I recently had an interview with a startup that asked me the same exact question that I got from a faang interview the week prior. It was a problem I hadn't pra

I recently had an interview with a startup that asked me the same exact question that I got from a faang interview the week prior. It was a problem I hadn't practiced/seen before the first interview, but I was able to figure it out just before we were out of time. In the second interview, I stopped him right away once I realized I had just seen it, explained the solution that I came to the week prior, and he went on to choose a much more difficult problem that I couldn't solve in the time requirement. I regret nothing -- it was a better spend of time for both of us. Interviews are bullshit, but they're not such bullshit to me that I'm willing to sit there and pretend to have a eureka moment about a question that I already know. I had the opportunity to show my skills and he got to see me struggle through it, and that's what it's really about. By the time you get to a final round, they moreso want to know what it's like to work with you than they want to know what you know. If you're ever in this situation, there's really no wrong answer. Play pretend and look like a rockstar, kudos, or be forthcoming and show some ambition -- also kudos. Job interviews are stressful and I would never fault someone for playing dumb. OP shouldn't feel like he needs to explain his sins. This is a systemic problem with leetcode style interviews, and it's not your job to correct for that as the candidate.