Meet Indian-origin techie with a MASTER key to ace coding interviews, Google thanks him for super tip
“The best resource to crack any coding interview? The interviewer,” Gaba wrote in the post, which has since gone viral. “Most candidates see interviewers as judges waiting to fail them. But the truth? They’re actually your best resource during the interview,” he added.
An Indian-origin software engineer based in the United States has garnered attention for sharing a unique tip on acing coding interviews. Sahil Gaba, who has been working at the tech giant Google for four years, shared in a post on LinkedIn what he believes is the most valuable resource in a coding interview — the person sitting across the candidate.
His insights have sparked lots of reactions, even prompting a response from his employer Google.
“The best resource to crack any coding interview? The interviewer,” Gaba wrote in the post, which has since gone viral. “Most candidates see interviewers as judges waiting to fail them. But the truth? They’re actually your best resource during the interview,” he added.
In his post, Gaba talked of three key strategies to crack coding interviews. Here they are, in his words:
Ask clarifying questions: If you ask the right questions, the interviewer will not be able to help but drop some useful hints.
Think out loud: When you vocalize your approach, interviewers who see you heading down a wrong path will often nudge you in the right direction. Everyone feels a little satisfaction in course-correcting others.
Don’t panic when stuck: Frame it as: ‘I’m considering approach A and approach B. I’m leaning toward A because…’. This invites collaboration without asking for direct help.
Gaba further recalled a real-life instance from his interview with Amazon. “During my Amazon interview, I was struggling with a dynamic programming problem. Instead of freezing up, I walked through two potential approaches and explained my hesitation with each,” he said. “My interviewer’s subtle reaction to the second approach told me everything I needed to know.”
“Always remember that interviewers are humans too. They’re looking to have a fun conversation, not just evaluate your technical skills,” Gaba concluded.
Interestingly, besides many LinkedIn users, Google also responded to Gaba’s popular post. “Thanks for sharing awesome tips, Sahil,” read the comment from Google’s official LinkedIn handle.
