Ask HN: I seem to suck at interviews. I don't want to. Please advise.

I have convinced myself I'm terrible at interviews to the point that it has become a self-fulfilling prophecy now. In spite of being a good developer (never had any problems at work and have launched two side projects into the wild), I seem to always perform less-than-stellar in interviews. Something happens before and during an interview and I am unable to impress easily.

I have a Masters degree in CS from a good school. I code in C extensively and do a lot of RoR work on the side. I wouldn't say I'm at the top end of programmers by any measure but I'm good. I can get things done, intelligently and efficiently. Years ago, I didn't make it through a pretty major exam (one of the toughest entrance exams in the world - the Indian IIT JEE) and I suppose somewhere in my mind, a fear has been lodged. I am still trying to regain that lost confidence.

I get an uneasy feeling in my stomach before one, I never feel that I'm prepared and in fact, out of my fear I don't even attempt to prepare much. I just tend to wing it which makes it worse. I know I would have done well at most of the jobs where I didn't get through the interviews (google included). I hate the fact that someone gets to judge me sitting across the table. I just want to tell them, give me the damn job and I'll prove to you that I can do it.

I wish most coding interviews were of the kind where you went off to do a project and came back a day or two later with your code. Unfortunately, most still require you to think on the spot.

How do you deal with interview anxiety? I have one on-site this Friday and I really, really want this job.

* Acknowledge your fear/unease up front, hopefully with a little bit of humor. "I get a bit nervous during interviews" and the accompanying "don't worry - relax, can I get you a drink?" sort of banter may help take the edge off. You've explained that you're a bit uncomfortable, but ideally they'll see you working through that.

* Bring code samples. You may be more at ease discussing something that's physically in front of both of you.

* References - it might help to bring some written references with you. Depending on how the interview is going, you may be able to point out something in writing that pertains to what you're discussing (previous projects, etc). "Sometimes I forget some of these things and need to have my notes with me" or some rationalization like that, done smoothly, won't seem out of place at all. Some may see it as the sign of someone who's sharp and on the ball, able to go beyond 'winging it' and prepare with extra material even when it's something which is difficult to do.

There's no universal way to deal with it - everyone's reasons are different. That said, make an effort to prepare even if you're not at ease with it.

The question 'is he good enough?' is just one among many - and at this stage it's the one you can do the least about, so try to let go of that. Sure, you can study long-term and increase your chances of passing certain types of technical interview. But if the job is really a good fit for you, you'll already be doing that kind of study because you're interested regardless of whether you need it for an interview.

Of course, practice is still useful. Don't just practice being interviewed, practice giving interviews - then you'll get an idea of what the interviewer is thinking. Will this guy fit in my team? Is he going to stay interested in the job?

One other tip- try and make sure you have other possibilities before you go into an interview so you don't have to feel like everything is riding on this moment.

So handle it the same way as you would in your day-to-day work: ask questions, try to figure it out.

If they really are just interested in your rote memorisation of documentation, consider that this might not be such a great place to work.

If you used something 5 years ago, sure you can't remember the fine details, nobody expects that. But you should still be able to discuss the technology intelligently. Even if the details are gone the concepts should still be there, and fluency in concepts is what a good technical interview will be about.

I said I could do well at Google after seeing some middle-of-the-road friends from college and grad school get in by sheer weight of preparing hard for the interview. They are doing just fine over there.

I don't even need Google crutches. In fact, since I have been coding in C (6+ years now), I can count on one hand the number of times I've looked up things on Google. It is just that I get flustered when told to write code in an interview with the interviewer watching over my shoulder. Give me a terminal and I could probably do it quickly. Or for that matter when I don't know the answer to some trivia-type question and in that instant, I feel like a loser for not knowing something.

It is this part that I realize my weakness is in and that I need to work on.