The Interview Prep Mistake That Kept Holding Me Back

A developer found that reading solutions to coding problems during interview prep was counterproductive, as it prevented the development of independent problem-solving skills. To address this, they built Sde Vault, an AI coach that guides users through their thought process rather than providing direct answers. The tool was designed to force longer deliberation and structured self-analysis before seeking guidance.

While preparing for interviews, I realized I had a strange habit. I would solve a problem, get stuck, open the solution, understand it, and move on feeling productive. A few days later, I couldn’t solve a similar problem on my own. The issue wasn’t lack of practice. The issue was that I was consuming solutions faster than I was developing problem-solving skills. So I changed my approach. Instead of looking for answers, I started forcing myself to think longer, write down my ideas, identify where I was stuck, and only then seek guidance. That worked much better. But I couldn’t find a tool that supported this style of learning. Most platforms either: So I started building my own. The goal was simple: An AI coach that guides the thought process instead of generating the solution. Over time I added: The interesting part wasn’t building it. The interesting part was realizing that interview preparation is less about collecting solutions and more about training how you think. What has helped you improve more during interview prep? Reading solutions? Or struggling with the problem first? Sde vault - https://sdevaultweb.onrender.com/ https://sdevaultweb.onrender.com/