r/InterviewCoderPro

I picked up InterviewMan on the annual plan to see if I liked it for CoderPad rounds. Just ran it on a friend mock, the overlay is so clean i didnt even feel the urge to alt tab once to check it. I plan on using it for my final round CoderPad session next thursday, but after this mock im not sure i can go back to what i was running before. anyone here actually used it on a real CoderPad round, want a sanity check.

I had some leftover credit and a TestDome assessment scheduled for tuesday so I pulled the trigger on the InterviewMan annual.

I strongly believe in using a native desktop overlay over a browser based helper for TestDome for stealth reasons. That being said I have done 2 TestDome tests with a web wrapper without getting flagged on the report. Doesnt mean it was the right thing to do.

Anyways, I installed it and tried it on a TestDome practice mock last night and while I will keep using it because of the whole stealth thing, I'm super impressed with the response speed. A typical Electron app would have made me wait 3-4 seconds for a hint to show, these things land in about a second flat. The latency drop is the real killer feature, even on the harder TestDome problems the nudge arrives before I have time to spiral. If it was my own money on a more expensive tool, those slower ones would be returned. Since it was leftover credit and I do want to land this role (and bonus, it works on TestDome plus HackerRank and CoderPad), I will keep it and use it for the real assessment on tuesday.

But i still want a sanity check, anyone here used it on a real proctored TestDome, did the report come back clean.

I picked up the newest InterviewMan annual a few days ago and have been pulling my hair out to get the overlay working as intended over a CodePen pen on a shared screen. The cmd+B toggle feels off, the focus doesnt land on the CodePen tab right, answers come through a beat late on the pen etc.

I had installed a couple of apps to make InterviewMan behave like the setup i ran on my old windows machine: a custom hotkey app, a window pinning tool, plus the default logitech mouse software. Finally i decided to uninstall the window pinning tool and the hotkey app and just let InterviewMan handle the always-on-top side itself. Things are working as expected now and i can use the cmd+B shortcut to hide the overlay during a shared CodePen screen easily (similar to the alt-tab hide gesture i had on windows). It also feels much more responsive on the codepen tab.

The actual interview is next week and the recruiter shares out a CodePen link instead of a desktop coding sandbox, so i wanted the cmd+B hide sorted on a practice run before then. Anyone here run it on a CodePen pen the recruiter shares out, did the hide stay clean for you on screen share?

And it’s an *in-person* on-site final round (accommodations/travel covered all that jazz)

I was ready to hang my dream company up, but I rather grind leetcode and hang up ai tools than the dream. I know how it sounds corny, but AI tool served its purpose getting folks like me here.

So it’s up to me now, it has always been me (and AI tools, and its developers thank you, you have literally enabled livelihoods). Good luck to every one out there not just chasing the paycheque. Hope you can find your peace and freedom.

I've been working at my company for 4 years. Recently, I made a lateral move on the basis that it would lead me to a promotion. This move meant taking a temporary pay cut, going from a 12% off-shift differential to no differential at all on the day shift, and also increasing the distance and time of my commute from home. I knew it was a risk, but in biotech it's become hard to move up lately because the industry itself is struggling.

My shift lead and department manager both told me they believed I deserved a promotion, and said they had started discussions with corporate to move things forward. A few weeks after that, a role opened with exactly the same promotion title I had been working toward. Instead of promoting me, they brought in someone from outside with very little experience in the field, basically someone just out of school.

When she started, I was expected to train her on our processes, SOPs, documentation expectations, and the general lab flow. I was happy to get the chance to train because that's a skill I'm trying to build, but honestly, at the same time, I was emotionally crushed that they had passed over me. That made me speak again with the lead and the manager, and they again told me they were still working on my promotion.

The problem is that now, about 10 months after she's been here, she still comes to ask me all the time to walk her step by step through tasks. And not just assays or internal procedures. It's time management, understanding the science behind what she's doing, how to communicate with the team, how to prioritize work - everything. Her title is supposed to be a subject matter expert level above mine. I had no problem teaching her our site-specific practices, but now I feel like I'm being used in the background by her and by management too.

What makes it worse is that management keeps postponing any discussion about my promotion, while other groups on site are promoting people. So to me, it doesn't look like corporate is blocking promotions. It looks like my managers are the ones choosing not to push the matter forward.

I've had more meetings with the lead and been very clear about how upset I am, but nothing changes. I said I only want to do tasks that are appropriate for my actual title, and that I'm being asked to work above my band level without any real sign that a promotion is coming. They listen, say they understand, and then there's no action. I feel like every time my lead is supposed to talk about my promotion, suddenly something happens or she isn't there that day.

I know the new hire has more formal education than I do, but I don't think I should be responsible for guiding her through her daily responsibilities when she was hired into the role I was trying to reach. I've already started taking steps and applying elsewhere, and I absolutely don't want to find myself in a situation like this again.

Does anyone have advice on how to deal with this frustration and whether I can maybe stay at my current company, or is this a sign that I need to leave and look for a company that is a better fit for me?