Hi, I’m Elias. I am a web developer, and this is my story of how I struggled with interviews for a long time and finally I got help. I’ll talk about what basic interview questions taught me about recall, preparation, and a better job search.
If you’re a junior, mid-level, or self-taught developer who keeps getting rejected and doesn’t quite understand why, I hope this helps.
Here is what I will cover:
My 18 Month Job Search Struggle
For 18 months, I had been trying to land a job as a remote web developer.
During this time:
I applied to over a thousand positions
I went through about 20-30 interviews
I failed most of them
It was exhausting. I felt like I was trying so hard but getting almost no results. Over time, I began to doubt my abilities and wondered if I would ever find a job that I was truly satisfied with.
It was even more confusing that a few years ago, in 2021, I got a remote job at an American company in just three weeks – with almost no experience.
Something clearly wasn’t working anymore.
The interview problem I didn’t expect
After dozens of interviews, I noticed a pattern: I wasn’t failing because I couldn’t solve complex algorithmic problems or create features under pressure. I was failing at basic technical questions.
Questions like:
These were not tough questions. Those were the things I learned first. But during the interview, under pressure, I just couldn’t remember. Or I just skipped it during preparation because there was no system in place.
That’s when I realized the real problem: I had no problem understanding the concepts. I had trouble remembering them quickly.
My first instinct was to study more. More lessons, more articles, more videos.
But passive learning didn’t fix the problem. I still freeze during interviews. What I really needed was a way out Train my memorydon’t just use information.
Exploring active memory and flash cards
That’s when I came across flash cards and the concept of it Active memory.
Active recall means repeatedly testing yourself on what you’ve learned instead of just re-reading the material. You first try to answer a question from memory, then check the answer. This view has been supported by research for more than a century.
I started practicing small, specific concepts like this:
Reaction to fundamental principles
Basics of JavaScript
HTTP methods
Browser behavior
I repeated them until memorizing the answers felt automatic.
This made a huge difference during the interview.
Flashcards help you cut through the noise and really learn what’s important. It’s not just about memorizing facts—it’s about really understanding, fast recall, and building a solid foundation for every concept you have.
So to help you prepare for your interview, I’ve taken years of experience and scientific learning methods and turned them into a tool and approach that gives you the right information at the right time.
My Interview Preparation System
Once I found the right way to learn, I built a simple system around it.
Step 1: Ask what to prepare
Instead of guessing what to study, I started asking recruiters directly:
“Which topics should I prepare for technical interview??
Surprisingly, many of them responded with a clear list, which helped me focus only on what really mattered and avoid over-preparation from random topics. In my experience, many HR representatives are quite helpful to job applicants.
For example, when I applied for a position as a front-end web developer at React, the HR specialist advised me to focus primarily on React and JavaScript. So I prepared for all the popular questions around hosting (JS), event loop (JS), how react works under a stick, what are props and how do they work, etc.
Overall, this interview went well – but when I got the question on React Portals I couldn’t explain it properly. And thus I did not get the position. But I do not blame myself for this, because it is a very rare topic. 😊
I also applied for another front-end developer role where the HR specialist advised me to prepare for questions mainly about GSAP, FramerMotion, and React/NextJS. It made sense, since the company primarily builds modern dynamic websites.
In my interview, the theory round went well, but I failed the take home assignment. Then I realized that I don’t have enough expertise in these areas.
At another company, I asked HR about a cultural interview, which was the last round. The representative said:No worries, all the hard work is done by you. Just prepare for a human conversation.“
And for the last application I submitted (and the one after which I actually got a job offer), the HR specialist told me to prepare strongly for CSS – specifically flexbox and grid.. It made sense, since the position was for an HTML markup developer. And so I followed all the ins and outs for these topics, even the more rare ones.
I use the same approach for each round of interviews.
Step 2: Use flash cards (carefully with AI)
I used ChatGPT to create flashcards for each topic and reviewed them daily.
One important thing I learned: AI can be wrong sometimes. To reduce errors, I started including links to official documents in my hints so that the answers were rooted in reliable sources.
I kept the sessions short and consistent. This consistency makes more difference than long study sessions.
AI errors I had a reason to create 99Cards.dev
Here’s the prompt to use in Chat GPT:
You are a web development expert with 20 years of experience. Your job is to help me prepare for the interview.
Prepare 10 flashcards on CSS flexbox topics. Format a question with four answers. One answer is correct.
You are going to serve all the questions one by one. After answering, you give me feedback and then give me the next question.
Note that you should adapt your indicators for your needs, and based on what you need to evaluate.
You can experiment with different factors, such as:
Difficulty: Beginner or advanced
Features: From the vague (eg: I want to practice with CSS) to the very specific (eg: I want to practice with the flex property in a CSS flexbox)
Number of Questions: The sweet spot is between 10 and 20
Add context: A good practice is to include links to official documents, as this reduces the chances of AI spoofing.
Here is a typical flashcard generated by ChatGPT:
If you provide an answer, you will receive feedback like this:
Results
After a few weeks, the interviews felt very different.
I was calm. I answered the basic questions without any panic. I can explain concepts clearly and confidently.
In my last interview process, I cleared four consecutive rounds and scored 95% in the technical test.
Soon after, I received an offer: 5,500 per month and a paid relocation package for me and my family.
For the first time in a long time, my effort finally matched the results.
How I Searched for Jobs
About six weeks before I got the offer, I changed too where I looked for jobs.
Instead of relying solely on the big job platforms, I started using smaller communities like Telegram job groups.
This helped for two reasons:
Less competition: Many smaller companies have roles out there with fewer applicants
Direct communication: I could have messaged the recruiters before applying
Before submitting an application, I would ask:
“I saw this position. Here’s my CV and LinkedIn. Am I a good fit?”
If the answer was yes, I applied. If not, I immediately. Move forward.
It saved me a lot of time and energy.
While preparing for the interview, I made thousands of flash cards for myself. It became difficult to manage them in Notes, so I eventually turned them into a little tool called 99Cards.dev.
This is simply a collection of fact-checked web development flashcards based on the same approach that helped me crack basic interview questions.
Here are some screenshots of the app:
Lessons I learned
Here are some takeaways from this experience:
Failing an interview doesn’t always mean you lack skills
Passive learning is not enough for interview prep
Being able to quickly recall the basics is very important
Job hunting is a skill, not just a numbers game
Consistency is creeping in every time
Final thoughts
If you’re struggling with interviews right now, especially as a junior, mid-level, or self-taught developer, don’t assume you’re bad at what you’re doing.
In my case, the problem wasn’t effort or talent. It was preparation and approach.
I also created one Free Interview Checklist Based on my experience, covering HR, technical, behavioral, system design, live coding, take-home tasks, algorithms and cultural fit.
I hope this story will save you some time and stress.
You are often just one good interview away.
– Elias