6 Last-Minute Tips to Nail Your Technical Interview
Do you feel like you’ve been trying to land your dream software engineering job for years, with no results? Technical interviews are a major part of the hiring process for many companies, and it can be especially challenging to crack the code and impress potential employers when you’re going up against a lot of other qualified and eager candidates. The technical interview is one of the most important parts of the application process for any software engineer. It gives the hiring manager insight into how technically competent you are as well as how well you will fit into the team and company culture. There are ways to prep for your interview that can give you a boost in confidence and ability. Keep reading to learn 6 last-minute tips to nail your technical interview
1. Run through practice questions with a Coachable.dev Mentor
Before you even show up to your interview, you can run through a few practice questions with a Coachable.dev mentor. It’s a great way to get yourself into the right mindset and give yourself a bit of practice getting used to asking and answering these types of questions out loud. When choosing your questions, make sure there is a mix of easy, medium, and hard questions so you get a feel for what you can expect in the real interview setting.
2. Know the company and the role you’re interviewing for
A lot of people make the mistake of showing up to the interview and asking the interviewer questions about themselves and the company as if they are trying to get the inside scoop on what it’s like to work there. When you show up to the interview, you already know a lot about the company, because you researched them before you applied. You know what they do, where they are based, who you are interviewing with, and what their culture is like. You also know what the role is that you are interviewing for. You read the job description and have your own ideas about how you would approach the job. You should know the important dates, events, innovations, and accomplishments that the company has gone through. You can use this information to show that you are interested and engaged in the company and what they are doing.
3. Show your knowledge: Have a few tricks up your sleeve
This doesn’t mean you need to be a walking encyclopedia, but it does help to be familiar with the current technology, industry trends, and general happenings in the software development world. You don’t need to be up-to-date with the latest innovations or be an expert in the field, but you do need to show that you are keeping up with the latest developments in the industry. When asked about the latest technology trends, try to avoid simply stating facts and figures. Instead, use those facts and figures to make connections and connections to your experience and ideas. Let’s say you’re asked about machine learning and artificial intelligence. Instead of just rattling off facts and figures, you could use those technologies as examples of how they are being applied to solve real-world problems and create real value for people.
4. Prepare for behavioral questions
Behavioral questions are used to find out if you have the right skills, experience, and traits to succeed in the job and company. This type of interview question can be difficult, but they are more common than you think and do not have one specific answer. They are open-ended and meant to get you to talk about yourself, your skills, and your past experiences. They are meant to be revealing, so your job is to use them to show your best self. Behavioral questions are used to find out if you have the right skills, experience, and traits to succeed in the job and company. This type of interview question can be difficult, but they are more common than you think and do not have one specific answer. They are open-ended and meant to get you to talk about yourself, your skills, and your past experiences. They are meant to be revealing, so your job is to use them to show your best self.
5. Give yourself timed coding trials
This may sound scary, but it’s a great way to show your strengths and combat any nerves you might have. Set up a coding environment that mimics what you’ll be working on during the interview and get to work. This can be intimidating, but the best thing you can do is try to make it as easy and stress-free as possible. You don’t need to create a finished product or write a million lines of code. Make it as simple as possible so you can focus on problem solving and getting the code written. This will also help you keep your code clean and organized. It will help calm your nerves and get your mind into the problem-solving mode. When your interviewer sees you writing code, it gives them insight into how you work and how you think. It also gives the interviewer a chance to see what you’re capable of.
6. Important Coding Topics to Prepare and Sample Coding Interview Questions
There are a few coding topics that are important to cover in your interview and have a few tricks up your sleeve.
Design Patterns
These are reusable solutions to common problems. You can apply these to problems that you are asked to solve in your interview to show that you are experienced in the field and have a good understanding of how to apply these patterns. You can also use these to solve a problem that the company is currently facing if it is something you discovered during your research.
Data Structures
You may be asked to write code that uses data structures like linked lists, stacks, queues, etc. You should review the common data structures and how they are implemented. Having a few example problems that you can solve using different data structures will help you in the interview process.
Algorithms
There are a lot of algorithms that are used in software engineering, so it can be hard to know which one to prepare for. You should know what they are and have examples of how they are used in real life. An interviewer may ask you to solve a problem using an algorithm.
