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In-Depth Technical Interview Cheat Sheet to Land Your Next Job

October 24, 2025

You’ve got a week before your phone screen. Your notes are a mess. You’ve got ten tabs open on LeetCode, half-finished flashcards, and a vague memory of that graph algorithm you swore you’d review. I’ve been there, overthinking every possible question instead of actually preparing with intent.

When I was prepping for my Amazon interview, I had no system, just chaos. That’s why I built a Technical Interview Cheat Sheet, something real engineers can actually use. It keeps things simple, must-know algorithms, quick time/space reminders, system design outlines, behavioral prompts, and a study plan that doesn’t burn you out.

And suppose you want to practice with structure. In that case, Interview Coder AI Interview Assistant helps you run mock interviews, get instant feedback, and focus on the areas that matter most so you can walk into that interview calm, ready, and sharp.

What Is a Technical Interview? (Really)

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Interviews were just about solving a few LeetCode problems fast enough to impress someone on the other side of a Zoom call. Turns out, that’s just the first layer.

A technical interview is where companies stop reading your resume and start testing your instincts. They throw you into mock problems that look a lot like the stuff you’d see on the job, minus the Stack Overflow tab you usually keep open. It’s not just about writing code. It’s about how you think when someone’s watching, how you talk through tradeoffs, how you recover when things go sideways. And yeah, they will go sideways.

Let’s break this down.

What Actually Happens in a Technical Interview

You’re not just writing code. You’re being watched for how you approach problems. That might mean:

Coding Challenges (Timed, Often Remote)

Quick check on your muscle memory for algorithms.

Live Coding (On Zoom Or Whiteboard)

They want to see how your brain works out loud.

System Design

Sketch out an architecture for something big, like Twitter DMs or a parking lot system. It’s less about buzzwords and more about reasoning.

Behavioral Questions

Yes, this matters. “Tell me about a time…” will haunt you unless you prep.

Take-Home Assignments

Sometimes you’ll get a mini project. They want to see if your GitHub commit messages are written by a human.

Each format has its traps. I’ve bombed them all at least once. But when you understand the signal each one is trying to pull, you prep smarter.

What They’re Actually Looking For

Forget the perfect solution. That’s not the point.

Here’s what they’re watching for:

  • Can you ask the right questions before diving in?
  • Do you test your code or just hope it runs?
  • Are your solutions easy to follow, or some spaghetti you’ll never read again?
  • How do you respond when you get stuck?

Interviewers aren’t looking for superheroes. They’re looking for teammates. People who can explain ideas, ask thoughtful questions, and get things done without creating messes for others to clean up.

Stuff You’ll Probably Get Asked

I wish someone had handed me this list earlier. Expect questions like:

  • What’s the most rewarding project you’ve worked on?
  • How do you estimate project timelines?
  • Explain how two-tier architecture works.
  • Walk me through a time you disagreed with a teammate.
  • Can you write a function to reverse a linked list? (Classic.)

Plus The Usual

Arrays, strings, trees, graphs, and dynamic programming. For system design? You might be sketching a video platform or a messaging system on a whiteboard with 15 minutes to think and zero time to Google.

How I Prepped (Once I Got Tired of Failing)

Here’s what actually helped:

  • I made a daily checklist, a LeetCode system design sketch, and one behavioral story.
  • I practiced talking through my thoughts out loud, which felt awkward at first, but it saved me in interviews.
  • I started using mock interviews (real ones, not just staring at a mirror).
  • I built cheat sheets for code patterns and design principles, nothing fancy, just what I kept forgetting.
  • And yeah, I bombed a few before I got better.

If you're still winging interviews with random YouTube videos and praying your resume speaks for itself... you’re doing it the hard way.

Quick Interview Prep Checklist (That Doesn’t Waste Your Time)

  • Match 2 bullet points on your resume to each job description
  • Rehearse two project stories (with real numbers)
  • Solve three medium LeetCode problems under a timer
  • Sketch three system designs (on paper is fine)
  • Practice explaining a problem in 2 mins and 10 mins
  • Confirm your Wi-Fi, editor, camera, mic, and caffeine setup the night before

Want a printable cheat sheet with actual patterns and real system design prompts? I made one. It’s the one I wish I had before my Amazon loop.

Download the interview cheat sheet (free). Or better yet, try Interview Coder and prep like your job offer depends on it. Because it probably does.

Related Reading

Ultimate Technical Interview Cheat Sheet

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Why Most Engineers Flop the Coding Round (Even Smart Ones)

When I was prepping for my first Big Tech interview, I thought I was killing it. Solved 200 Leetcode questions. Had a Notion full of “patterns.” Still got rejected. Twice. The problem? I was practicing like a student, not like someone about to be grilled on a whiteboard with sweaty palms and a 45-minute timer.

