Whenever I have to solve a really hard problem, I always have at least two mediocre solutions before I come up with a really good one.
That doesn't work well in interviews, especially with how terrible most interviewers at time management. I sometimes get 10 minutes for a system design problem because the interviewer was expected to get signals on my non-technical competencies as well as system design.
This is never enough time to ask clarifying questions, diagram things, and get a good solution out unless it's similar to a problem I've already solved.
It's often OK to not solve the problem as long as you give an interviewer insight into how you think, but some interviewers expect a miracle.
That doesn't work well in interviews, especially with how terrible most interviewers at time management. I sometimes get 10 minutes for a system design problem because the interviewer was expected to get signals on my non-technical competencies as well as system design.
This is never enough time to ask clarifying questions, diagram things, and get a good solution out unless it's similar to a problem I've already solved.
It's often OK to not solve the problem as long as you give an interviewer insight into how you think, but some interviewers expect a miracle.