I started Mocki.co as I have seen candidates receiving negative answers without a chance to receive proper feedback. Little or no feedback means poor chance to get better at interviewing.
Mocki.co enables candidates to take mock interviews with engineers from top companies such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft before a real interview. So that when the time comes, they don’t ask themselves if they are ready to interview or not.
Before requesting a mock interview with us, there are other things you can do.
Create opportunities to get feedback.
Always ask for feedback.
Having a negative answer from a company is tough. You question yourself, reassess your ability to successfully pass an interview and this may impact your self-esteem.
While conducting mock interviews on Mocki, a candidate explained that she had received a ”no” from a company. When she prompted the recruiter for feedback, all she got was: “Your logic was biased”. No proper explanation. She came to us to pass a mock interview and get truthful feedback as she had lost confidence in herself.
So why always ask for feedback even though they won’t tell you why? Because you have nothing to lose. At worst, you get nothing. At best, you get something to work on.
Suprise the interviewer by asking a hint for the next interview.
Instead of requesting feedback after you have received an answer, you can try the following:
“If you had one hint to give me for the next interview, what would it be?” This is literally what a candidate once asked me during an onsite interview at Amazon. I replied something along the lines of: “We don’t give tips to candidates, and no live feedback, but here is a tip I normally give to people: make sure to write examples when you start working on a coding question!”. At least, he knew he had to do better at writing examples for the next interview question.
Build your interview experience.
When I searched for my first job roughly 10 years ago, after I graduated, I received a lot of negative answers. Sometimes I wouldn’t even hear back from recruiters.
I took over 20 interviews in different companies at that time to build my experience as a candidate. I traveled throughout the country, by train, by bus, on foot. You’ve to be scrappy.
I built my interview skills and got better at interviewing with companies I was semi-interested in. And eventually landed a job in one of my target company. McKinsey & Company at the time.
Work on your resume.
Resumes are cultural, some people and interviewers don’t even look at them. A resume with prestigious companies opens more doors.
A resume should give answers to the following questions:
- As a recruiter, do I want to interview you or not?
- Do you have the right experience to do well at the job?
- Do you have the right experience to pass the interview?
Be aware that some interviewers may expect you to ”intelligently” speak about any technology you have on your resume. Check out our behavioral questions preparation post for more details.
Reward yourself.
Accumulate interviews like you accumulate points in a game. This will motivate you.
You can also indulge yourself after every interview with a sweet treat or something you like. I got into a habit of treating myself with a good pastry in a coffee place nearby where I interviewed.
Wrap-up.
Getting better at interview takes practice. If you don’t get many interviewing opportunities, request mock interviews on Mocki.co to build that experience of yours.
Check out our other posts about coding interview tips and Amazon behavioral questions preparation.
Good luck!
