Three Mock Interview Loops

Record yourself. Use a blank editor and no autocomplete for coding if the real format is unknown. Each loop has a scorecard; do not grade on vibes.

Mock 1 — Python depth and coding (60 minutes)

• 0–5: 90-second introduction.
• 5–15: is/==, hashability, mutable defaults, generator behavior.
• 15–45: P2 merge event streams or P7 bounded async mapper.
• 45–55: tests, complexity, memory, malformed/late input.
• 55–60: one question for the interviewer.

Score 0–2: clarification, correctness, idiomatic Python, tests/edge cases, complexity, explanation. Target 9/12.

Mock 2 — System design (60 minutes)

• 0–5: requirements for Drill B or C.
• 5–15: events, invariants, scale, success and failure semantics.
• 15–35: architecture, state, partitioning, main flow.
• 35–50: overload, ordering, recovery, idempotency, operations.
• 50–55: alternatives and evolution.
• 55–60: concise summary.

Score the eight items in the system-design chapter. Target 12/16.

Mock 3 — Hiring manager and production (60 minutes)

• 0–10: introduction and role motivation.
• 10–22: system ownership story.
• 22–34: incident story with technical drill-down.
• 34–44: disagreement/ambiguous stakeholder story.
• 44–52: Python transition challenge and evidence.
• 52–60: candidate questions.

Score 0–2: concise structure, personal ownership, technical depth, quantified result, honest self-correction, role connection. Target 9/12.

Repair loop

For every lost point:

1. write the exact weak moment;
2. classify knowledge, retrieval, coding, structure, or communication;
3. do the smallest targeted repair;
4. repeat only that segment from a blank start;
5. rerun the full loop later, not immediately.

Interview-day operating rules

• Clarify before coding/designing, but keep momentum.
• State invariants and choose one concrete path; mention alternatives afterward.
• Test with normal, boundary, empty, invalid, and duplicate/out-of-order cases.
• If you do not know, state what you know, what is uncertain, and how you would verify. Do not improvise false internals.
• End with a summary that connects decisions to the role's reliability and collaboration needs.