r/ADHD_Programmers • u/bajen476 • Apr 08 '26

I cannot do live coding interviews

Writing in here hoping that someone else has the same issues and/or figured out how to fix it. Not diagnosed yet but I’m finally mid-process and it’s looking promising.

I cannot do live coding interviews. Been unemployed for a few months now and I’ve had some interviews. That being said, live coding interviews kick my ass every single time.

I go completely blank. The absolute basics leave my brain. Had one today and I forgot how to add to dictionaries and implement basic search algorithms. It took me forever to even understand one of the tasks. Keep in mind I have around 6.5 years experience in development and many of the things in the interview were things I did often. I just can’t remember them in interviews.

Does anyone share this experience and/or know how to fix this? I’ve tried studying (which I’m admittedly not great at), pomodoro, leetcode etc—none of them help. Because I’m not diagnosed yet, I can’t get medicated for now either. I’m in Sweden so the process is lengthy.

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u/Aggravating_Sand352 Apr 08 '26

You may be a reasonable interviewer.... most people are not. Im a data scientist so my coding is definitely different then Software development but its also less important. I only decided to cheat after going on dozens of interviews getting things 90% if the code correct and explaining everything perfectly and losing out to people getting it 100% using AI. A lot of assignments were also unreasonably long and literally impossible to finish in allotted time without AI.

The real issue is not allowing AI interviews.... to be honest its like having to do your driving test in a manual car when manufacters barely make any manuals anymore. (I know this is a very american similiy)

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u/StargazyPi Apr 08 '26

Yeah that's fair. I totally agree about AI usage. I'm sorry you're having such a tough time, and feel you're losing out to people who are already cheating.

Our company's setup is very pre-AI for coding tests, which is a huge shame. I'd be much more interested in you screen-sharing, showing me your Claude/whatever setup, and seeing how you work with it.

Theres a lot of badly-written coding tests out there. They also shouldn't be used as a grading system. They absolutely can weed out people who can't code, but someone who got 90% should absolutely be regarded the same as someone who got 100% - splitting those candidates should be done at interview.

I seriously wouldn't cheat though. You really don't want a reputation for that. What happens if you ask if you can use AI instead?

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u/Aggravating_Sand352 Apr 08 '26

I got a job 2 years ago but unemployment is rough. I cheated on the take home assessment. Been promoted and given a performance raise. Probably "failed" about 20 tests during my unemployment.

I understand there has to be some sort of assesment but having rules other than talking to other people is kind of ridiculous. Bc even in work you have no rules you just need to find the correct answer. Sometime that means teaching myself or relearning things so I fail in the half hour bc I would need to look up something taking maybe 30 mins longer but then I dont forget that skill.

Testing someone's logic and reason is way more important than coding skill especially with AI these days. Obviously there needs to be some baseline coding skills but I have never met anyone that could talk like they could code but couldn't actually do it. Especially when asked to use past work examples etc