What would you do if you realised you were going to miss a deadline?
Tell your lead as early as possible, explain the reason and how much is done, propose options such as a smaller first version, help or a new date, and then deliver on what you agree.
Explain it simply
The worst thing you can do is stay quiet and hope. Managers can plan around a delay they hear about on Monday; they cannot plan around one they discover on Friday evening.
Raise it early, be specific ("login and signup are done; password reset needs two more days"), and bring options. Then meet the revised plan.
Example
Situation: During his internship, Yash was given a week to build a reports page, but on day four he realised the data API was slower and more complex than expected.
Task: Handle the likely delay professionally.
Action: He went to his mentor that afternoon, showed what was done, explained the API issue, and offered two options: ship the page with three of five reports on time, or take three more days for all five. The mentor chose the first, and asked a senior to help with the API.
Result: The three reports went live on the original date, and the other two were done three days later.
What to say in the interview
"I'd tell my lead as soon as I knew, show what's done, explain why, and offer options like a smaller version on time or a new date. Then I'd deliver exactly what we agreed."
Common mistakes
- Waiting until the deadline to say something.
- Working all night and delivering poor quality instead of speaking up.
- Giving excuses without options.