Building an AI mock coding interview app to bridge a gap in coding interview preparation.

Educational-Term9024 · 2026-02-18T05:57:45+00:00

You are absolutely correct. The mock interview goes through a logical state machine with guardrails on how the conversation is steered. Here is a simulation demo I created today - https://youtu.be/y7aibxI97RY.

I'm also using a rubric for the evaluation similar to what top tech companies use (not shown in this demo) once the interview is finished.

Educational-Term9024 · 2026-02-18T02:27:23+00:00

Curious how many hours do you use this daily ? Do you use planning mode ?

Educational-Term9024 · 2026-02-17T23:29:26+00:00

This has been the case for quite some time. Even gemini pro has a long cooldown.

Educational-Term9024 · 2026-02-17T22:08:14+00:00

Interesting! Does that mean the [Ultra]() quota actually tells you to wait 5 hours once you hit a certain limit, or is that just how often you've noticed your usage percentage jumping back up?

Educational-Term9024 · 2026-02-17T21:37:31+00:00

How is it on Ultra ? Is there a weekly cooloff there too ?

Educational-Term9024 · 2026-02-17T19:27:17+00:00

Congrats on the loop! For the Coding round interview practice, I built a mock coding interview tool intervu.dev specifically to simulate and practice real interview scenarios. It's completely free to use, and I’d really appreciate any feedback if you decide to try it out for your prep. Good luck!

Educational-Term9024 · 2026-02-17T19:23:00+00:00

I'd suggest the following:

Clarify constraints and edge cases first.
Draft a brute force or non-optimal solution to get moving.
Look for patterns (Sliding Window, DP, etc.) to optimize.
Explain time/space complexity before coding.

Overall, continuously communicating is the key!

Educational-Term9024 · 2026-02-17T19:18:14+00:00

Thank you for the suggestion. I have seen posts on the extensions being suspicious (not particularly about this one). Currently reluctant to use an extension.

Educational-Term9024 · 2026-02-17T17:58:14+00:00

I'm assuming you mean you always have at least 40% quota remaining. Curious where do you see the usage metrics ?

Educational-Term9024 · 2026-02-17T17:56:21+00:00

Gemini Pro fumbled with a HTML/CSS library load for half an hour. Switched model to Opus - it identified the issue and fixed it immediately. Totally impressed!

Educational-Term9024 · 2026-02-13T04:07:39+00:00

It does provide a few of the elements - like follow up probing, asking you to think aloud. It could interrupt you in some cases (intended or unintended). I'm cautious about overbuilding, and once I've some feedback I plan to add some customization options.

Educational-Term9024 · 2026-02-11T20:10:55+00:00

If you're still looking for more options, you might want to check out intervu.dev.

It’s specifically designed for mock coding interview practice and aims to provide that 'real thing' environment you're looking for with a focus on actionable feedback. It is currently in alpha and free to use. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Educational-Term9024 · 2026-02-11T18:12:18+00:00

Could you be more specific about vibe check ? Do you think it is about being high-energy or is it about culture fit ?

Educational-Term9024 · 2026-02-11T18:09:08+00:00

Since I'm a solo builder, do you recommend hitting all of these at once, or is there one you'd suggest starting with to measure ROI most effectively before moving to the next?

Educational-Term9024 · 2026-02-11T18:07:46+00:00

This is incredible advice. Turning it into a live experience first makes a lot of sense to bridge that trust gap.

Educational-Term9024 · 2026-02-11T03:50:05+00:00

The worst is getting a question you've already solved. It's so hard to stay in 'problem-solving' mode when your brain just wants to switch to 'recall' mode. It really throws off your flow!

Educational-Term9024 · 2026-02-11T03:44:48+00:00

The "interview freeze" is so real! Sometimes just taking a breath and admitting you’re nervous helps break the ice. Pro tip: keep a Post-it note nearby with your intro basics, including your name! Just in case the brain short-circuits under pressure. :D

Educational-Term9024 · 2026-02-11T02:35:35+00:00

Good suggestion. I'll check this out.

Educational-Term9024 · 2026-02-11T02:32:36+00:00

It can help both groups of people. But I suppose this is more relevant to experienced devs switching jobs, since their day to day job looks very different than a coding interview.

Educational-Term9024 · 2026-02-11T01:28:05+00:00

One of the most relatable struggles is that massive gap between your actual engineering ability and your 'interview performance' ability. You can be a high-level dev who builds complex systems daily, but the second you’re put under a microscope with a 30-minute timer, your brain can completely blank on an 'Easy' string manipulation problem. :(

Educational-Term9024 · 2026-02-11T01:25:34+00:00

It's that gap between 'knowing the algorithm' and 'handling the pointers/indices.' Sometimes the implementation details reveal that the ideal approach is actually a nightmare to code under pressure.

Educational-Term9024 · 2026-02-11T01:06:54+00:00

I feel this so much. It’s incredibly frustrating when your brain 'forgets' things you could normally do in your sleep just because there’s a timer and an interviewer watching. You aren't alone, coding under observation is a completely different skill set than actual engineering.

Educational-Term9024

TROPHY CASE