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

every time i tried to practice for an interview with a friend, we'd start strong and then drift into "how's your weekend" or them going easy on me because they felt awkward.

i was prepping for a senior eng role last year and kept asking friends to grill me. same thing every time — first question would be solid, then they'd soften up or we'd get sidetracked. no one wanted to be the bad guy. i needed real pressure, the kind where someone doesn't care if i fumble.

so i built nxtinterview for myself. it's an AI mock interviewer that pulls questions based on your resume and the role you're going for. no small talk. no letting you off easy. you get a live conversation, then written feedback on what you actually said — not just "good job."

i'm vamshi, solo founder, built this because i got tired of wasting prep time on practice that didn't feel like practice. it's helped me show up way more composed in real interviews, and a few other people have started using it for the same reason.

still early and i'm iterating based on what breaks or what people ask for. if you've ever had a friend bail on mock interview plans or go too soft on you, this might be worth trying.

you can check it out at nxtinterview.com — it's free to try a session. happy to answer questions if anyone's curious how it works under the hood.