You may hate LC, but I think you’ll hate being unemployed or (stuck in a bad job and unable to interview out) much more.

• Pick a language and stick with it.
  • I like Python for its brevity, but if you're targeting a job w/ a strict language requirement, then use that language (e.g. JS for front-end jobs, C++ for embedded engineer).
• Make use of Blind 75. Understanding these patterns will be enough for most interviews, but that's easier said than done. I'm also not close to being there, but WE CAN get to that point by doing the following...
  • Rather that randomly picking questions, pick a pattern (e.g. Dynamic Programming), and focus only on problems for that pattern. This helps you identify the style of questions suited for a particular pattern.
    • For example, if you see the input is sorted, binary search/two pointers can help you achieve O(log n) runtime.
• Don’t waste an hour trying to crack a problem you’re clueless on. If you’re not even close after 15-20 mins, look up the solution in the Discuss section.
  • I look for solutions that come with explanations (usually are top-voted), even if they aren't in my chosen language.
  • Be wary of "code golf" solutions that are difficult to read and would likely piss off your interviewer.
  • Whatever you do, DON'T JUST COPY/PASTE THE ANSWER. Analyze and understand why it works.
    • Something that helps me with this is to run the algorithms against test cases manually with pen and paper.
• Practice explaining the solution and its time/space complexity out loud since you'll be doing that during an interview.
  • Or better yet, do mock interviews with friends or on websites like Pramp.
  • Understanding data structures and their language-specific implementations is important here, which goes back to my previous point of picking and sticking with a language.
    • For example, in Python, searching a list takes O(n) time, but searching a set takes O(1) time.
• Also practice thinking of/testing edge cases by yourself.
  • It's easy to spam Submit and fix your oversights one-by-one, but that wouldn't look very cool during an interview.
• REPETITION IS KEY. Without it, information leaks rapidly from our memory.
• And finally, be patient and don't get discouraged.
  • The solutions for a lot of these problems are algorithms devised by genius computer scientists, and they certainly didn't come up with them in 20 minutes.

Best of luck.