06. Mock Interview Log¶

Running record of every interview rep — mock or real. The log is the artifact; the debrief template is the discipline.

Why this exists¶

Patterns are invisible without a record. Three "I bombed system design" notes in a row tell you what to study.
A debrief one hour after the interview is worth ten an week later.
The log is reusable across companies — you'll see your own gaps.

How to use¶

After every rep, copy the Debrief Template (below) into a new entry under Log Entries.
Fill it in within 24 hours. Sooner is better.
Update Patterns once a week with anything you've seen 3+ times.
Re-read Patterns before your next loop.

Debrief Template¶

Copy this for each rep.

### YYYY-MM-DD — Company / Mock — Round Type

- **Round:** phone screen / system design / live coding / behavioral / hiring manager / take-home review / onsite (specify)
- **Interviewer:** name + role (or "mock partner" / "self")
- **Format:** 45 min Zoom, whiteboard, etc.
- **Questions asked:**
  1.
  2.
  3.
- **What I said:** (3-5 lines, candid)
- **What worked:** (specifics — a frame, a number, a story)
- **What didn't:** (specifics — a fumble, a missing concept, a story that landed flat)
- **Surprises:** (anything I didn't expect — question type, tone, depth)
- **Calibration guess:** strong yes / weak yes / borderline / weak no / strong no — and why
- **Three things to fix before next round:**
  1.
  2.
  3.
- **Followups owed:** (thank-you note, take-home submission, sample code)

Log Entries¶

YYYY-MM-DD — Example — Phone screen¶

Replace this with your first real entry.

Patterns¶

Update weekly. Three sightings of a thing → it goes here.

Topics I keep getting asked about¶

-

Topics I keep fumbling¶

-

Stories that consistently land¶

-

Stories that need rework¶

-

Tells that I was nervous¶

(filler words, talking too fast, hedging too much, …)

Pre-loop checklist¶

Run before every onsite / panel.

[ ] Reviewed Patterns and rehearsed the top 3 fumbles
[ ] Re-read 04_behavioral_star_bank.md for go-to stories
[ ] Re-read 10_hiring_rubric_ai_engineers.md and self-assessed
[ ] Looked at the company dossier in ../job_search/companies/
[ ] Confirmed timezone, format, interviewers, dial-in
[ ] Have water, charged laptop, backup connection

Post-loop ritual¶

Run within 24 hours of the loop ending.

[ ] One debrief entry per round
[ ] Patterns updated
[ ] Followups sent (thank-you, anything promised)
[ ] ../learning/progress.md updated with the date and result