Here’s What Changed Everything

I stopped memorizing tricks and started training like it was a sport, reps with intention, talking through my thought process, and owning my trade-offs. That mindset got me offers from Amazon, Meta, and TikTok, and it’s baked into how we built Interview Coder. If you’re tired of watching others get callbacks while you get ghosted, this cheat sheet is for you.

No fluff. No shortcuts. Just the stuff that works mainly under pressure.

Most engineers bomb technical interviews not because they’re bad at coding, but because they don’t train for real-world conditions. The goal isn’t just solving problems. It’s communicating clearly, thinking under pressure, and writing code that makes sense to another human. This cheat sheet will walk you through how I went from rejections to offers at Amazon, Meta, and TikTok, and how you can shortcut years of guesswork with a better prep system.

The Real Interview Meta: What They’re Actually Looking For

Interviewers aren’t there to play code golf with you. They don’t care if your one-liner works if they can’t follow it. They want to know if you can solve real problems with real constraints, out loud, with tradeoffs that make sense.

Here’s what matters:

  • Can you talk and think at the same time?
  • Can you bounce back from a bug without panicking?
  • Can you justify why you chose a HashMap over a set?

This is what separates someone who “knows” algorithms from someone who gets hired.

If your prep doesn’t mimic this? You’re setting yourself up to fail.

The Framework That Saved My Ass in Every Coding Round

This is what I run through on every single problem. It's not magic. It just works.

1. Clarify The Question

What’s the input? Output? Edge cases?

2. Work On A Few Small Examples

Think aloud. Interviewers want your thought process, not just your solution.

3. Start With Brute Force

Don’t try to be clever too early. Earn your optimization.

4. Improve it

Show why your better solution is better. Talk about time/space tradeoffs.

5. Write Clean Pseudocode

Don’t rush code until you’ve laid it out mentally.

6. Implement Modular Code

Readable > clever.

7. Test It Like You’re Trying To Break It

Use significant, weird, and edge-case inputs. Talk through it.

That’s it. Miss one of these steps, and you’ll leave points on the table.

Mental Models That Keep You From Freezing

When you’re stuck mid-interview, these are the go-to checks I use:

  • What stays constant? (Invariants)
  • Can I turn this into index math? (Avoid fancy logic)
  • What’s the cost across a sequence of ops? (Amortized time)
  • Should I sort/hash/two-pointer/graph this? (Pattern matching)
  • What’s the time/space cost, and is it even feasible at scale?

Burn these into your brain. Write them down. Put them on a sticky note. Whatever it takes.

DSA Cheat Sheets That Actually Matter

You don’t need to memorize all of computer science (CS) theory. You just need to know the tools that get used over and over again. Here’s the short version.

Arrays

  • Why they matter: Fast access, everything else builds on them.
  • Tips: Index math > slicing. Watch for off-by-ones.
  • Practice: Roman to Integer, Top K Elements

Linked Lists

  • Why they matter: Insert/delete without shifting.
  • Tips: Draw them. Seriously. On paper.
  • Practice: Reverse List, Detect Cycle

Stacks & Queues

  • Why they matter: Control the order of execution. BFS/DFS simulation.
  • Tips: Use a deque if your language supports it.
  • Practice: Valid Parentheses, Implement Queue using Stacks

Trees

  • Why they matter: Tons of patterns, recursion-friendly.
  • Tips: Learn iterative traversals for when the recursion stack explodes.
  • Practice: Max Path Sum, Validate BST

Graphs

  • Why they matter: Modeling relationships, they show up more than you think.
  • Tips: Use adjacency lists unless the graph is dense. Don’t forget to visit the sets.
  • Practice: Number of Islands, Course Schedule

Hash Tables

  • Why they matter: Fast lookup. Trade time for space.
  • Tips: Talk through collisions. Don’t treat it like a magic box.
  • Practice: Two Sum, Longest Palindrome

Quick Complexity Math So You Don’t Ramble

You don’t need to be a mathematician. Just know the common ones:

  • Constant: O(1)
  • Logarithmic: O(log n)
  • Linear: O(n)
  • Log-linear: O(n log n)
  • Quadratic: O(n^2)
  • Exponential: O(2^n)
  • Factorial: O(n!)

Two quick rules:

  • Back-to-back loops = add the cost
  • Nested loops = multiply the cost

Also, don’t forget space. Every interviewer hates it when you ignore that.

