I still remember walking into my Google interview thinking I was ready for anything. I’d practiced algorithms, mock interviews, even bought a new shirt. The interviewer starts with: “Design a system that can handle billions of user requests per second.” I froze. 😶 Instead of taking a moment to clarify, I panicked and started drawing boxes and arrows all over the whiteboard like a possessed architect. Halfway through, he stopped me and asked, “What problem are you solving right now?” I realized… I had no idea. I was building something, but not the right thing. The rest of the interview was me trying to explain why my imaginary system had “two load balancers for emotional support.” Needless to say — I didn’t get the job. But I did get a valuable lesson: 💡 Never start solving before understanding the problem.