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How should I prepare for interviews?
I've heard that books such as Cracking the Coding Interview are good prep for #tech #interviews as well as solving problems on Hackerrank and Leetcode. Are these helpful, and are there any other ways I can prepare myself?
12 answers
Mr. Constant III
Mr.’s Answer
J.F.
Prepare yourself by explaining where you came from, what experiences you have fulfilled that are related to the job and passionately stating what makes you a perfect choice for them. Bring your portfolio with you and be prepared to give examples of your experience sir. The interviewer is really looking to see where your head is at and looking at a positive attitude because they need a quick return investment from the people that they hire. Quick retun investment means that your are an asset and a real team player and not a liability who is just collecting a check and they will see that quickly. Honestly be yourself and don't feel like you can't ask them to repeat a question some emplyoers actually love seeing a young person who weighs the question in their mind before delivering an answer. I wish you the best on your journey.
Eric Balderson
Eric’s Answer
I'm not familiar with the tech industry but I can provide some general interview advice. First, research the company you are interviewing with as much as possible and make sure you know some general information about the company and their core values. One of the easiest ways to impress an interviewer is to demonstrate that you put in the time to learn about their company. Similarly, it can be beneficial to research the person who will be interviewing you and ask some questions during the interview about their background and how they got to where they are today.
It is also important to dress appropriately for the interview and make sure you look presentable. First impressions are crucial and if you look sloppy when you arrive for your interview the interviewer may assume that you demonstrate the same lack of effort in the workplace as well.
In the end, just remember to stay confident!
Eric recommends the following next steps:
Susan Ash
Susan’s Answer
Hi JF!
Do some research on the company you're interviewing with - spend time on their website and familiarize yourself with key facts about the organization, how they talk about what they do, their culture, recent accomplishments or news events, etc. Then link yourself to that - have a story to tell about how you can contribute to what they're up to, how you fit, what you bring, why you'd be an amazing hire.
Know the job description for the role you're interviewing for, and be ready to give examples of how you've done this work before or other work that involved similar challenges. Have a point of view as to why you're the candidate they need - be direct about your capabilities as they relate to the opening they're trying to fill.
Practice interviewing with a friend. Think of questions you might be asked, and prepare responses. You don't need to memorize the answers, but having practiced responding to them will make your response in your interview more solid because you're not answering it for the first time - you've done this before.
Relax. And remember - the job is every bit as much about you being the right fit for them as them being the right fit for you. It's a two-way dialogue - yes, you want them to want you, but you also need to want them.
Natasha Byrne
Natasha’s Answer
Research the Company and the role:
The first thing I would recommend is researching the company and the role. Understand what type of company you are interviewing with - what is their mission statement, company values, who are their customers and how do they help their customers. This will give you a good foundational knowledge of the company. Next, research the role. What department will you be working in, what are your main functions, what other departments will you interact with?
Connect with someone who work at the company:
Reach out to someone who works at the company via LinkedIn and see if they are willing to get coffee or jump on a quick phone call to tell you about their experience and what their role at their company is. It doesn't even have to be someone in the same department that you are applying for. This will help you get a real feel for what the company culture is like and help you envision yourself at the company.
Prepare for the interview:
I find the best way to prepare for an interview is to write out the answers to potential questions and follow the STAR method. The STAR method is a structured manner of responding to a behavioral-based interview question by discussing the specific situation, task, action, and result of the situation you are describing.
Situation: Describe the situation that you were in or the task that you needed to accomplish.
Task: What goal were you working toward?
Action: Describe the actions you took to address the situation with an appropriate amount of
detail and keep the focus on YOU. What specific steps did you take and what was your particular
contribution?
Result: Describe the outcome of your actions and don’t be shy about taking credit for your
behavior. What happened? How did the event end? What did you accomplish? What did you
learn? Make sure your answer contains multiple positive results.
Here are a few links to general interview questions that could be asked:
https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/27-most-common-job-interview-questions-and-answers.html
https://www.themuse.com/advice/interview-questions-and-answers
Write out your answers to some of these questions and practice! Practice until you are confident telling your story, in your own words, and delivering a powerful message as to why you are the best candidate for the role.
You've got this! Be confident in yourself and the skills you bring to the table!
Delfi Almonte
Delfi’s Answer
Always prepare. This can be done in different ways:
Delfi recommends the following next steps:
Peidi Huang
Peidi’s Answer
As a frontend Software Engineer, I recently went through the process of preparing tech interviews and looking for the next job that suits me. A few tips from me:
- Know the basics. I am doing frontend web development, so that means I need to polish my knowledge in Javascript, HTML, CSS etc.
- Prepare for Algorithms and data structures. Most big company interviews emphasize a lot on those. Doing leetcode.com, read Cracking the code interview, etc is a good start. And also practice on whiteboard/paper a lot.
- Start to apply for a few companies that is NOT the dream company you want to go. Warm up yourself with phone interview, onsite, cultural fit questions so you are confident and articulate.
- Prepare for the behavior questions and write it down. Common questions are like:
- What is your biggest challenge?
- What is your biggest achievement?
- What motivates you as a frontend/backend engineer?
- Describe a situation you have conflict with someone and how you resolved it?
- Do research about the company you are applying for. Show the passion you have towards their product, culture and vision. Be able to demonstrate why you will be an ace team player if they hire you.
Hope those help!
Kathy Quan
Kathy’s Answer
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Kathy recommends the following next steps:
Catherine Bartok
Catherine’s Answer
Research the job you are interviewing for.
Research the person you interviewing with use LinkedIn & tSpace
Catherine recommends the following next steps:
Rudy Soto
Rudy’s Answer
Hello JF,
One method of preparing for an interview is the EAR method. It helps structure your interview conversation and provide an effective answer every time! It helps guide you to give clear concise answers.
EAR = Example - Action - Results
Thanks
Rudy
Bridget Wu
Bridget’s Answer
2. Prepare project experience which has above skillset mentioned and present your experience.
3. Prepare story of the most challengeable experience you've had with my previous working experience and how you get through it.
4. Read through company website and try to get more key words and their branding.
5. Prepare question that you would like to ask to the interviewer to help you make decision whether you would like to apply or not.
Florence Jackl
Florence’s Answer
Hello,
For an interview I suggest you start reading the whole website of the company, but not only, you should read papers, interviews, and other website. Get the full inside of what is going on lately for them.
When they ask you about what can you tell me about our company : do not start with boring details, foundation year or CEO.. what they expect from you at this point is HOW from what they do YOU will be the right match.
Important to get a good balance between talking about you and you skills and what you will bring, and at the same time complimenting them and making them feel important.
Everytime you speak or explain what they do, try to find the equivalent in your skills or personality that will match it.
Florence recommends the following next steps:
Jayasudha Jayakumaran
Jayasudha’s Answer
For internships in software engineering,
- Get a good grasp of data structures and algorithms. https://teachyourselfcs.com/ has some good resources for this.
- Cracking the coding interview is a good place to start your interview preparation.
- Once you have broadly covered topics from the book, start working out problems on Leetcode. Rather than going in the order of difficulty, try to cover one topic at a time. For instance, start off with String, Array questions and slowly progress to dynamic programming.
- There are also options like https://www.interviewbit.com/ where they have fun goals & targets to keep it interesting.
- Try to practice outside your IDE. Use an editor like vim or Sublime without any plugins to recreate real interview environment.
- Interviewers are more interested in knowing how you structure your thoughts rather than your final solution. Learn to express your thought process behind the solution with clarity. Doing white-boarding sessions with a friend would help you do this.