{
  "id": 14578888,
  "title": "Solved 300 LeetCode Problems but Still Freeze in Interviews? It's a Rehearsal Problem",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/15/solved-300-leetcode-problems-but-still-freeze-in-interviews-its-a",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-15T01:05:36.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dev.to",
    "slug": "dev-to",
    "url": "https://dev.to/hamzaibrahim49/solved-300-leetcode-problems-but-still-freeze-in-interviews-its-a-rehearsal-problem-4i8d"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The article explains why simply solving 300 LeetCode problems may not be enough for acing a technical interview. It highlights that the interview setting adds a new layer of pressure not present in solo practice. A 2020 study showed that when students solved problems alone on a whiteboard versus explaining them to an interviewer, the latter group performed significantly worse, with higher stress levels.\n\nThe author argues that the key to success lies in practicing the actual interview conditions. They suggest four key drills - narrating every practice problem from start to finish, learning to navigate moments of blanking out by sharing what you know, practicing being watched through full mock interviews, and repeating this process multiple times in the final weeks before the interview.\n\nThey also provide several options to get the necessary practice experience, ranging from free tools like DevInterview.ai that give a recorded voice interviewer, to paid services like interviewing.io that connect you with a human interviewer. The author recommends doing most practice sessions out loud, supplementing with a single paid human session near the actual interview date.\n\nIn summary, the piece argues that while solving many LeetCode problems is a good first step, the real hurdle is learning how to solve them out loud under pressure - which requires specific rehearsal drills and full mock interviews designed to mimic the real interview conditions.",
  "summary": "I built DevInterview.ai, a mock interview tool, so take the product part with that in mind. The rest of this is free. If you've solved hundreds of LeetCode problems and still freeze in real interviews, you don't have a knowledge problem. You have a rehearsal problem. You practiced solving alone and in silence, and the interview tests solving out loud while someone watches. Why 300 problems didn't…",
  "key_points": [
    "Solving 300 LeetCode problems alone isn't enough for interview success",
    "Interview setting adds pressure not present in solo practice",
    "Key to success: practice actual interview conditions through drills"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}