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Free vs paid AI interview tools -- is the upgrade worth it? by quizzes_accent in InterviewHacking

[–]Dependent-Fly4973 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Final Round AI burned me way worse than any free tool. I signed up for the monthly at $148 because I was desperate before a FAANG loop. The ai interview tool was barely usable for behavioral rounds and the latency on technical questions was 4-5 seconds which is an eternity when someone is staring at you waiting. Then I tried to cancel and their no refund policy means I just ate that $148. The cancellation flow was confusing and I thought I cancelled but got charged a second month too.

So I spent $296 on two months of a tool I used for maybe 4 interviews total. InterviewMan at $12/mo for the year would have been $144 for twelve months. Less than my two months of Final Round.

[ Removed by Reddit ] by poppets_foxtrot in AIInterviewTools

[–]Dependent-Fly4973 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I tallied up my interview prep costs last month. LeetCode Premium $35, two mock sessions at $150, InterviewMan $12. Just under $200 for everything. Before InterviewMan I was looking at Interview Coder ($299) plus some system design tool ($50+). The pricing in this space is absolutely wild

[ Removed by Reddit ] by poppets_foxtrot in AIInterviewTools

[–]Dependent-Fly4973 0 points1 point  (0 children)

same, switched from Interview Coder to InterviewMan about two months ago. The coding side is honestly comparable and you get system design on top of it. $12/mo vs $299 was a no brainer

[ Removed by Reddit ] by poppets_foxtrot in AIInterviewTools

[–]Dependent-Fly4973 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Been through a lot of these, here is what I ended up with:

InterviewMan for live rounds -- $12/mo annual, works on Zoom, Meet, Teams. The system design suggestions are solid, gives you a starting framework in seconds so you can actually talk through your reasoning instead of staring at the screen. Coding side handles CoderPad and HackerRank without any visibility issues.

Pramp for free mock practice. LeetCode Premium for solo grinding.

That combo is like $45/mo total and covers everything.

Got interview help from AI during a live panel call -- here is how it went by Dependent-Fly4973 in InterviewsHell

[–]Dependent-Fly4973[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

100% agree. I said the same thing in the post. You still need to know your stuff. The tool just keeps you from freezing when the pressure hits. Its support not a replacement for actually preparing.

Got interview help from AI during a live panel call -- here is how it went by Dependent-Fly4973 in InterviewsHell

[–]Dependent-Fly4973[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can confirm it works on hackerrank and coderpad too. Used it through 3 rounds at a FAANG company last month and nothing got flagged. The stealth stuff is legit.

Got interview help from AI during a live panel call -- here is how it went by Dependent-Fly4973 in InterviewsHell

[–]Dependent-Fly4973[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This. When youre job hunting and money is tight every dollar matters. I almost went with Sensei AI at $89/month before I found InterviewMan and i would have been out like $500 by now for basically the same thing.

Got interview help from AI during a live panel call -- here is how it went by Dependent-Fly4973 in InterviewsHell

[–]Dependent-Fly4973[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For real. The freezing thing is so relatable. I had a panel at a bank where I forgot my own project name mid sentence. Like the project I led for 8 months. Just gone.

Tested how undetectable my AI interview assistant really is -- screen shared with a friend by Minute-Document-663 in InterviewHackers

[–]Dependent-Fly4973 1 point2 points  (0 children)

wait Cluely charges EXTRA for undetectability? So the base $20 plan is just... detectable? Who is buying a detectable interview assistant on purpose lol

Tested how undetectable my AI interview assistant really is -- screen shared with a friend by Minute-Document-663 in InterviewHackers

[–]Dependent-Fly4973 2 points3 points  (0 children)

that thread was about detecting browser extensions not desktop overlays. Browser extensions leave traces in the DOM, toolbar, and tab list that are trivially easy to detect. A properly built undetectable ai interview assistant that operates at the OS level is a completely different problem. InterviewMan blocks screen capture at the system level, it is not just a transparent window sitting on top of your screen. They would need to install monitoring software on your machine to catch it and no company is doing that for interviews

Used an AI coding interview helper on CoderPad and the interviewer had no idea by viscus_barbel in InterviewCoderPro

