Hi, I’m Ilyas. I’m a web developer, and this is my story about how I struggled with interviews for a long time and what finally helped me break through. I’ll talk about what failing basic interview questions taught me about recall, preparation, and smarter job searching.
If you’re a junior, mid-level, or self-taught developer who keeps getting rejected and you don’t fully understand why, I hope this helps.
Here’s what I’ll cover:
My 18-Month Job Search Struggle
For 18 months, I was trying to land a remote or relocation web developer job.
During that time:
I applied to more than 1,000 positions
I went through around 20–30 interviews
I failed most of them
It was exhausting. I felt like I was putting in a lot of effort but getting almost no results. Over time, I started doubting my skills and wondering whether I would ever find a job I’d actually be satisfied with.
What made this even more confusing was that a few years earlier, in 2021, I had found a remote job at a US 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 algorithm problems or build features under pressure. I was failing on basic technical questions.
Questions like:
“What are portals in React?”
“Can you explain how an HTTP GET request works?”
These were not hard questions. They were things I had learned before. But during interviews, under pressure, I just couldn’t recall. Or simply I skipped it during preparation because there were no systems in place.
That’s when I realized the real issue: I didn’t have a problem understanding concepts. I had a problem recalling them quickly.
My first instinct was to study more. More tutorials, more articles, more videos.
But passive learning didn’t fix the problem. I still froze during interviews. What I actually needed was a way to train my memory, not just consume information.
Discovering Active Recall and Flashcards
That’s when I came across flashcards and the concept of active recall.
Active recall means testing yourself repeatedly on what you’ve learned instead of just rereading material. You try to answer a question from memory first, then check the answer. This approach has been backed by research for more than a century.
I started practicing small, specific concepts this way, like:
React fundamentals
JavaScript basics
HTTP methods
Browser behavior
I repeated them until recalling the answer felt automatic.
This made a huge difference during interviews.
Flashcards help you cut through the noise and actually learn what matters. It's not just about memorizing facts – it's about really understanding, remembering fast, and building a solid base in every concept you study.
So to help you prepare for your interviews, I’ve taken years of experience and scientific learning methods and turned them into a tool and approach that gives you the right info at the right time.
My Interview Preparation System
Once I found the right learning method, I built a simple system around it.
Step 1: Ask What to Prepare For
Instead of guessing what to study, I started asking recruiters directly:
“What topics should I prepare for the technical interview?”
Surprisingly, many of them replied with a clear list, which helped me focus only on what actually mattered and avoid over-preparing random topics. In my experience, many HR reps are quite helpful to job applicants.
For example, when I applied for a position as a Frontend Web Developer in React, the HR specialist advised me to focus mainly on React and JavaScript. So I prepared for all the popular questions around hoisting (JS), the event loop (JS), how react works under the hood, what props are and how they work, and so on.
Overall, that interview went well – but when I got a question on React Portals, I couldn’t explain it properly. And so I didn’t get the position. But I don’t blame myself for this one, as that’s a very rare topic. 😊
I also applied for another Front End Developer role where the HR specialist advised me to prepare mainly for questions about GSAP, Framer Motion, and React/Next JS. This made sense, as the company mainly builds modern animated websites.
In my interview, the theory round went well, but I failed the take home assignment. I realized then that I didn’t have enough skills in these areas.
At another company, I asked HR about the cultural interview, which was the last round. The rep said: ”No worries, all the hard work is done from your side. Prep for just a human dialog.”
And for the last application I submitted (and after which I actually got the job offer), the HR specialist told me to strongly prepare for CSS – especially Flexbox and Grid. This made sense, as the position was for an HTML markup developer. And so I practiced 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 Flashcards (With AI Carefully)
I used ChatGPT to generate flashcards for each topic and reviewed them daily.
One important thing I learned: AI can be wrong sometimes. To reduce mistakes, I started adding links to official documentation in my prompts so the answers were grounded in reliable sources.
I kept sessions short and consistent. That consistency mattered more than long study sessions.
AI mistakes was the reason I created 99cards.dev
Here is the prompt I use in ChatGPT:
You are a web development expert with 20 years of experience. Your task is to help me to prepare for the interview.
Prepare 10 flashcards on CSS Flexbox topics. Format one question with four answers. One answer is correct.
You're going to serve all the questions one by one. After I answer, you give me feedback and then give me the next question.
Note that you should tweak your prompts for your needs, and based on what you need to review.
You can experiment with various factors, such as:
Difficulty: beginner or advanced
Specificity: from vague (for example: I want to practice with CSS) to highly specific (for example: I want to practice with the flex property in CSS Flexbox)
Number of questions: sweet spot is between 10 and 20
Add context: good practice is to add links to official docs, as it decreases the chances of AI hallucination
Here is a typical flashcard created by ChatGPT:
If you provide an answer, you’ll get feedback like this:
The Results
After a few weeks, interviews felt very different.
I was calmer. I answered basic questions without panicking. I could explain concepts clearly and confidently.
In my final interview process, I passed four rounds in a row and scored 95% on the technical test.
Soon after, I received an offer: $5,500 per month and a paid relocation package for my family and me.
For the first time in a long while, my effort finally matched the results.
Changing How I Looked for Jobs
About six weeks before getting the offer, I also changed where I searched for jobs.
Instead of relying only on large job platforms, I started using smaller communities like Telegram job groups.
This helped for two reasons:
Less competition: many smaller companies post roles there with fewer applicants
Direct communication: I could message 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 moved on immediately.
This saved me a lot of time and energy.
Turning My System Into a Small Tool
While preparing for interviews, I created thousands of flashcards for myself. Managing them in notes became difficult, so I eventually turned them into a small tool called 99cards.dev.
It’s simply a collection of fact-checked web development flashcards grouped by topic, based on the same approach that helped me stop failing basic interview questions.
Here are some screenshots from the app:
Lessons I Learned
Here are a few takeaways from this experience:
Failing interviews doesn’t always mean you lack skills
Passive learning is not enough for interview prep
Being able to recall basics quickly matters a lot
Job searching is a skill, not just a numbers game
Consistency beats cramming 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 do.
In my case, the problem wasn’t effort or talent. It was preparation and approach.
I also created a 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 saves you some time and stress.
You’re often just one good interview away.
— Ilyas