4 Mock Live Coding Interviews In 46 Hours

The Problem: A live pair coding interview is scheduled in 46 hours. I’ve never done any live coding.

The Solution: Complete 4 mock interviews within this time frame and then succeed in the real interview.

Details: I started by googling “mock live coding interview” and found several resources, including a Reddit thread.

My interview was in React/TypeScript for a small startup, not FAANG. The company would send me a zip file that I’d open in my IDE and proceed per their instructions. This was what I wanted to mock.

Here are the details of my 4 mock interviews in the sequence they occurred:

1. Fiverr. They promoted in Google search: “I will do a mock coding interview with you as a google engineer.” I did not really need a Googler; I searched and found someone else that had the needed skills and was available next morning. (The specific person I found was Ritesh Kumar, he did an excellent job.)

The mock interview itself: I fumbled with my setup, forgot to ask clarifying questions, and struggled to coordinate solutions with the interviewer. Ritesh helped me a lot and followed it up with written instructions and references. The price was very reasonable, at least if you are in the USA.

2. https://coachmatt.io. Found Matt through the above Reddit thread and he was kind enough to be available next afternoon. This was somewhat pricey but cheaper than interviewing.io.

The mock interview: Matt gave me a scenario very close to the planned interview. I did less fumbling with the setup and did better with clarifying questions. I felt more confident.

3. A personal connection. Found through a mutual friend.

The mock interview: He gave me a difficult problem involving a JS feature I had barely used and didn’t remember the syntax of… so I did not feel I did a great job. Well, so I saw a knowledge gap (and remedied it immediately afterwards). Yet I was able to practice communicating with the interviewer and asking questions/following directions.

The above 3 interviews occurred in 1 day.

4. ADPlist.org is a platform where you can get mentorship for free. I was surprised with it being free, but found no strings attached. It gives you an option to search for “Available ASAP”, which was vital in my case.

The downside of the platform: you can search by name, company, role. You cannot search for a specific technology. For example, if nobody included “C#” in their role, you would not find any C# engineers through a search. You would have to look through a list of engineers and their individual skills… I was fortunate that React is a common tool. I easily found Oluwafemi Sosanya, a senior React Developer, who was available on sort notice.

The mock interview: Oluwafemi ended up spending with me 2 hours instead of 1. He ran me from the easy to complex React features, some of which I’d never used until then (my primary framework being Vue.js). He was very kind and made it very easy for me and I felt very comfortable with React.

Then I took a break and walked into a real interview an hour later 🙂

I wasn’t entirely calm, but I didn’t fumble with the IDE, the setup, or the basics of React. I communicated clearly with the interviewer. None of this would’ve been possible without the practice.

Other Resources I Explored:

Interviewing.io: seems like a good platform, but it is pricey and geared toward FAANG.
Pramp: covered in the Reddit thread, seems workable but not immediate so was out of my timeline.

This is the story of how I did 4 mock interviews in React and TypeScript in 46 hours. “Practice makes perfect,” and the mock interviews paid off well.

The preparation allowed me to walk into the real interview with confidence, avoid technical glitches, and effectively demonstrate my skills.

To anyone reading this, good luck with your interviews! I’d love to hear your stories and resources.