[MUSIC] In this video we're going to be focused on that first pitfall that Christine mentioned, which was making too many assumptions or failing to clarify the problem. So, by the end of this video you should know that when you're given a problem in a technical phone screen you're going to start by asking clarifying questions about the problem as well as identifying potential issues with the problem. When you're first given the problem this is the time to make sure that you really actually understand the problem. In this clip let's focus on how Huang does during her poor interview example. >> Okay. >> So in this video you see her dive right into the code, but I've got to ask how is she coding this problem even? I mean, how can you solve a problem if you don't fully understand it yet? And you can almost immediately think of these various conditions she hasn't thought about yet. Is the input going to have negative values? Is it going to have E? Things like that. She hasn't clarified it all yet, and when you first posed that question that was the time for her to ask those clarifying questions. Asking those clarifying questions is an important part of the interview process. So let's see how she does in a better example. >> Okay, I want to go through some examples to make sure I understand the question correctly. Is this string going to be integer? Can it be floating point? >> Well, ideally yes, but let's start by just thinking about how you would do an integer. >> Okay, so I can assume, let's say if I'm given a string one, two, three, and then I should get back one 23. Is that correct? Okay. And I don't have consider numbers like E or Pi anything like that, right? Okay. >> Nope, and in fact you can stick with positive numbers for now. >> Okay, and can I assume the input is just a string, plant string? >> Yes. >> Okay, so public int. >> Much better, so she asked key questions about the nature of the problem, and then she asked clarifying questions like does this have to handle decimals. Does it have to handle values like E or Pi? Does it have to handle negatives? She's asking really good questions, and now that she has a better understanding of the problem she can actually start coding. So, I want you to step back just a second though, and think what did this tell the interviewer about her? It says that she knows how to think through corner cases, and she's careful about understanding the problem very well before she starts solving it. Now she's done a great job starting this conversation with the interviewer. Don't stop talking yet. In the next video we'll discuss the importance of talking throughout the entire technical phone screen