mock interviews with friends always turned into small talk. so i built something that wouldn't let that happen.

every time i asked a friend to help me prep for interviews, we'd start strong for maybe 10 minutes, then drift into catching up or them going easy on me because they didn't want to be harsh.

i was prepping for a senior backend role last year and realized my weak spot wasn't technical knowledge — it was articulating under pressure. i'd freeze or ramble when asked behavioral questions. so i tried doing mock interviews with friends and former coworkers.

it never worked. they'd either go too soft, turn it into a casual conversation, or just not know how to give useful feedback beyond "yeah that sounded fine." no one wanted to be the person grilling their friend.

i needed something consistent. something that would actually press me on weak answers and give me honest feedback without the social awkwardness. so i built it.

it's called nxtinterview. you pick the role you're prepping for, it generates realistic questions (behavioral, technical, situational), and you record your answers. then it gives you structured feedback — what you missed, where you rambled, how to tighten your response. no friends required.

i'm a solo dev, built this mostly for myself initially, but i've started letting people try it because the problem felt universal. it's not magic — it just removes the part where your friend gets uncomfortable giving you real critique.

full disclosure: i'm the founder (vamshi). i built this because i couldn't find anything that solved this specific problem without paying $200/session for a coach or doing the awkward friend thing. if you've felt the same frustration prepping, might be worth a look.

you can try it at nxtinterview.com — still building in public, so feedback welcome if you check it out.