Anyone doing mock technical interviews? Anyone want to?

Question

Does anyone know of any groups out there who do mock technical interviews on each other? I am looking for an interview practice buddy or two. I couldn't find any groups out there, so I started a google group in the hopes that there are more people who want practice and who are open to this. The phone interviews would be something similar to those of a large software company only conducted on each other. The goal is to become comfortable explaining your goals, resume, your thought process through a problem to a stranger.

I've also created a thread in the group which you can reply to if interested.

Anyone interested??

Answer 1

That's pretty cool. I think it's a great idea!

Answer 2

That's genius. In - person interviews can be mocked with video conference calls. There should also be interviews for testers and project managers. So a developer can figure out if she can be successful in test or vice versa or another developer can figure out if he is ready to become a project manager.

Answer 3

I was looking for exactly this kind of thing a few months ago, and I found a website called CareerCup (www.careercup.com). (No, I don't own it. No, I'm not getting any money from them. Sheesh!) Basically, some former Amazon, Google, and Microsoft employees, who between them have conducted hundreds of tech interviews, have written an e-book to serve as a study guide for just the type of thing you're asking about. There's also a running series of forums on the website, where people collectively post questions that they've been asked during phone screens and tech interviews.

Now, they do offer a practice phone interview, but it ain't free. Still, if it meant having a better chance at landing a 6-figure job in Seattle or San Jose, it might be money well spent. The website's free, and the e-book is $25.

Your Google Groups idea is a great one, by the way. Practice can only make us better! And eventually, you might be the person conducting the interviews, some day.

Answer 4

As an aside but on the same general goal read "programming perls", "Data Structures and Algorithms" {free}, and "Programming Interviews Exposed".

Answer 5

I have the many of the interview books mentioned and while they are excellent nothing prepares you for the experience as much as doing a live interview. The problem is finding someone with the requisite background to do so. Algorithm analysis and datan structures is not as common as you think. A boxer can only get so much better hitting a bag, he eventually needs a live body swinging at him.

Speaking of which, anyone still looking for an interview buddy?