Had my first phone interview yesterday. Interviewer asked me a question way far from what I expected. A JavaScript problem. I came up with two initial ideas & he gave me a hint that both of them could be used to solve the problem. I quickly coded the solution. He asked how I could improve it, I wasnโt initially able to spot it, but after explaining the time complexity, I immediately found the area to improve & quickly fixed it. He again wanted me to improve it further & modified the question a bit, only after the modification I got the hint & modified it quickly. It felt a bit too collaborative & I wish I didnโt use those 3 hints. Also, my code had a few typos ๐คฆ๐ปโโ๏ธ I was able to code a complete optimal solution, I asked & he confirmed that this was what he was looking for & we had a few minutes for the โdo you have any questions for me part?โ Do you think I may move forward to onsite? Does using hints remove points? Is one expected to come up with perfect code without any hints?
Lol, people think these interviews are way more intense than they are. If he confirmed it's what he is looking for you will probably get a full onsite round