Technical Interview Prep in 60 Days: A Practical Plan

Technical interview prep in 60 days is possible if you stop treating it like random practice and start treating it like a project with a deadline.

Most candidates fail for a simple reason. They are busy, tired after work, and they open LeetCode without a plan. Thirty minutes later they are still deciding what to solve. That is not a discipline problem. It is a systems problem.

This guide is for people who are working full time and can commit around 60 to 90 minutes on weekdays plus a longer block on weekends.

What is a 60-day technical interview prep plan?

A 60-day technical interview prep plan is a time-boxed system that breaks interview prep into weekly goals and daily tasks. Instead of "do coding practice," you run specific blocks for problem solving, system design, behavioral stories, and mock interviews. The goal is consistent progress, not heroic study sessions.

Why interview prep usually breaks in week three

The first week feels great because motivation is high. Week three is where most plans collapse.

Here is what usually happens:

• You spend too much time on hard problems and lose confidence.
• You ignore behavioral prep until the final week.
• You delay mock interviews because they feel uncomfortable.
• You do not track weak patterns, so you keep repeating the same mistakes.

If that sounds familiar, good news: you do not need more motivation. You need structure.

Cramming vs structured prep

Prep style	Cramming model	Structured 60-day model
Daily target	"Solve as much as possible"	Specific blocks with a finish condition
Coverage	Random topics	Planned coverage by theme
Feedback loop	Mostly self-judgment	Weekly review and mock interview
Behavioral prep	Last minute	Built in from week one
Stress level	Spikes near interview	More even and predictable

How to build your 60-day plan in 6 steps

1. Define your target role and company band
   Pick one lane: frontend, backend, full stack, or data. Also choose target company tier. Interview expectations are different, and your prep should match that reality.

2. Split the 60 days into four tracks
   Your schedule should always include:

• coding rounds
• system design
• behavioral stories
• mock interviews

3. Use a simple weekly rhythm
   Run five focused weekday sessions and one weekend deep session. Keep one full day off to recover.

4. Create a weakness log
   After each session, write one line: "What slowed me down today?"
   Patterns show up fast. Most people discover they are not weak at coding overall; they are weak at one or two patterns.

5. Start mock interviews by week two
   Do not wait until you feel ready. Mock interviews are how you get ready.

6. Run a weekly reset every Sunday
   Score your week from 1 to 5 on each track. Then adjust next week based on the lowest score.

A weekly cadence that works after a full-time job

Below is a realistic structure you can repeat:

Day	Focus block	Duration	Done when...
Monday	Algorithms: arrays/strings	75 min	You solve 2 medium problems and review one failure
Tuesday	Algorithms: trees/graphs	75 min	You complete 1 medium + 1 hard attempt with notes
Wednesday	System design	60 min	You design one service and explain tradeoffs out loud
Thursday	Behavioral stories	45 min	You polish 2 STAR stories tied to measurable outcomes
Friday	Mixed review	60 min	You revisit weak patterns from your log
Saturday	Mock interview	90-120 min	You finish one full mock + retrospective

Day-by-day phases for the full 60 days

Days 1-14: Build baseline

• Identify your weak patterns.
• Build your core story bank for behavioral rounds.
• Do your first two mock interviews early.

Days 15-42: Raise level

• Increase problem difficulty gradually.
• Practice explaining your solution before you code.
• Run at least one system design drill every week.

Days 43-60: Simulate interview pressure

• Shift from study mode to simulation mode.
• Time-box most practice.
• Prioritize communication quality and tradeoff thinking.

A concrete example of the plan in action

Let us make this real.

Say you are a backend engineer with three years of experience, targeting mid-level roles in product companies. You can study 75 minutes on weekdays and two hours on Saturday.

Your first two weeks are not about chasing hard dynamic programming problems. They are about baseline consistency:

• 8 medium problems on core patterns
• 2 basic API design drills
• 6 behavioral stories drafted in rough form
• 2 mock interviews with feedback notes

In week three, your weakness log might show this pattern:

• you miss edge cases under time pressure
• you explain ideas clearly but speak too slowly
• your stories are good, but outcomes are not quantified

That gives you a clear week four plan:

• run timed edge-case drills
• rehearse solution explanation in 90-second bursts
• rewrite stories with numbers: "reduced API latency by 28%" is stronger than "improved performance"

This is why structured prep wins. You are not guessing what to do next. You are iterating.

Behavioral rounds need structure too

Many technical candidates prepare code seriously and treat behavioral rounds as improv. That is a mistake.

Build a small story bank with 8 to 10 stories you can reuse across prompts.

Story type	What to prepare
Conflict	A disagreement, your approach, and the outcome
Ownership	A project where you led without formal authority
Failure	A miss, what you learned, what changed afterward
Ambiguity	A project with unclear requirements and how you navigated it
Impact	A measurable result tied to business outcomes

Practice saying each story in two lengths:

• 60-second version for fast interviewer cadence
• 2-minute version for deep follow-up

I strongly recommend recording yourself. It is uncomfortable, but it gives immediate signal on clarity, pace, and filler words.

Final-week checklist before real interviews

In the last seven days, keep the plan simple:

1. Run two full mock interviews under timed conditions.
2. Review your top ten mistake patterns and write one fix rule for each.
3. Rehearse your opening self-introduction until it sounds natural, not scripted.
4. Sleep properly the night before high-stakes rounds.
5. Prepare your own questions for the interviewer.

The day before an interview is not the time for heavy new material. Use light review and confidence work. You perform better when your brain is calm and clear.

What to do when a bad week happens

Bad weeks will happen. Travel, deadlines, and family obligations are normal.

Use this reset rule:

• Keep one "minimum session" per day (20 minutes).
• Protect mock interviews first.
• Reduce volume, not consistency.

This is exactly where Kognivu helps. Instead of rebuilding your entire plan after disruption, the system re-sequences your next tasks so you keep moving.

How Kognivu fits into interview prep

The best use of Kognivu here is simple:

• The AI Architect maps your 60-day prep into weekly milestones.
• The AI Coach gives a concrete daily quest like "two graph problems plus one verbal walkthrough."
• You mark completion, review friction points, and adjust on the next milestone check-in.

That removes the daily "what should I do tonight?" tax that kills consistency for most candidates.

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