How I prepared for technical interviews

My honest take on preparing for tech interviews what worked, what didn’t and the resources that really helped me.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Strengthening the Core Concepts
  3. Building Problem-Solving Skills
  4. Projects that Made a Difference
  5. Resume Building
  6. Common Mistakes and Lessons Learned
  7. Tips for Future Aspirants
  8. Resources
  9. Conclusion

1. Introduction

When I first started preparing for tech interviews, I honestly didn’t know where to begin. There’s just so much DSA, core subjects, projects, resume, and whatnot 😭. But slowly, I figured out a routine that worked for me. Just focused on learning a little every day, things got easier.

So in this post, I’ll share how I built my basics, got better at DSA, made projects that actually helped me, and learned from a few silly mistakes along the way. Hopefully, it’ll give you some ideas or at least make you feel you’re not alone in this!

2. Strengthening the Core Concepts

Before diving into DSA, I spent some time brushing up on my core CS subjects - OS, DBMS, and CN. These are like the foundation of everything, and honestly, having them clear makes you feel way more confident in interviews.

I used Neso Academy and Gate Smashers (absolute lifesavers!), and made short notes from my college lectures. Topics like deadlocks, normalization, and TCP/IP used to sound scary — but once I started revising regularly, they became kind of fun to understand 😅.

And trust me, having strong fundamentals really helps when you’re asked to “explain how this works” in an interview.

3. Building Problem-Solving Skills

Now comes the most challenging (but also the most rewarding) part; DSA.

I started with Neetcode 150, which gave me a roadmap instead of me solving random questions everywhere. I practiced mostly on LeetCode, though I’ll admit — the first month was rough. I’d open a problem, stare at it for 10 minutes, and just… close the tab 😭.

But over time, I realized it’s not about solving 10 problems a day. It’s about understanding how to approach them. Once I started recognizing patterns, things clicked — arrays, linked lists, graphs, DP … all started to make sense.

If you’re just starting out — don’t rush. Take it slow and stay consistent. That’s literally the secret.

4. Projects that Made a Difference

Working on projects was honestly my favorite part. They made me apply everything I learned and seeing something actually work felt so good 🤌🤌.

Here’s what I focused on:

  • Scalability & Load Balancing: I played around with Docker and Kubernetes — took me a while to get it right, but totally worth it.
  • Backend Stuff: Built APIs using Flask, Spring Boot, and even TypeScript just to experiment.
  • Full Stack: I tried making my UIs look cleaner using EJS and learned how to connect front-end with back-end properly.
  • Databases: Explored MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis, and MongoDB — just to see how each one works.

Each project taught me something new. And more importantly, they gave me stories to talk about in interviews which again helps A LOT.

5. Resume Building

Let’s be honest resumes are tricky. I kept mine simple and to the point: clear skills and short project descriptions, and nothing fancy. Your resume doesn’t need to be perfect; it just needs to clearly showcase your work.
You can use this template for your resume building.

6. Common Mistakes and Lessons Learned

Not everything went smoothly (of course 😬). Here are some of the mistakes I made… so you don’t have to:

  • Started LeetCode late: Took me longer to get comfortable with problem-solving.
  • Focused too much on one stack: Later realized trying different frameworks gave me better perspective.
  • Ignored core subjects for a while: Huge mistake. Had to go back and re-learn stuff before interviews.

Lesson learned — balance is everything. Don’t go all-in on just one area.

7. Tips for Future Aspirants

If you’re preparing right now, here are a few small things that helped me big time:

  • Start with DSA early — even one problem a day helps.
  • Don’t just memorize concepts — try to understand why they work.
  • Attend hackathons — they’re chaotic but super fun and help you learn fast.
  • Work on different types of projects — combine backend, frontend, and DB.
  • Keep learning, there’s always something new coming up in tech.

8. Resources

Here are some of the websites and videos that really helped me:

9. Conclusion

Looking back, this whole prep journey wasn’t just about cracking interviews, it taught me how to stay consistent, curious, and confident in learning new things.

If you’re preparing right now — breathe. It’s okay to feel lost sometimes. Keep going, stay patient, and trust yourself. You’ll get there 💪✨