🏕 are you ready for neoG interviews?
🏕 are you ready for neoG interviews?
Let's talk about mock interviews & why you should practice them?
Are you extremely nervous about your upcoming levelOne interviews? Have you thought about practicing your interviews? Would it be helpful if someone correct your mistakes? Do you want to clear the interview & get into levelOne? Do you want to call yourself a neoGrad? I've got you covered!
Let's talk about mock interviews, why you should practice them, and some tips for more effective mock interviews that will help you ace your levelOne interview.
what is a mock interview?
A mock interview is a practice interview that mirrors the real interview as closely as possible. A mock interview gives the candidate a clearer picture of your performance, strength, and weakness.
Mock Interviews are a win-win situation for both the interviewers and interviewee as it helps both of them learn about their shortcomings and improve the skillsets required for real interviews.
Note to the candidate: Just be prepared to accept criticism when it is warranted and work at improving your shortcomings.
why you should do mock interviews?
build confidence
50% of any interview is all about sitting with the right confidence & positive mindset. Practicing your interview skills will help you to reduce stress during your actual interview & will show you your strengths & weaknesses and help you increase your self-confidence. Sitting in a mock interview before the actual interview can also help with communication skills, practicing your interview skills, and overcoming your fear & frictions.
pratice, pratice, practice
You know the cliche line "Practice makes perfect" right? The more you practice the better you would be while answering questions. Mock interviews will act as a great opportunity to rehearse your answers. During the actual interview, practicing will allow you to focus on connecting with your interviewer rather than struggling to come up with answers. If you are more familiar with the types of interview questions you would be asked, the better prepared you would be in the real interview.
make friends
Mock Interview will act as a chance to build connections n the community & smoothens your camp experience with your friend circle. These relationships & connections will make you accountable with your projects-assignments & push you throughout the camp & beyond.
improves communication skills
Your communication skills are one of the major factors while giving any interview. Mock interviews will help you to increase your communication skills & make you stand out if you are prepared well.
embrace feedbacks
At the same time, mock interviews will provide you with constructive feedback in a low-stress environment. You will also get a chance to make mistakes and work on rectifying them in a safe environment. These comments which you will receive from the interviewer are what actually going to help you upskill yourself & crack the actual interview.
there's only one chance
The interview will be tough whether you are a newbie or coming from an intermediate route & there's no second chance. So, you have to make it count & mock interviews will be your savior. For some of you, neoG interview might be your first interview experience. I strongly recommend you sit for as many interviews as you can before the actual interview.
how you should do mock interviews?
basics
Do not think of it as "just a mock" but rather as a "simulation of the real interview" and treat it seriously. Keep the following things in mind whether it be a mock or actual interview.
System check. Make sure you check your mic & sound.
Be early. Join the call at least 5-10 min early to avoid the last-minute rush.
Setup your dev environment. Setup your IDE. It can be code sandbox, repl, or your vscode.
what to ask?
Make sure you introduce each other at the start of the interview.
There are different types of questions that are going to be asked in the levelOne interview. So, make sure you cover all the variants of questions.
live coding: Interviews contain a time constraint of 15-20 minutes. So, one live coding question should take 4-5 mins to solve but if you are stuck on the question make sure you take your time to solve it even after the interview whether it be a mock or real one.
Don't just rely on the sample questions from the build exercises instead try to have a combination of the following:
One question from the build repository
One small exercise that you have already solved in levelZero
code walkthrough. Interviewees should be able to explain the code of any of the projects which are taught in levelZero.
theory questions. Make sure you are thorough with theoretical questions & try to explain them in your own words.
Tip: For your first mock interview practice normally and then with time constraints.
tips for interviewers
Make sure you go through the interview format before questioning the interviewee & try to ask a variety of questions. As mentioned in the guide there will be multiple types of questions that will test your levelZero knowledge.
Here are few pointers for an effective mock interview:
You should ask about the interviewee's background i.e. which route they are choosing & ask accordingly.
You should have an idea about what kind of questions you would like to ask by going through the candidate's portfolio prior to the mock interview as it would ensure the smooth flow of the interview.
While solving any live coding question give them the preference to choose which language they would prefer i.e React or Javascript.
You should nudge the candidate in the right direction when they are stuck or nervous whether it be a live coding question or conceptual question.
You should help the interviewee while communicating & try to make them comfortable. Ask them about "How was your day?", "How have you been doing?" & introduce yourself.
You should also take feedback from the interviewee around "How can you improve?", "What you could have done better to help the candidate?". Take it positively & try to implement it in the next interview.
tips for interviewees
Don't take the mock interview lightly & make sure you are prepared well which will help you to have a productive & helpful session.
Here are few pointers for an effective mock interview:
Communication. You should keep communicating with the interviewer as much as possible. Let the interviewer know about your thought process & approach while solving a question.
Make a habit of thinking out loud while coding. If you are stuck somewhere, tell the interviewer what are you thinking. Ask for help or hints.
Make a list of theory questions to practice before the mock interview.
after the interview
This is applicable for both the interviewer & interviewee
It is always good to initiate a conversation about your web dev journey, level zero experience, or anything in general, don't wait till levelOne to build your network, you'll be surprised to know how awesome the teamtanay community is.
You should take time to reflect back about your mock interview experience by writing a Twitter thread or a blog on your key takeaways, learnings & mistakes you learnt.
where can you find the right person?
I have got you a tool that will help you find the right person & schedule a mock interview in just a go. Get Interview Ready with Mocky. You can open your slots anytime & schedule slots as per your convenience.
Mocky has reduced the friction of finding the right person to practice the interviews. Last year students have been through the pain of searching for people to interview with, reaching out to them & scheduling a meet with mutual convenience but now the process of scheduling mock interviews has become easy & sleek with Mocky. So, try to schedule a meet & interview with as many people as you can on Mocky.
So, if you haven't practiced for your interviews yet. Start today & book your slots using Mocky.
Shoutout to the OG Poornima Reddy (@Moony_codes) who wrote the mother of all the threads on how to do mock interviews on Twitter.
And thanks to Prerana Nawar for building mocky single handedly. Gives me absolute pleasure that a 17 year girl can code an entire app alone after doing levelOne.