Mock vs Real phone interview
I am really frustrated now. In mock interviews on pramp, I always get full rating, great feedback. But when it comes to real interviews, I just don't understand what goes wrong. There is no problem with being not able to code or understand problem correctly. For example, If you give me the problem statement on hackerrank, I can solve it in 20-25 minutes without issues. I'm very disappointed with myself now. There have been so many instances of this. I am somehow unable to execute on phone interview.
Don’t get yourself down. I have never used pramp so do not know how the judge people. The biggest problem I had was talking clearly while coding. I practice by doing practice problems and recording myself talking through them. I then would play it back judge myself.
Don’t buy into this story that everyone at the big companies is just born enormously smart. Some are. Most (like me) have failed dozens of interviews in our lives and have felt like you at some point. If you can be critical about yourself then you can improve and do better each time. You’ll get there. Also don’t try and code optimal shit in phone interviews, just focus on talking about approaches. Leetcode doesn’t teach you that explaining your approach is more important than solving the problem.
The interview to offer conversion vs time is a nonlinear curve.
You may get no offers from the first 20 or so interviews then 5 from the last 10. That’s what happened to me.
Try refdash, pramp interviews are way easier than refdash, and the quality of feedback at refdash is very good as well.
any good sites for a preparation for manager roles?
Just leetcode grind. I would say spend 95% of your time there. If you still want to simulate the interview experience because you’re nervous check out Gainlo.co or PracticeCodingInterview.com. I agree with others that Pramp interviews tend to be easier, but they’re also free if all you want is a stranger judging you to work through nerves.
I think the dirty secret is to Interview with random companies for practice. Once you feel confident and get maybe an offer or two, move on to your target companies. Bit unethical but that’s the world we live in.
Nothing unethical about it
It depends. I wouldn’t want to waste the time of promising startups that I’m not interested in (eg due to TC) I think it’s reasonable to waste the time of evil corporations, such as Facebook. Telling Facebook about how much you want to work there is great practice for BSing / negotiating with a poker face. It’s also okay imo to interview with companies you’re not that interested in but could be tempted. You’re not just selling to them, they’re selling to you.