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I signed up for a dedicated coaching program with interviewing.io and ended up getting a refund because I didnt think they were actually very good at coaching.

I signed up for a dedicated coaching program with interviewing.io and ended up getting a refund because I didnt think they were actually very good at coaching. The platform seems like its mostly useful for people who are already good at technical interviews, or at least good at solving technical problems, and just need practice writing code in front of other people or in a live setting. Has anyone used interviewing.io with good/great results?

ineedasername 5y ago
at least good at solving technical problems, and just need practice writing code in front of other people or in a live setting. I think you mean this as a minor criticism, but this seems to be exactly the point of the service. To figure out a way to find people that are actually competent at the work itself, but not in the somewhat uncorrelated skill of public speaking & live coding w/ an audience. Also a good way of identifying people that haven't gone to top tier elite schools but are just as good or better as those graduates: Recruiters at a FAANG might disregard a graduate from Generic State University w/ 2-3 years of experience under normal conditions, but if you get one that is willing to place a $1024 bet on themselves and then passes the tech interview with flying colors, it's a much easier sell. Now, with all that said, after 6 years I'd still really like to know what their long-term outcomes are. What's their typical tenure at that job, where do they land for $job +1, +2, etc.?
- AlwaysRock 5y ago
  I should have been more specific. Has anyone had a good experience with the dedicated coaching program? I know the value of a mock interview. The coaching program didnt see to provide the value that they advertised for me. I wanted to know if I'm unique or if other have had the same experience.
strikelaserclaw 5y ago
i did one session of the system design interview, it was a good way to check my interviewing skills and what i needed to improve on. The most effective way to use this service is for yourself to study your ass of first then just use one or two sessions to validate that.
paxys 5y ago
I don't see the word "coaching" anywhere on interviewing.io. Mock interviews are usually done at the last stage when you have already done the rest of the prep work. I haven't used this platform but did get friends to help me with them and they were immensely helpful. You can have all the technical knowledge in the world but end up crumbling under the pressure of a live interview setting. If you are unfamiliar with the material in the first place then mock interviews are pointless.
- travisjungroth 5y ago
  Maybe it’s only after log-in. They sell coaching packages. Weirdly, the FAQ is a Google Doc. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d7mJDPkEykKzSYjj-Wmza-UXGNAkL7kphwcpmmWOjRg/edit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d7mJDPkEykKzSYjj-Wmza-UX...
  - AlwaysRock 5y ago
    Yeah. This is what I was talking about. It's $4000 to $3500 for 10 mock interviews and there is supposed to be some type of training/coaching build it. But it's basically just 10 mock interviews.
    - leeny 5y ago
      Hey Taylor, OP and founder here. I've shared your feedback with our team. The purpose of this program is to go beyond just mock interviews, and it looks like we've not done a good job here. I'm glad you got a refund already, but if have more feedback you can share, please email me at aline@interviewing.io
      - AlwaysRock 5y ago
        Sure. I'll forward along my conversations with Shamiya and Lauren. They were fine during my interactions with them but it didnt seem like they had much ability to do anything other than just match me with another mentor. After 3 unsuccessful/unfruitful coach matches I asked for the refund.
skullgrid 5y ago
I did a 10 session package (got it on sale) that focused on (distributed) system design and ML system design. I felt confident in the coding piece, but I didn't have the opportunity to work on large scale systems in my previous role. I believed that I could obtain a sufficient level of knowledge by self-study and practice, but I also have a toddler that takes up a lot of time and energy, so I wanted to be more efficient. I think it was valuable to absorb knowledge from a mentor that has real experience working in my target role. It turned out that was very successful in my real interviews. I think that I would have still done OK had I not done the interviewing.io, but, by my estimate, the return on investment was high, since I received multiple offers and negotiated up. e: I wanted to add that my mentor and I decided that we would do 4 pure teaching sessions, and then the remainder would be partial mock interviews that would transition over sessions from them doing most of the talking to me doing most of the talking. I found this format to be good for building my own confidence.
- AlwaysRock 5y ago
  That is interesting. Glad to hear it worked well for you. Having the coach be upfront about some being teaching and some being mock interviews is helpful. The FAQ doesnt really address HOW they are going to coach or help you get better and in my experience it was, "Do a lot of leetcode". I guess saying, "We will help you with the last 20% of interview prep" or polishing doesnt sounds as good.

