# Common Mistakes ## Solving the coding question != Passing the Interview This is a widely held belief that **ONLY** answering all the coding questions correctly will land you the job. This is **NEVER** the case. But first let me explain why so many people believe this. In school, getting the question right means getting a higher score. Getting a higher score means you pass your test, get accepted into university, or complete your certification. This is taught to students all over the world for years and feels natural in every discipline. Generally, job interviews **DO NOT** follow this format. Because the criteria for any coding interview isn’t only about solving problems. If it was, everyone would be given an online coding assessment and the highest scorers would be given a job offer. From someone who has interviewed candidates from Microsoft and Google, candidates must **solve the question** and **communicate effectively.** ## Mistake #1: Not communicating enough The single most common mistake interviewees make during their coding interviews is **not communicating enough**. Common communication problems include * Not clarifying the question. * Not providing example edge cases. * Not proactively dry-running the code. * Not outlining an algorithm before coding. * Not clearly explaining why they are stuck. * Not identifying the bottleneck in your code. * Not asking the interviewer what they want you to do. We will expand on this list later below, for now let’s focus on what the biggest mistakes are and why we make them. Under-communicating is a common mistake because interviewing resources like LeetCode or Cracking the Coding Interview only teach **how to solve** certain problems, **not how to communicate** with the interviewer. Because of this gap in communication, even applicants who solve the coding question correctly are still rejected. The most effective way to improve your communication skills is to either have more mock interviews or have more onsite interviews. Being in front of another interviewer will absolutely help you express your thoughts out loud. Not only that but the mock interviewer will give you personal feedback on your performance and multiple on-sites immediately expose how well you can code and converse in a legitimate interview setting. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://smu-seniors.gitbook.io/excel-in-tech/interview/common-mistakes.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.