Sorting, Searching, and Why You Need Both

Sorting and searching are everywhere. No one cares if you remember the merge sort code, but you need to know when to bring it up.

Sorting Tip

If the problem needs ordered output, ask if you can sort upfront.

Searching Tip

Binary search is your friend. Know how to adapt it.

Practice: Search a 2D Matrix, Top K Frequent Elements

DP, Greedy, Recursion: What’s Actually Asked

If these scare you, good. They scared me too. Until I wrote out:

  • What’s the subproblem?
  • What are the transitions?
  • What’s the base case?

That’s it. That’s most of dynamic programming.

Greedy? Only use it when local decisions lead to a global optimum. Recursion? Use it when the problem definition itself sounds recursive.

Patterns You Should Know Cold

This is how I prep now, not by topic, but by pattern.

  • Sliding Window
  • Two Pointers
  • Top K / Heap
  • DFS/BFS
  • Modified Binary Search
  • Backtracking
  • Greedy
  • Recursion + Memoization
  • In-Place Linked List
  • Knapsack Variants

How to Not Bomb the Onsite

Look, at this point, you’ve probably got the skills. But if you can’t show your thinking, explain tradeoffs, or recover from a mistake mid-round, you’re toast.

Do this instead:

  • Talk through your plan before writing any code
  • Whiteboard your ideas (even virtually)
  • Write readable code, not clever code.
  • Name things clearly
  • Check for edge cases and talk through tests
  • Ask follow-ups. It shows you’re thoughtful.

Big Tech vs Startup: What Changes

Big Tech

Leetcode hard, system design, behavioral loop

Startup

practical design, fast iteration, full-stack vibes

Be ready for both. Especially if you're interviewing at Series C companies that think they’re Google but want you to deploy to prod on Day 1.

Your Week-by-Week Prep Plan

Week 1

Core DSA refresher

Week 2

Pattern-based problem solving

Week 3

System design, mock interviews

Ongoing

Mix in timed rounds. Track weaknesses. Rinse and repeat.

Don’t burn out. It’s a marathon. But it’s also winnable.

One-Minute Review: What to Say, Do, and Avoid

Do

  • Ask clarifying questions
  • Start with brute force
  • Write clean code
  • Handle edge cases
  • Talk through time/space
  • Use examples

Avoid

  • Don’t memorize solutions.
  • Don’t go silent
  • Don’t lie about complexity.

FAQ: Stuff Candidates Always Ask Me

1. What Language Should I Use?

Whatever you’re fastest in. Interviewers care about thinking, not syntax.

2. What If I Bomb A Question?

Own it. Recover. Interviewers often care more about how you react.

3. How Important Are Mock Interviews?

More than you think. They reveal your blind spots and give you live feedback. Do them weekly.

4. What Should I Do Right After An Interview?

Thank them. Reflect. Adjust your prep. Move on.

Want to prep smarter, not just grind harder? Try Interview Coder, the tool I wish I'd had when I was failing my first interviews.

-friendly too.

If you’ve got headcount but not time, this helps offload the grind.

Related Reading

How I Actually Prep for Tech Interviews (Before, During, and After)

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Technical interviews suck when you wing them. The pressure’s weird, the questions feel like traps, and half the time you're not even sure what they're looking for. I’ve been there. Bombed early rounds. Froze mid-sentence. Typed nonsense while pretending to “think out loud.” So I stopped guessing and started treating prep like a sport with routines, reps, and review.

This is exactly how I prepare now the same process I used to land interviews and offers from Amazon, Meta, and TikTok. Not theory. Not advice from some random career coach who’s never coded. Just what works.

Before the Interview: Prep Like You’re Tired of Wasting Time

Build A Practice System: Not A Vibe

Don’t just “do LeetCode.” That’s how you waste 100 hours and still panic when asked to code a graph traversal. I set a simple weekly routine:

  • 2 days for algorithms
  • 1 day for system design
  • 1 day for mock interviews
  • 1 day reviewing what broke last time

No overthinking. Just a loop I can stick to. I also keep a doc that tracks:

  • What question did I solve
  • What category
  • How long did it take
  • What I learned

If I’m not improving, I can see it. And if I’m stuck, I know where.

Dress Like It’s A Regular Day Of Building

I’ve interviewed in pajamas. I’ve interviewed in a hoodie. No one cares unless you’re fidgeting every five seconds. Wear whatever lets you focus. If dressing up gives you a confidence bump, go for it. But don’t let your outfit become another thing you’re thinking about.