ineedasername 5y ago

at least good at solving technical problems, and just need practice writing code in front of other people or in a live setting. I think you mean this as a minor criticism, but this seems to be exactly the point of the service. To figure out a way to find people that are actually competent at the work itself, but not in the somewhat uncorrelated skill of public speaking & live coding w/ an audience. Also a good way of identifying people that haven't gone to top tier elite schools but are just as good or better as those graduates: Recruiters at a FAANG might disregard a graduate from Generic State University w/ 2-3 years of experience under normal conditions, but if you get one that is willing to place a $1024 bet on themselves and then passes the tech interview with flying colors, it's a much easier sell. Now, with all that said, after 6 years I'd still really like to know what their long-term outcomes are. What's their typical tenure at that job, where do they land for $job +1, +2, etc.?

AlwaysRock 5y ago
I should have been more specific. Has anyone had a good experience with the dedicated coaching program? I know the value of a mock interview. The coaching program didnt see to provide the value that they advertised for me. I wanted to know if I'm unique or if other have had the same experience.

strikelaserclaw 5y ago

i did one session of the system design interview, it was a good way to check my interviewing skills and what i needed to improve on. The most effective way to use this service is for yourself to study your ass of first then just use one or two sessions to validate that.

paxys 5y ago

I don't see the word "coaching" anywhere on interviewing.io. Mock interviews are usually done at the last stage when you have already done the rest of the prep work. I haven't used this platform but did get friends to help me with them and they were immensely helpful. You can have all the technical knowledge in the world but end up crumbling under the pressure of a live interview setting. If you are unfamiliar with the material in the first place then mock interviews are pointless.

travisjungroth 5y ago
Maybe it’s only after log-in. They sell coaching packages. Weirdly, the FAQ is a Google Doc. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d7mJDPkEykKzSYjj-Wmza-UXGNAkL7kphwcpmmWOjRg/edit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d7mJDPkEykKzSYjj-Wmza-UX...
- AlwaysRock 5y ago
  Yeah. This is what I was talking about. It's $4000 to $3500 for 10 mock interviews and there is supposed to be some type of training/coaching build it. But it's basically just 10 mock interviews.
  - leeny 5y ago
    Hey Taylor, OP and founder here. I've shared your feedback with our team. The purpose of this program is to go beyond just mock interviews, and it looks like we've not done a good job here. I'm glad you got a refund already, but if have more feedback you can share, please email me at aline@interviewing.io
    - AlwaysRock 5y ago
      Sure. I'll forward along my conversations with Shamiya and Lauren. They were fine during my interactions with them but it didnt seem like they had much ability to do anything other than just match me with another mentor. After 3 unsuccessful/unfruitful coach matches I asked for the refund.

skullgrid 5y ago

I did a 10 session package (got it on sale) that focused on (distributed) system design and ML system design. I felt confident in the coding piece, but I didn't have the opportunity to work on large scale systems in my previous role. I believed that I could obtain a sufficient level of knowledge by self-study and practice, but I also have a toddler that takes up a lot of time and energy, so I wanted to be more efficient. I think it was valuable to absorb knowledge from a mentor that has real experience working in my target role. It turned out that was very successful in my real interviews. I think that I would have still done OK had I not done the interviewing.io, but, by my estimate, the return on investment was high, since I received multiple offers and negotiated up. e: I wanted to add that my mentor and I decided that we would do 4 pure teaching sessions, and then the remainder would be partial mock interviews that would transition over sessions from them doing most of the talking to me doing most of the talking. I found this format to be good for building my own confidence.

AlwaysRock 5y ago
That is interesting. Glad to hear it worked well for you. Having the coach be upfront about some being teaching and some being mock interviews is helpful. The FAQ doesnt really address HOW they are going to coach or help you get better and in my experience it was, "Do a lot of leetcode". I guess saying, "We will help you with the last 20% of interview prep" or polishing doesnt sounds as good.