How Mock Interviews Help in Coding Interview Prep (and Why You Should Do More of Them)

How Mock Interviews Help You Crack Coding Interviews (with Exponent and More)

Hello guys, Preparing for coding interviews is more than just solving LeetCode problems and mastering coding patterns.

If you’re aiming for companies like Google, Amazon, or Microsoft, you already know that the real challenge lies in explaining your approach, staying calm under pressure, and thinking clearly when someone is watching you code.

That’s where mock interviews come in.

Speaking from my own experience — I’ve been actively preparing using Exponent, and it’s been a game-changer.

Their platform gives you 5 free mock interviews (even without a subscription), and if you subscribe, you get unlimited mock interviews, including AI-led, peer-to-peer, and even expert mock interviews.

Mock Interviews: Improve Your Skills By Practicing with Peers and AI – Exponent

These one-hour sessions give you focused time to not only sharpen your data structures and algorithms skills but also improve your confidence and communication.

Over time, I started recognizing patterns more quickly. The nervousness I used to feel when someone watched me code? Almost gone.

My problem-solving became more structured, and I became better at thinking out loud — something interviewers love.

What surprised me even more was how much I learned just by being the interviewer.

Watching others solve problems teaches you how people think, where they struggle, and how they communicate. It’s like learning from their mistakes — and your own — all at once.

Don’t believe, try the free mock interview now and then let me know in comments.

Mock Interviews: Improve Your Skills By Practicing with Peers and AI – Exponent

Why Mock Interviews Work ?

See, let’s be honest. Most of us grow up studying alone, practicing questions from books or platforms like LeetCode or AlgoMonster.

But real interviews? They are a different ball game.

In an actual interview, it’s not enough to just know the answer — you need to think aloud, explain clearly, and handle edge cases smartly.

Mock interviews help with all this.

When someone is listening on the other side, you automatically start to think more clearly.

You realize that it’s not just about “getting the output” but also about how you break down the problem, how you use time, and how you approach trade-offs.

Also, peer-to-peer mock interviews are amazing. You might not even realize how much you’re improving until you look back after a few weeks and see the difference.

The way you speak, the way you handle pressure — it all becomes better. Plus, you learn from others. Their mistakes, their techniques, their logic — it all adds up.

And, its not just me, a lot of people who have taken Exponent mock interviews says same thing

My Experience: From Nervous to Confident

I started doing mock interviews using Exponent, which offers a mix of peer-to-peer, expert-led, and even AI-powered interviews. Initially, I was just looking to get more practice, but I quickly noticed a few things happening:

  • One hour of deep focus: Each mock interview forces you into a concentrated state — similar to the real interview — where you need to perform under time pressure.
  • Reduced nervousness: The more I practiced, the more natural it became. I stopped overthinking and started trusting my process.
  • Faster problem-solving: Mock interviews helped me recognize patterns in problems more quickly and come up with structured solutions.
  • Improved communication: I became more comfortable verbalizing my thought process, handling hints, and dealing with curveball questions.
  • Learning as an interviewer: By also taking the role of the interviewer, I got to see how others approached problems — a huge plus that improved both my coding and soft skills.

These are things that no amount of solo problem-solving can teach you and that’s why I highly recommend programmers to do mock interviews, especially if you are preparing for interviews.

Here is the link to join Exponent and use their 5 free mock interviews

Mock Interviews: Improve Your Skills By Practicing with Peers and AI – Exponent

The Benefits of Mock Interviews

Here’s a breakdown of how mock interviews accelerate your interview prep:

1. Simulate Real-World Pressure

Mock interviews recreate the time-limited, high-stress environment of real interviews. You get better at thinking clearly under pressure.

2. Master Problem-Solving Patterns

Live feedback helps you identify flaws in your approach and adopt better strategies. Over time, you’ll spot patterns faster and make fewer mistakes.

3. Improve Communication

In technical interviews, it’s not just about solving the problem — it’s about explaining your approach. Mock interviews force you to practice explaining, justifying, and collaborating.

4. Get Constructive Feedback

Whether it’s peer or expert feedback, mock interviews give you insight into how others perceive your performance, something you can’t get on your own.

5. Learn From Others

Being an interviewer is just as powerful. Watching how others solve problems helps you refine your own approach, avoid common pitfalls, and learn new techniques.

