I had been in interview mode for a month. I was solving problems, clearing rounds, and getting my confidence back.
And then came Amazon.
I knew the approaches. I gave the right answers, came up with optimized solutions, and even coded them. But somewhere between knowing the answer and having to prove it, I stopped trusting myself.
I got nervous. I fumbled my delivery. I second-guessed myself. And by the end of the interview, I could almost feel the rejection coming.
The worst part? It wasn't a lack of knowledge. It was a lack of belief in the knowledge I already had.
Maybe that's the hardest part of interviewing: sometimes, you aren't competing with the question in front of you. You're competing with the version of yourself that suddenly believes you're not good enough.
This one hurts. Not because I couldn't do it, but because I know I could have shown up so much better.
A much-needed reminder to myself: the goal isn't just to become good enough for the room. It's to trust that you belong in it, too.
