Preparing for a technical interview is much different than preparing for an interview that is not technical. For example, in addition to thinking about standard interview questions and answers, you must also consider what questions might be asked about technical methods and skills, and be prepared to demonstrate knowledge of things like writing code.
What is a technical interview?
A technical interview is a pre-qualification screening for a job, usually in IT, that is highly technical in nature. These interviews can be time-consuming as they may contain multiple parts, including things like remote screening and coding challenges. The elements of a technical interview may seem intimidating, but upon closer examination, they are designed to test your critical thinking and real-world problem-solving skills in several situations where they may come into play while on the job.
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Rounds in a Technical Interview
A technical interview usually has three common parts:
Phone screen
During a phone screen, a qualifying interviewer determines whether you’re a good fit for the position by asking you questions and reviewing your answers over the phone.
Remote coding assignment
You may be asked to provide a remote coding assignment to secure the in-person interview. For example, if you’re working for a financial company that builds applications for people who need to build their credit in Python, you may be tested on your ability to use Python to build a user interface.
In-person interview
After you’ve had a phone screen and done your homework, your next interview step might be to come in and sit down with an interview to confirm your candidacy. During the in-person interview, you’ll be asked behavioral and technical questions and have the opportunity to bring up questions of your own.
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Tips on making the most out of a Technical Interview
- Practice Makes Perfect
Coding interview books offer innumerous sample problems, but you can use problems you’re already working on, too. Pose the problem to yourself, map out your strategy, and put marker to dry erase board. The more comfortable you are with marking up that blank board at home, the less hesitant you’ll be at the interview. You should check out the freshers interview questions technical and practice.
- Don’t Overload Yourself
When you’re scheduling interviews, be sure to leave at least a couple of hours in between each one. This sounds like a first-world problem. Also you should get some good amount of sleep.
- Be Ready for Anything
Once you’ve made it to your interview, you should be prepared for a few different kinds of problem solving. You can be asked to talk through how you would solve a problem, they may open a computer and ask you to guide them through creating code, or they may have you write the code yourself on a whiteboard. No matter what method your interviewers are using, it’s your problem solving skills that they’re really testing.
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- Ask Questions
When you’re presented with a problem, think it through and make sure you fully understand what you’re being asked to return. Don’t be afraid to ask questions early if anything is unclear. Also make sure to ask procedural questions to understand what the interviewers are looking for and what your constraints are. Also you shouldn’t be making assumptions, just let the interviewers know what you are thinking.
- Take Your Time
Once you understand the question you’re being asked, don’t be afraid to take a minute to think and process before you start solving the problem. As long as you aren’t being barraged with quick, knowledge-based questions, pausing after being asked the question is a good thing. You should make sure that you’re not taking 10 minutes to solve it in your head without saying a word! The point is to use your time up front to structure your approach, not to try to write all the code in your head before you touch marker to whiteboard.
- Bring Your People Skills
Curiosity and enthusiasm is always prized in an employee. You can ask about the company’s engineering team, its stack, and the toughest problems it is tackling for the product. Of course, there’s a fine line between being enthusiastic and being a sycophant. But everyone loves a candidate who is interested in the product he or she will be working on.
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