What should I do if I freeze during a live coding interview?

Freezing happens to almost everyone. What matters is how you recover.

In the moment:

1. Say it out loud: "Let me take a moment to think this through." Silence feels longer to you than to the interviewer.
2. Go back to the problem: restate it in your own words and work through a small example by hand.
3. Start with brute force: "A simple approach would be X. It's O(n²), but let me get it working and then improve it." Moving forward breaks the freeze.
4. Ask a clarifying question. It's legitimate, and it gives you thinking time.
5. Accept hints gracefully. Interviewers often want to help; using a hint well is a positive signal.

Before interviews:

• Practise solving problems out loud, ideally with a friend or by recording yourself.
• Do mock interviews; the format itself becomes less stressful with repetition.
• Prepare your setup (editor, language, quiet room) so nothing unexpected adds stress.

Remember: interviewers assess your reasoning and communication, not just the final answer. A clear partial solution often scores better than you'd expect.

More preparation tips are in the software engineer interview process.