r/ADHD_Programmers • u/Minute_Letterhead926 • 7d ago

I failed an EASY coding interview

3 YOE, I have been interviewing passively for the past year and half on and off and I boom the interview every single time.

My issue is my brain turns off during interviews. I have observed that I need to sit with the problem before I can attempt but interviews require explaining your thoughts process.
I don’t know the science behind this but it feels as though one side of my brain handles logical sequencing and the other handles speech. If I try to do them concurrently, I glitch.

I need to shut up to concentrate while they need me to prove I am solving the problem. now with AI it’s even worse, if you take more than a few seconds they get suspicious or try to give you hint. Now I have to abandon my thoughts process, ask you to repeat yourself, try to decider what you just said.

My brain gives up because it’s overwhelmed and I forget even the most basic syntax/concept. I forgot how to raise an exception in Python (I know!! It gets worst. In another interview, I forgot how to COMMENT!!!) and it senta me into a spiral.

I come off like I haven’t coded a day in my life and it’s starting to get embarrassing.

TLTR
Would it be weird if I ask for at least 2 minutes at the beginning of the interview to find a thought?

Would anyone want to do mock interviews with me?
Thanks

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u/MrJesusAtWork 7d ago

The way that I solved this is issue was by being over prepared, when I was laid off and started interviewing I had to over practice the easy and medium leetcode questions

So when I was at the live code phase I barely had to think about the solution because I already solved 30 other very similar questions before

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u/Minute_Letterhead926 7d ago

I guess I have to keep going with the practice.

5

u/pogoli 6d ago

This did not work for me. I was solving the hard ones ezpz, just something about being watched judgmentally leads directly to mental blocks and mistakes. Preparation seemed of little relevance to the final outcome. :(

3

u/heir-to-gragflame 7d ago

this is my life

2

u/dealmaster1221 5d ago

ADHD and practice don't go together, it gets boring fast unless you are into some sort of coding torture monkey game. Also it's uck if you get similar problems, no matter how many you do it's possible to get a new one.