Interview Cake is an online resource to help software engineers prepare for technical interviews. It is a compilation of technical questions and a glossary of programming terms.
So the question is, do we recommend it? No, not when there is a better alternative! The main deal breaker for me is the lack of consistent updates. Plus, the resources are as good as free leet code practice questions.
Instead, I recommend the Tech Interview Pro by Patrick Shyu. It is a better course by all means and comes with a bi-weekly live Q&A session with the instructor, a private community of software engineers, a resume review, and more.
Is interview Cake worth your hard-earned money? This question may not be the toughest to answer, but a simple yes or no may not also provide all the clarity you need to reach a decision.
A deep dive into the interview Cake review would be a more appropriate way to find a fitting answer about its worth and the values it offers.
Below is a detailed review of the interview cake and information about pricing, pros and cons, features, and functions.
The goal here is to help you decide if the interview cake is worth your money or not.
You’ll also find a comparative review of tech interview pro and interview cake and how these two platforms stack up against each other.
Before getting to the *details*, it would help if you have a brief understanding of how to interview cake, what it’s all about and how it started.
What is Interview Cake?
Interview Cake started with Parker Phinney in 2013, after he successfully helped his friend prepare for an interview and secured a job at Facebook.
The success of the preparation inspired him so much that he decided to embark on a mission to help others in similar situations. An interview Cake is the outcome of that ambition.
In a nutshell, interview cake is a platform that helps programmers and software experts or engineers prepare for interviews bordering on coding or programming jobs.
A Google search for online programming interview courses would return millions of related results and interview cake falls in that category.
Interview Cake gives programmers access to a variety of mock interview questions that simulates the experiences of programmers who are trying to ace an interview.
Topics Taught in Interview Cake
Interview cake’s landing page is relatively intuitive. Once you are logged in, you’ll only have a single click to arrive at the course section.
There are about 15 sections on the course content page, featuring a wide variety of courses: starting from Algorithmic thinking to more complex topics like bit manipulation, logarithms, searching and sorting, etc.
The courses are structured in such a way that allows students to dabble in and out into sections that are critical to their progress.
In all, you get access to about 50+ problems or topics and approximately 40 different articles to help you gain further insight into the topics.
The list below highlights the major topics offered in Interview cake. The majority of the topics provide introductory articles before the practice exercises.
- Algorithmic thinking
- Array and string manipulation
- Hashing and hash tables
- Greedy algorithms
- Sorting, searching, and logarithms
- Trees and graphs
- Dynamic programming and recursion
- Queues and stacks
- System design
- General programming
- Bit manipulation
- Combinatorics, probability, and other math
- JavaScript
- Coding Interview Tips
Interview Cake Pros – Advantages
Interview cake provides immense value to job-seekers, especially those having an interview for the first time. Some advantages you can expect to get from interview cake include:
1. Introductory Articles
There are over 40+ articles on the platform to help students prepare for the practice questions. It provides an overview of what to expect in each section and how to approach the practice questions.
2. Multilingual Coding Languages
Codes on interview cake are translatable to other programming languages. Students can view codes in about 11 languages.
3. Detailed Hints
One downside of online learning tools is getting stuck without having a way to figure out the solution.
Interview cake handles this challenge for students by providing hints of the solution to a problem. The goal is to give as many hints as possible until the student finally feels confident enough to solve the problem.
4. Simple interface and design
The user interface is quite simple. The courses are accessible with a few clicks and the design of the platform is intuitive. Users don’t have to scramble around for the courses or the practice questions. They are well categorized for easy access.
5. Self-paced learning
The last thing a student wants is to be rushed through a course. The self-paced nature of interview cake makes it ideal for students who prefer to gain knowledge on their own.
Even though there is a community for learners to interact with, all learning on the platform is independent and self-paced.
6. Job Specific Tips
A fascinating feature of interview cake is the Job-specific interview tips it offers. This section provides detailed insight into what to expect from an interview with a specific company.
The advantage of this section is that it gives you some common kinds of interview problems that are targeted at these companies.
7. Free access to students
Students are allowed free access to the platform for three weeks. It provides a way for students to explore the platform and have a brief overview of what a job interview entails.
Interview Cake Cons – Downsides
Despite the immense value offered by interview cake, several downsides may create a critical setback to the learning outcomes of students using the platform. Below are some of the downsides you may encounter.
#1 Subscription Based Plan
The need for a subscription is a really huge downside. Users don’t get a full experience without paying the subscription fee, which makes it look like a blind purchase for whoever is subscribing to the platform.
Even though users have free access to a few courses it is not enough to give room for an informed decision.
#2 Short-Term Access To The Courses
Another downside is the short-term access to the course.
Despite the high-end price of interview cake, users who want to enjoy yearly access need to pay for the tools every year. Interview cake does not offer lifetime access to users.
#3 Totally Text-based
Interview cake is not ideal for visual and auditory learners. Students are forced to play through 50+ text-based courses. None of the courses on the platform provide a video or audio overview. It is a rather streamlined approach to presenting online courses in this era.
#4 Limited Number of Practise Codes
Compared to other coding interview platforms or boot camps, interview cake covers a minute aspect of coding interview practice.
A total of 50+ interview questions may be too narrow for interview preparation. These lapses may make it a little less versatile when stacked up against other platforms in a similar category.
Interview Cake Pricing – Hefty Price
Pricing is another downside of Interview cake. A critical analysis of the long-term cost of using the platform may show that it is considerably costlier than comparative platforms.