Why I Recommend Exponent

If you’re serious about interviews, Exponent is one of the best platforms out there. Here’s why:

  • 🔹 Unlimited Mock Interviews with a subscription — 1:1 peer sessions anytime.
  • 🔹 5 Free Mock Interviews for FREE — perfect for regular practice.
  • 🔹 Expert-Led Sessions — interview with people who’ve worked at FAANG companies.
  • 🔹 AI-Powered Interviews — practice with smart, feedback-enabled AI for quick reps.
  • 🔹 Pre-Built Test Cases & Code Execution — simulate actual coding environments.
  • 🔹 Interview Question Bank — categorized by company, topic, and difficulty.
  • 🔹 Large Community — find a practice partner easily.
  • 🔹 Covers Software Engineering, TPM, EPM, Data Engineering, and more.

Here’s the link to try Exponent — Coaching and mock interviews

Best Platforms to Practice Mock Interviews

If you are looking for best platforms and websites to practice with mock interviews then here are a couple of them which I have used in past and liked

1. Exponent — Best Overall Platform

  • Unlimited mock interviews (with subscription)
  • Free 5 mock interviews
  • AI mock interviews
  • Expert interviews
  • Large library of real questions from Google, Meta, Amazon, etc.
  • Code execution and test cases built-in

If you’re looking for a complete platform that supports tech and non-tech roles (like TPM, EPM, PM), Exponent is hands down the best.

Here is the link to join — 5 free mock interviews

Interview prep for product, engineering, data science, and more – Exponent

2. DesignGurus.io

  • Known for strong System Design mock interview prep
  • Offers Grokking series which is widely used
  • Great for mid-to-senior engineers

Not many people know but they also expert led mock interviews, which is a bit costly but totally worth it if you are preparing for big tech.

Here is the link to learn more — Expert led mock interviews

3. Bugfree.io

This is another great resource where you can practice with AI mock interviews.

  • Indian startup focused on coding interviews
  • Mock interviews with real engineers from FAANG
  • Personalized feedback and structured plans

Here is the link to learn more — AI Mock interviews with Bugfree.io

4. InterviewKickstart

This is another platform you can use for mock interview preparation.

  • Structured curriculum + mock interviews
  • More expensive, but includes 1-on-1 coaching
  • Good for those looking for intensive preparation

Here is the link to learn more — InterviewKickstart

Ace your mock interview | Learn

5. Educative.io

This is another great platform for mock interview and practice tech problems for coding interviews.

  • New AI mock interviews
  • Learn + practice at the same place
  • Best if you prefer reading over video-based courses

Here is the link to learn more — Mock interview for Software Engineers

Educative is also offering now whopping 50% discount on their yearly subscription. As a programmer, there is a lot to learn and sometimes you want the simplicity of taking multiple courses without paying for each one. With this subscription model, you can now just pay once and get a full access to every course and mock interviews on Educative.

Educative Unlimited: Excel with AI-Powered Learning

Final Thoughts

Mock interviews are not just an add-on. They are the core of your coding interview prep. They simulate the real experience and help you improve in all the places where practice questions can’t.

Whether it’s handling nerves, explaining solutions clearly, or just getting feedback — you need this.

If you ask me, platforms like Exponent are totally worth it, especially since you get to practice with real people, real questions, and structured formats.

But even if you’re not ready to commit to one platform, try the free mock interviews. You’ll thank yourself later.

And remember, whether you’re interviewing for a Software Engineer role, a TPM, or a Data Engineer, mock interviews prepare you for more than just questions — they prepare you for the real pressure.

Here is also a nice System Design cheat sheet for your practice from Exponent.

Review — Is Exponent a Good Place for Software Engineering Interview Prep?
credit — exponent

If you’re serious about cracking top tech interviews in 2025, give Exponent a try. You’ll be surprised how much difference mock interviews and focused preparation can make.

Other Programming and Interview Articles you may like

Thanks for reading this article so far. If you like this article then please share them with your friends and colleagues. If you have any questions or feedback, then please drop a note.

P. S. — If you are serious about getting into FAANG companies and want to leave no stone unturned then I also suggest you to join Algomonster for DSA and ByteByteGo for System Design, and start practicing mock interviews on Exponent. This is the perfect recipe to crack coding interviews in quick time.

System Design · Coding · Behavioral · Machine Learning Interviews

How Mock Interviews Help in Coding Interview Prep (and Why You Should Do More of Them) was originally published in Javarevisited on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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