Placed and paid human mock interviews
An hour with an engineer who interviews for a living is the best practice there is. It is also priced per session, usually between $170 and $300, and has to be booked. Most people can afford one or two. Placed is for the many sessions around those.
Side by side
A working engineer, often from the company you are targeting.
An AI interviewer that speaks, listens and follows up on what you say.
A booked slot, usually days out.
Any time, starting in under a minute, with no account needed for the first one.
A conversation and written notes. Detail depends on the interviewer.
A report on a fixed rubric, the same criteria every session, so you can compare one week to the next.
As many as you can pay for.
Three scored sessions a month free; unlimited on Pro.
Where a paid human mock interview is the better choice
- Judgment. A person notices things no rubric lists, and can tell you how you came across.
- Company specifics. Someone who has run that loop knows what it weighs.
- Nerves. Being watched by a real person is closer to the day.
Where Placed is
- Repetition. Getting better at talking while coding takes many sessions, not two.
- Consistency. The same rubric each time shows whether you are improving.
- No scheduling, which matters when an interview lands with three days of notice.
Using both
If you can afford one human mock, do it a week before the interview, after enough sessions here that you are not spending that hour on basics.