No interview cake is a paid platform with tri-weekly and yearly subscriptions. It helps to note that the yearly subscription only covers 3 months of paid subscription and 9 months of free subscription.
The tri-weekly subscription goes for $149, However, there is an offer for students to enjoy 3-week free access to the platform after which they would have to pay for another of the subscription plans.
Interview cake offers 2 subscription plans: The tri-weekly plan and the yearly plan. As of the time of this writing, users pay $149 for the tri-weekly plan, while the yearly plan costs $249 for three months of access, and a 9month free access is added to make it a twelve months access.
It is worth mentioning that view interview cake is a typically structured and expensive book rather than a course.
It hosts several topics and problems categorized according to a table of content and users have to keep buying the book each time they need to use it: tri-weekly or yearly.
The only difference between owning a book and using an interview is that users have the book on the web and they have an interface to practice the codes.
Interview Cake vs. Tech Interview Pro
Even though there are many upsides to interview cake, the downside may cost a beginner their chance at acing an interview.
Besides, the exuberant price and the short-term access limit the benefits and devalue the user experience.
Tech Interview Pro is an excellent alternative to interview cake, especially for beginners.
The goal of an online course is not to provide information alone, but to ensure that the course enhances the chance of students acing an interview.
And that’s The mission of Tech Interview Pro. Below are some vital strengths available on tech interview pro that are absent on the Interview cake.
1) Live Q&A session
A session with an expert is the most effective way to gain insight and understand how to navigate the harsh terrace of a Job interview.
Compared to a self-paced, text-based platform, the live session is a critical differentiator offering immense value to students.
With Tech interview Pro, students get lifetime access to a bi-weekly session with an industry insider who offers feedback and insights to students.
Besides, students also receive answers to puzzling questions about the companies they want to work with.
2) Resume Review
An interview is only a part of the Job-seeking process, it is your resume that opens the door.
Resume optimization is a critical aspect that job seekers need to work on. And Tech Interview Pro provides all the help you need.
3) Facebook Community
When trying to ace an interview, it is critical to surround yourself with people of like mind.
It will help you correct your mistakes and gain valuable knowledge from others who are going on the same path as you.
Tech Interview Pro Facebook group of over 1500+ students who have gone through the course and are ready to also help you succeed in your interview.
4) A well Rounded Course Offering
Beyond the codes, Tech Interview Pro provides a more detailed course on succeeding at interviews. Plus, students also get access to a mock interview in preparation for their live session.
Courses offered on the platform include: Understanding The Interview Process, Four Axes of the Interview, Coding, Data Structures & Algorithms, Systems Design, Communication, Interviewing Masterclass, Data Structures & Algorithms, The Mock Interview, Systems Design, Transitioning Careers, Negotiating & Accepting Your Offer
In addition to the wide array of courses offered on the platform, students also have the chance to practice with a total of 100+ Coding Sessions compared to 50+ offered on interview cake.
5) Lifetime Subscription
Tech Interview Pro offers immense value for money.
Repeated payment for an interview course is uneconomical in the highly competitive job market, making Interview cake quite expensive in this context.
The long-term cost may range into thousands of dollars. Tech Interview Pro mitigates the cost by providing students with lifetime access to the platform.
A one-time payment on Tech interview Pro gives students complete access to all the benefits offered on the platform.
It covers the Facebook community and access to the live session with an industry expert who shows students all they need to know to ace your job interview.
Plus, it also covers a resume review until students secure their ideal job.
Tech Interview Pro is my #1 recommendation for a tech interview prep course. It is better than Interview Cake.
Wrapping up on Interview Cake Review
There is no debate about the value of Interview cake. However, Tech Interview Pro is a better option if you are looking for a more robust platform to prepare you for your coding job interview.
Interview Cake is too streamlined to effectively offer you all you need. Their practice offerings are limited, and students are confined to the content offered only on the platform.
These downsides make it unideal for users who don’t have an idea of what to expect in their interview.
Opting for Tech Interview Pro offers you a more holistic platform to prepare you for your job interview. And you have access to enormous amounts of extra offerings to help you stay focused and productive.
FAQs on Interview Cake Review
Below are answers to some of the frequently asked questions about interview cake.
Is Interview Cake Free?
No interview cake is a paid platform with tri-weekly and yearly subscriptions. It helps to note that the yearly subscription only covers 3 months of paid subscription and 9 months of free subscription.
The tri-weekly subscription goes for $149, while the yearly subscription is offered at $249 as of the time of this writing.
However, there is an offer for students to enjoy 3 weeks of free access to the platform after which they would have to pay for another of the subscription plans.
Is Interview Cake Worth It?
The worth of an interview cake depends on what a programmer is looking for.
If a programmer needs access to quick questions in specific aspects of programming without the hassle of diving deep into the learning aspects, interview cake may be ideal.
However, if the learning aspect of an interview course is a critical factor, alternative platforms like Tech Interview Pro would be a better alternative.
But it may help to mention that viewing the platform from the price perspective, the interview cake may come in too high for the price at which it is offered.
Is Interview Cake good for beginners?
Interview cake is ideal for programmers who already have a fundamental knowledge of what they need to learn to ace their job interview.
Users who are not familiar with the interview landscape may need the help of a more experienced programmer to best out of the platforms.
The platform has its upside, but it may not be the best for beginners.
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