My Tech Interview Prep System (No Leetcode Grinding Required)

I used to prep for tech interviews the way most people do: panic-grind Leetcode for two weeks, memorize answers to "tell me about yourself," and hope for the best. It worked sometimes. Mostly it didn't. And when it didn't, I had no idea what went wrong. So I built a system. Nothing fancy — just a repeatable process that takes the randomness out of interview prep. I've refined it through my own prep process and it's made a real difference. Here's the whole thing. Step 1: Know what they're actually screening for Before you prep anything, figure out what the company cares about. This sounds obvious, but most people skip it. Read the job posting carefully. Not the requirements list — the description of what you'll actually be doing. Then check Glassdoor or Blind for interview experiences at that company. You're looking for patterns: Do they do system design? Live coding? Behavioral deep-dives? Tailoring your prep to the actual interview format saves you from wasting time on stuff that won'