Interviewing for a programming position can be challenging but the rewarding career is well worth the effort. One of the most stressful parts of the process is the coding interview. Many companies now require potential developers to write code to prove their abilities. Preparing for these interviews by attending a mock coding interview can help you land that job with ease.
What is a mock coding interview?
Coding interviews can be stressful. Failure means not getting the job.
A mock coding interview is a pretend or practice interview that allows you to measure your skill level and gain confidence before you face the real deal.
During the interview, you will connect with a technical expert who will assess your level of expertise. After the interview, you will be given detailed feedback on how you did and if you would make it to the next round in a real interview.
What types of interviews are there?
Mock interviews are tailored to your needs. You can practice for programming interviews using any of the languages you are skilled in. Furthermore, you can even interview with specific companies you want to join. The possibilities are endless.
However, you can also branch out beyond pure coding skills and practice interviewing for:
- System Design
- Behavioral and Softskills
- Team Management
- Technical Leadership
- User Interface Design
- Data Science
- Testing/Quality Assurance
- Resume Review
These types of mock interviews can help you land more senior roles since companies are often looking for well rounded candidates.
What do you get out of a mock programming interview?
A lot!
First of all, you gain valuable experience. Interviewing, like programming, is a skill that can be learned and mastered. The more experience you gain with this skill the better you will get at it. The better you get the easier the entire process. This allows you to focus on the most important phase of the interview process…negotiating the size of your paycheck.
Another thing you gain is confidence. Sometimes we shy away from applying for our dream job because we aren’t confident in our abilities. We don’t want to ruin our chance of landing the job of our dreams. Instead, we settle for jobs that will never get us to where we want to go.
By mastering this vital skill we gain the confidence to conquer our fear and achieve our goals.
What to expect during the interview
The interview process is fairly simple. It is designed to be just like a normal interview.
You’ll connect online and be able to communicate with eachother by audio and/or video. Depending on the needs of the interview you can also expect to share screens with your interviewer.
The interviewer will proceed to ask you a series of questions to gauge your technical knowledge. Once that is done, you’ll then move onto a coding challenge where you will be expected to write some code.
Sometimes the coding challenge can be a pair programming exercise that allows the interviewer to assess how you work with others and observe how you think while solving problems. You’ll find that a lot of discussion happens throughought the coding process.
On the other hand, the coding challenge can be set for you to solve in a set amount of time. You’ll solve the problem or work until you get stuck. Don’t be shy to ask clarifying questions if stuck. Asking good questions is part of the process. Once finished you’ll both discuss your solution.
Once the interview is done you may be provided with some brief feedback about how you did. In some cases, however, your interviewer will save more detailed feedback until after the interview so that you can get the most out of the experience.
How much do mock technical interviews cost?
This depends entirely on who you interview with.
In general, prices are between $100 to $200 per interview.
If you ask a friend to interview you it can be free. However, some organizations also provide mock coding interviews for free as well.
Free interviews can be beneficial. They can be a great place to start practicing for coding interviews.
However, often you can get a higher quality of interviewer when you pay for the interview. Like anything in life, you get what you pay for.
Find the right person to interview you
Any old person won’t do when it comes to mock coding interviews. You want someone with experience that will provide you with valuable feedback. Ideally, they will have worked in the role you’re targeting or have lots of experience conducting interviews for said role.
So, unless your uncle or best friend is a highly experienced coder, don’t waste your time with them.
Furthermore, asking people at your current workplace can also be touchy because management gets nervous when they find out one of their team is looking to leave.
Connecting online anonymously with people interested in mock coding interviews works best. There are several places you can find interviewers that I’ll talk about below.
Are mock tech interviews a waste of time?
Why would you want to waste your time attending interviews where you are unlikely to get a job at the end of it? Wouldn’t that be a complete waste of time?
It all depends on how you approach the interviews.
There’s an old saying that practice makes perfect. But it would be more accurate to say that perfect practice makes perfect.
If you’re practicing the wrong thing then it doesn’t matter how much you practice. You’ll never be ready.
What you really want is to practice interviewing in conditions that match a real interview as closely as possible.
Once you can achieve that, then mock interviews become a golden opportunity to develop your interviewing skills. And best of all, you’ll be able to practice without the risk of burning bridges at companies you want to work for.
What can I do to prepare for a mock interview?
This seems like an odd question at face value. Is it possible to prepare for the very thing you’re hoping will prepare you for a real interview?
Yes actually.
The first thing that can make a huge difference is experience. This can be tough if you’re trying to get into the industry as a graduate. But even then, you can gain experience working on open source projects. Real-world experience as a coder is essential as an interview is no place to learn to code.
Watching other people’s mock interviews is a great way to get an idea of what to expect. Places like interviewing.io have recordings of previous interviews that you can review in your own time. It is well worth your time to watch a few before you start your preparations.
Solving practice programming problems will help to sharpen your problem-solving skills. Sites like Project Euler offer challenges that will require top-notch coding skills to solve.
Finally, attending real coding interviews is essential. Yep, you heard that right! Unless you know what a real one is like, how will you know how realistic a mock coding interview is? Attending one or two real coding interviews will help give you a baseline of what questions and pressure to expect.
Can a mock interview lead to a job?
It depends, but yes it is possible!
Some places that conduct mock coding interviews are strictly for practice.
However, others pair people up anonymously with companies conducting real interviews…and, if successful, you can unmask and continue the interview process for real.
Even if a mock interview doesn’t turn into a real one immediately, the more you prepare the more likely you are to be successful when you attend the real interview. Investing in a valuable skill will always be a good investment.
Are there any companies that offer mock programming interviews?
There are quite a few to choose from:
| Site | Paid/Free | Details |
|---|---|---|
| AOneCode.com | Paid | FAANG Interviewers Pressure Mock Interviews |
| CareerCup.com | Paid | Interviews and Career Coaching |
| Gainlo.co | Paid | Timed interviews where interviewers watch as you solve programming problems |
| InterviewBit.com | Free | Give and take interviews. |
| Interviewing.io | Both | They offer free mock coding interviews. There is a premium paid interview tier. They make money by placing successful candidates at companies. |
| PracticeCodingInterview.com | Paid | Coding, System Design, Machine Learning Interviews They also offer Resume Reviews |
| Pramp.com | Free | Give and take interviews. |
| TechMockInterview.com | Paid | Coding, Design, Management, and Behavioral Interviews. |