Your Intro Should Not Sound Like A Resume

I’ve practiced a 60- to 90-second pitch that doesn’t make me cringe. Mine sounds like:

“Hey, I’m Roy. I’m building Interview Coder and previously interned at Meta and Amazon. Built infrastructure tools that helped other engineers go faster. I’m looking to join a team focused on developer tooling.”

No fluff. Just facts I can say without flinching.

I also prep 3–5 questions to ask at the end. Stuff I actually care about:

  • How do code reviews work on your team?
  • What happens when someone disagrees with a technical decision?
  • What’s something this team is trying to improve right now?

Mock Interviews: Especially When They Hurt

Mocks used to destroy my confidence. Now I treat them like a gym session. Every rep counts, even when I fail, especially when I fail. I rotate through:

After each one, I write down:

  • 1 technical mistake
  • 1 communication mistake

Then I fix those before the next mock. Nothing else matters.

Set Up Your Environment Like You’re Trying To Win

Here’s what I do 15 minutes before every virtual interview:

  • Close every tab not related to the interview
  • Set my phone to Do Not Disturb
  • Plug in wired headphones
  • Check my mic, webcam, and lighting
  • Open the coding environment they use
  • Prep a blank doc for notes
  • Keep a water bottle nearby.

No chaos. Just a clean runway.

Practice On The Fundamental Tools

If they use HackerRank, practice there if it’s CoderPad, same deal. Every platform has quirks in autocomplete behavior, how test cases run, and even font size. You want zero surprises. I treat these tools like an integrated development environment (IDE). Know the shortcuts. Know where the gotchas are.

During the Interview: Don’t Just Survive Steer

Start Like A Person, Not A Pitch Deck

I usually say:

  • “Hey, good to meet you. Excited to work through this with you.”
  • “Thank you so much for the opportunity.” Not “I’ve always dreamed of working at XYZ.”

Just chill and direct. Let your energy do the talking.

Ask Thoughtful Questions Before You Touch The Keyboard

I always confirm:

  • Input type
  • Size limits
  • Whether values are sorted or unique
  • If I can change the input
  • What the expected output looks like
  • Whether null, empty, or edge cases are expected
  • Can I use standard libraries?

I also talk through a tiny example:

  • “If input is [1, 2, 3], I’d expect output [6, 3, 0] is that right?”

This avoids building the wrong thing for 20 minutes.

Talk Through The Bad Ideas Too

Even when I don’t have a good plan, I say something like:

  • “Here’s the brute-force idea. It’s not efficient, but it helps me think.”

Then I sketch it out and use it as a stepping stone to better ideas. I talk through time/space tradeoffs as I go, but I keep it fast. I want the interviewer to see how I think without falling asleep.

Ask Before You Code

I literally say:

  • “Unless you want to go deeper, I’ll start coding.”

This lets them stop me if I’m going the wrong way. Saved my ass more than once.

Code Like Someone Else Has To Read It

I narrate what I’m doing out loud:

  • “I’m adding a hash map here to track seen values…”
  • “Naming this firstIndex so it’s clear we’re tracking position…”

I type slower than usual, so I don’t mess up simple stuff.I never try to be clever; clarity over cleverness every time.

Point Out Any Shortcuts

If I skip input validation or an edge case, I say so:

  • “In production, I’d add a check here for nulls or invalid types.” That way, they know I’m not sloppy, I’m just working within the time box.

Whiteboard Tips (For In-Person)

I’ve made every mistake here, such as writing too small, crowding the board, and forgetting to label. Now I:

  • Leave margins
  • Write clear variable names
  • Reserve a “clean band” to rewrite the final code
  • Label diagrams
  • Erase only when I’m sure.

It’s not about looking smart; it’s about not confusing your interviewer.

After the Interview: Don’t Ghost Yourself

Log the whole thing

Immediately after, I open my “Interview Journal” and fill in:

  • Company + Role
  • Who I talked to
  • What the question was
  • My first instinct
  • Final approach
  • What I did well
  • What I screwed up
  • What I’d fix next time

This becomes part of my personal cheat sheet.

Send A Thank-You Message That Doesn’t Feel Like Hr Wrote It

I message them on LinkedIn or via email:

  • “Hey [Name], thanks again for the convo today. I liked our back-and-forth on [specific thing]. Appreciate your time, hope to connect again soon.” Short. Direct. Real.

Ask For Feedback Once

If the recruiter or interviewer seemed chill, I’ll say:

  • “If you have time, I’d love any feedback, even just a line or two on what stood out or what to improve.”
  • That’s it. No follow-ups if they ghost.

Fix The Actual Mistake

I don’t go “back to LeetCode.” I go back to the exact thing I blew:

  • Messed up recursion? 10 recursion drills.
  • Forgot time complexity? Write out Big O for everything this week.
  • Spoke too little? Record myself solving and narrating.

