What Are the Fundamentals You Should Know Before a Technical Interview? — Part 2

Missed Part 1? Read it here:
https://blog.aiprepx.com/uncategorized/what-are-the-fundamentals-you-should-know-before-a-technical-interview-part-1/

Part 1 focused on one truth: you can’t fake depth. Whether it’s choosing merge sort for large datasets, designing a noise-reducing amplifier, or applying Raoult’s Law in a non-ideal system—what matters is not just knowing concepts, but knowing how and when to apply them.

The technical round is not a test of memory. It’s a test of method. The interviewer doesn’t expect you to know everything — but they expect you to think like an engineer, a scientist, a builder.

When you’re given a problem, your first instinct must be to structure it. Not solve. Structure. What’s given? What’s missing? What’s the constraint? What’s the assumption? You’re not solving yet — you’re mapping the terrain.

If you don’t know the answer, don’t panic. Start breaking it down. If it’s a system design question, simplify it to its skeleton. If it’s a numerical question, express it symbolically. Even if you freeze, speak — because how you think aloud often matters more than whether you reach a final answer.

Adaptability is what they’re after. The moment you solve something, they will change the input, tweak the output, shift the context. The real question is: can you follow the problem when it moves?

This is where most candidates collapse — they learn answers, not thinking. They prepare solutions, not strategies. But interviews reward those who prepare to be uncomfortable, who train for incomplete data, who simulate confusion — and then calmly navigate through it.

Every project you’ve worked on is a vault of insight. Don’t just say what you built — revisit why you made the choices you did. Could it have been done better? Under what constraint? If given 1/10th the budget, what would you remove first?

And most importantly, don’t just solve questions. Review them deeply. Why did this solution work? Could it have failed? What would have broken if a single assumption changed? This post-processing is where actual growth happens.

Final Thoughts

The technical round is not about being right — it’s about being ready. Ready to reason, ready to break down, ready to rebuild. If Part 1 was about owning your fundamentals, Part 2 is about turning them into fluid, agile thought under pressure.

Preparation isn’t repetition. It’s reflection. Simulation. Strategic discomfort.
And every time you embrace it — you get sharper.

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Try it. Train in discomfort. Show up sharp.