I keep forgetting my technicals for interviews and on the job

I find every year I prep for interviews or run mocks I have forgotten most of the technicals and have to refresh myself, all the basic ones I can do but when it comes to more complex questions I’ve never heard of or seen before I struggle. Meanwhile my other friends seem to be able to prep for 2 hours before an upcoming interview and they still remember everything

Is this normal? I find myself reading the BIWS guides for the 10th time trying to memorize something like what DTAs DTLs mean. I have a hard time with critical thinking under pressure when someone is standing in front of me but when I’m on my own I can function fine and perform fine. and I feel like I always zone out in meetings and podcasts as it’s difficult for me to pay 1000% attention

I feel like I struggle with confidence and I don’t have the charisma likability and personality needed to be able to climb up the ladder and compete for VP positions. should I even be gunning for IB/PE?

4 Comments
 

This reads to me as focusing too much on memorization rather than understanding. If you’re reading the line “bad news = wider spreads” over and over and trying to memorize that, you’re doing it wrong. Think about the ‘why’. Make up an example (eg layoff rates pick up by 20% in US), which is bad news, and think through the mechanics of why that might lead spreads wider.


I’m just using your example but it’s a key to success - if you don’t understand the why, and instead you just try to memorize it, you’re going to forget a lot of it over time.

 

I’m realizing this a bit too late now and feel like this was how I learned my whole life and it’s messing up my career. This worked a lot for school and I studied hard and got top top grades by memorizing the steps and processes… but I forgot almost all of what I learned in school now.

 

I’ve had the same thing happen academically. I’ve always been able to memorize and remember well. I started studying in a more “rotational” way. Start with a specific subject and only go for 10-15 minutes, change to another, then go back to the original. Rinse and repeat, think there is a psychological study about it and it seems to work. Helped me a ton for IB prep and for my masters

 

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