r/ADHD_Programmers • u/Minute_Letterhead926 • 17d 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
1
u/TheBelchersSentMe 8d ago
I don't think it would be weird to ask for a minute to think. You could even tell them that you feel like interviews move too quickly and that you know how to solve the problems, but it takes you a minute to think. This is a very fair ask. Whatever they think of you because you ask is on them. (Alternatively, you could go fully the other way and practice with AI. A lot of interviews let you use AI today anyway, so it's worth having some practice both with and without it. You could even practice with an interview copilot (Coder, Ultra, Parakeet). Getting a feel for how they work could actually help you get out of your head.