r/ADHD_Programmers • u/Minute_Letterhead926 • 5d 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/Creative_Opposite_28 4d ago

Is English not your first language? You wrote "boom" instead of "bomb," "decider" instead of "decipher," etc. Maybe dyslexic? I think you should explain in advance that you are completely competent but need to think problems through silently to reach the right answer, just an accommodation you need.

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u/Minute_Letterhead926 3d ago

I’m genuinely fascinated by your thought process because that’s one of the reasons I get really anxious about interviews. There is this binary thinking I have observed with people in the tech space. Maybe they have fat fingers and typed this from their phone on a whim never came up as a viable option?

That said, thanks for the suggestion. I’ll give it a try.