I read a lot of tips, I practiced a decent amount (leetcode, cracking the code interview, etc). And the main tip that I took to heart and kept hearing about, was 'explain your thought process' as you are solving a problem. And to be honest, I thought I understood it.

I only realized what that truly meant when I became the interviewer.

This does not mean blurb out whatever you are thinking, although it is miles better than not saying anything at all. Not all interviewers just want you to silently solve a problem correctly, or prove you are smart, and then hire you. Rather, interviewers want you to engage with them as if you were working with your friend or coworker, or even as if tutoring someone. Talk with them!

For example, I would ask a coding question. Some interviewee would find a simple solution for it. Then... some would wait until it was my turn to 'speak'. But truth to be told, there are no 'turns'. You can direct the conversation, and we want you to! Talk about the simple solution, ask if the interviewer is interested in that solution, write it out, then mention that there is (or should be) a much efficient way that you have or have to think of.

But perhaps this is repetitive, another similar post to ones you have read many times before. If so, perhaps try mock interviews with someone and instead of focusing on the other person, act as if you had a very important project and you were deciding between 10 people to see which one would fit.

In the end, realizing it is more important than understanding it.