Reddit Experience · Mar 2026

Froze for like 2 minutes straight in a coding intervie. full silence. im so embarrassed

156 upvotes 48 replies

Interview Experience

I know how to code. 6 years of actual production experience. never frozen at work ever but on zoom last thursday with two people watching me, i read the problem and just sat there. couldn't start. i c

Full Details

I know how to code. 6 years of actual production experience. never frozen at work ever but on zoom last thursday with two people watching me, i read the problem and just sat there. couldn't start. i could hear one of them breathing. it was maybe 90 seconds but felt like 10 minutes i eventually solved the problem but the vibe was completely dead after that. feedback said "seemed uncertain." i wasn't uncertain i was just terrified how do people actually fix this. not the coding part. the part where you have to function like a human while being watched

About This Question

This is a candidate experience report from a zoom interview for a swe role reported in 2026.

It covers the following topics: General Experience .