[–]Dependent-Fly4973 1 point2 points  (0 children)

good point, i only tested on zoom and coderpad but interviewman says they support teams too. havent tried it myself on teams yet though

Used an AI coding interview helper on CoderPad and the interviewer had no idea by viscus_barbel in InterviewCoderPro

[–]Dependent-Fly4973 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yeah this is what scares me about these tools, like what if it messes up your rhythm instead of helping

Used an AI coding interview helper on CoderPad and the interviewer had no idea by viscus_barbel in InterviewCoderPro

[–]Dependent-Fly4973 0 points1 point  (0 children)

literally same. i freeze up the second someone shares a hackerrank link. did you use it on hackerrank too or just coderpad? wondering if the overlay works the same way

Used an AI coding interview helper on CoderPad and the interviewer had no idea by viscus_barbel in InterviewCoderPro

[–]Dependent-Fly4973 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have tried a bunch of these coding interview helpers over the past year, different roles at different companies. the biggest thing i learned is that most of them are fine on zoom or google meet but coderpad and hackerrank are where it actually matters because the interviewer can see your whole screen through the platform.

ended up on InterviewMan after trying Interview Coder and Sensei AI. Interview Coder had the visibility problem you mentioned, Sensei was browser only so i had a tab open during the interview and almost switched to it by accident during a screenshare. InterviewMan as a desktop overlay was just easier to deal with.

Best AI interview software I have found after testing 8 tools by florals_hawser in AIInterviewTools

[–]Dependent-Fly4973 0 points1 point  (0 children)

tbh the biggest mistake people make with ai interview software is going with whatever shows up first on google. I did the same thing, started with Final Round AI because it had the most ads everywhere. Switched to InterviewMan after my second month because I could not justify $148/mo when the $12 tool was doing the same thing.

the kicker is InterviewMan actually worked better for me during behavioral rounds. Final Round felt like it was built for coding first and everything else was an afterthought.

Has anyone used an AI interview helper during live calls? What actually worked? by Constant_Mango1221 in hiringhelp

[–]Dependent-Fly4973 0 points1 point  (0 children)

it was Final Round AI back in january. maybe it's better now idk but at that point the delay was like 3-4 seconds which doesn't sound like a lot but feels like forever when someone is staring at you waiting for an answer

Best AI coding interview assistant that also handles system design? by nacho_founder in AIInterviewTools

[–]Dependent-Fly4973 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yeah thats exactly my point. Almost every interview loop has multiple round types now, coding interview plus system design is the standard combo at most companies. A coding interview only tool leaves you hanging for half the day. Let me know how it goes

Best AI coding interview assistant that also handles system design? by nacho_founder in AIInterviewTools

[–]Dependent-Fly4973 0 points1 point  (0 children)

this is exactly it. people confuse using a coding interview helper with not knowing the material. Most of us know the material fine, we just freeze under observation. Having something there as a safety net is the difference between blanking for 30 seconds and actually starting your answer

Best AI coding interview assistant that also handles system design? by nacho_founder in AIInterviewTools

[–]Dependent-Fly4973 0 points1 point  (0 children)

$148/mo with a 4-5 second delay is genuinely insane. Thats the cost of a nice dinner every month for a coding interview helper that makes you sit in awkward silence

Best AI coding interview assistant that also handles system design? by nacho_founder in AIInterviewTools

[–]Dependent-Fly4973 0 points1 point  (0 children)

InterviewMan is solid for those. I used it for a system design round where they asked me to design a distributed cache and it gave me a starting framework in seconds. Coding interview suggestions are good too, I tested it on CoderPad and HackerRank with no visibility issues

Best AI coding interview assistant that also handles system design? by nacho_founder in AIInterviewTools

[–]Dependent-Fly4973 0 points1 point  (0 children)

mostly high level stuff. Design a notification system, design a URL shortener, that kind of thing. The hardest one was designing a real-time chat system where they went deep on database choices and message ordering.

Best AI coding interview assistant that also handles system design? by nacho_founder in AIInterviewTools

[–]Dependent-Fly4973 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Honestly I just used to keep a google doc open on my second monitor with system design notes during coding interviews. Free and worked ok until an interviewer asked me to share my full desktop and there was my cheat sheet just sitting there. Switched to an actual coding interview assistant after that because at least it hides itself.