured and efficient way to prepare for your coding
00:03:47interviews. It has a free plan available and if you want, you can also check out the paid version
00:03:52to get more value and structure in your learning. You can get 50% discount. The link is in the
00:03:58description. So let's jump back into the next step of the tech framework. Now you've come up with a
00:04:02solution, explained it to the interviewer and then comes the next phase. This phase is straightforward.
00:04:08You'll just write code for your solution. But here is where most developers do wrong. They stay silent
00:04:13when coding. So in most interviews, the interviewer will ask you to explain the code you wrote. So if
00:04:18you just wrote the code silently, the interviewer will probably ask afterwards to explain your code.
00:04:23But it's better to explain when you're actually writing it. Let's say you start coding. You
00:04:28initialized an empty array to store the results. To explain what's the purpose of it, you can say
00:04:33something like, "So I will initialize an empty array to store the results and continue explanation
00:04:39for your upcoming code." And trust me, this is very effective and interviewers will love it. This also
00:04:45helps to make sure that there is constant engagement between you and your interviewer and also proves
00:04:50that you know what you're actually doing. So another problem you can face is that you might forget a
00:04:55syntax or forget a function name. In that case, don't make the mistake of dwelling on that same line,
00:05:01trying to remember it. If you can't remember, you can leave a little comment and just continue to code
00:05:06and come back to that line after you are done. In this way, you won't waste your time trying to
00:05:11remember that single syntax. So if you somehow can't remember it all, just admit it to the interviewer.
00:05:16Sometimes they might even give you hints or tell you to look it up. So that brings us to our last stage.
00:05:21After your code is ready, the next thing you do is to test it. In some cases, the interviewer might give
00:05:27you the expected input and output. But if they haven't, you have to write your own test cases.
00:05:32Try thinking about the basic test case. And if you can think of edge cases, that's even better. Just
00:05:38make sure that your code can handle it. So after you run your code, it's not 100% sure that it will run.
00:05:43So two things can happen. Either the code will run or will show some error. If it runs, great. If not,
00:05:48here's what you need to do. First, don't panic. Because if you have done the solution before
00:05:53and confident that your approach is correct, it's just some syntax or minor logic error. So don't panic
00:05:59and just read the error and fix it. What most people do is they don't even read the error message properly
00:06:05and start reading the code from the start because of pressure. It's okay if it doesn't run in the
00:06:09first attempt. Your interviewer won't cut points for some minor error. So if everything runs well
00:06:14and you're lucky, the interviewer may just ask a few basic questions about the solution
00:06:19and just move on to the next question. But if you're applying for a medium to senior level position,
00:06:24you might be asked about the optimized approach. In both cases, you just have to repeat this tech
00:06:30framework again and go through your interview. So that's the simple, easy to remember framework
00:06:34if you are appearing for a coding interview. Coding interviews are not just about coding.
00:06:40It's also about communication. Interviewers don't want to just see your code. They want to know what
00:06:44you're thinking and how you're thinking. Just keep this one thing in mind. Communication is very
00:06:49important even in coding interviews. I have talked with recruiters and they all agree that if the
00:06:54candidate doesn't communicate much, that's a red flag for them. So keep this thing in mind and make
00:06:59sure to check out Allgo Monster to prepare for your coding interview. That's it for this video
00:07:04and good luck with your interview. Also make sure to show some love for this video.
00:07:07I'll see you guys in the next one.