Build The Relationship

If I liked the interviewer or team, I stay in touch.

A week later, I might send:

  • “Saw this article about [related thing] and thought of our convo, hope all’s well.” Not networking. Just being human.

Ready to Stop Guessing?

I made Interview Coder because I needed something like it when I was flailing in interviews. No fluff. No “masterclass” energy. Just real reps with the stuff companies actually ask.

Try Interview Coder for free mock interviews, feedback, and prep that actually map to the job.Want more tips like this? Join the newsletter for weekly breakdowns that don’t suck.

Related Reading

Nail Coding Interviews with our AI Interview Assistant − Get Your Dream Job Today

I didn’t build Interview Coder to “change the game” or “disrupt the space.” I built it because I was sick of wasting time.

Back when I was prepping for Amazon, Meta, and TikTok, I did what everyone does: grind hundreds of LeetCode problems and hope something sticks. But most of that effort was just me flailing in the dark, jumping from problem to problem with no plan. No structure. No feedback. Just vibes.

So I made a tool I wish I had back then. One that actually helped me get better instead of just feeling busy.

Why Mindlessly Grinding LeetCode is a Trap

Here’s the truth: most people bomb interviews not because they’re dumb, but because they prepped the wrong way.

You don’t need 500 problems. You need to understand 15 patterns cold. But LeetCode doesn’t precisely tell you, “Hey, this one’s a duplicate of that problem you did three days ago.”

So you end up stuck putting in hours but not leveling up.

Interview Coder fixes that by focusing on what matters:

  • Templates that help you think clearly under pressure
  • A pattern-first approach that filters out low-yield noise
  • A system that shows you what’s actually worth your time

Think of It Like a Practice Partner That Doesn’t Let You Wing It

No, it’s not “AI-enhanced” or “seamlessly integrated.” It’s a tool that keeps you honest.

  • You get real-time feedback while you practice
  • You get pinged when you forget edge cases or screw up complexity
  • You get nudged when you keep repeating the same mistakes

It’s like pairing with someone who actually knows how to prep and calls you out when you’re BS-ing your way through a solution.

The Stuff I Use Personally (Because I Actually Use This)

This isn’t some bloated platform with features no one asked for. These are the exact tools I used to land offers:

  • Go-to problem-solving templates for starting even when your brain’s frozen
  • Code snippets for BFS, DFS, two pointers, greedy, DP (yes, the real ones that actually show up)
  • Quick references so you’re not Googling “how to implement heap in Python” mid-session
  • Edge case checklists that save you from dumb mistakes in follow-ups
  • Big-O cheat sheets so you stop hand-waving performance
  • Debug walkthroughs for killing off those annoying null pointer bugs
  • Whiteboard-mode pseudocode helpers for interviews that want more talk, less typing

This stuff exists because I needed it. That’s it.

What Happens When You Stop Stressing and Start Planning

Interview prep sucks when you don’t know where you stand. Or what to fix. Or what to even work on today.

Here’s what I suggest:

  • Pick three patterns for the week, say Trees, DP, and Graphs
  • Run three timed mocks
  • Track what broke: slow start? Bad brute force? Forgot test cases?
  • Drill the problem type again, but slower, until you can explain it to your dog.

Repeat that for 4 weeks and tell me you’re not better.

Don't Cheat. Don’t Be Weird.

If you're thinking about using Interview Coder in a live interview to fake your way through a question... don’t.

This tool isn’t for pretending you’re good. It’s for actually getting good.

Use it before the interview. Use it during practice. Use it when you’re stuck and need a reset. But when is it game time? You’re on your own. Be ready.

Why People Keep Using It (Even After They Get the Job)

Interview Coder isn’t some magic bullet. But it gets results because it forces you to focus on what works.

  • You stop spinning in circles.
  • You actually retain what you practiced.
  • You don’t blank when someone throws a curveball during the interview

Most people don’t need more time. They need a more innovative way to use the time they’ve already got.

This is that.

How to Make It Part of Your Routine Without Burning Out

  • Start by dumping your top 10 failed problems into Interview Coder
  • Re-solve them using the templates
  • Do one mock per week, record yourself, cringe at your explanation, and get better
  • Use the cheat sheets the day before your interviews to refresh your brain

It’s not complicated. But it works.

Privacy, Security, and Not Being a Creep

Everything you practice stays yours. Your code, your recordings, and your notes are private.

Interview Coder doesn’t sell data, spy on your sessions, or let recruiters peek at your code. It's not a trap.

We're here to help you get good, not to get weird.


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