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Managing the Clock in an Interview

Time management in an interview is dividing a round into small blocks for planning and coding and checking. It keeps the solution finished before the round ends.

A 45-minute plan

The plan below divides 45 minutes into four blocks.

plan = [("Plan", 10), ("Code", 25), ("Check", 5), ("Buffer", 5)]
total = 0
for name, minutes in plan:
    print(name + " " + str(minutes))
    total = total + minutes
print("Total " + str(total))

Minutes left

Subtracting used minutes from the total shows the time left.

total = 45
used = 20
left = total - used
print("Used " + str(used))
print("Left " + str(left))

A stuck rule

A simple rule stops one step from eating the whole round.

minutes_on_step = 12
if minutes_on_step > 10:
    print("Move on to the next step")
else:
    print("Keep working")

Example

plan = [("Plan", 15), ("Code", 30), ("Check", 10), ("Buffer", 5)]
total = 0
for name, minutes in plan:
    print(name + " " + str(minutes))
    total = total + minutes
print("Total " + str(total))

Key points

  • A planning block comes before any code is written.
  • A coding block turns the plan into working code.
  • A checking block tests the code on small inputs.
  • A buffer block stays free for surprises and fixes.
  • A stuck step should move on after a few minutes.
  • The clock is checked at the end of each block.

The program stores a 60-minute round as four blocks. It prints each block and adds the minutes into a total. The final line confirms the blocks add up to 60.

Try it Yourself

Edit the code, then press Run.

Running is simulated · Python Playground

Exercise

A 45-minute round has 25 minutes spent on planning. What is the main risk?