Did you know that an average of 118 people apply for any given job but only 20% qualify for an interview?¹ The competition for employment is tough, especially in jobs like engineering or computer science. In these fields, tech interviews don’t just discuss your experience or salary expectations. With the right preparation, you can stand out and improve your chances of success.
What is a Tech Interview?
A technical interview is a standard part of hiring in highly technical industries, such as engineering and computer technology. If you’re applying in IT or web development, you will probably have to take a tech interview.
Instead of the usual conversation-based interview, a technical interview focuses on your actual technical skills and problem-solving abilities—sort of like an oral practical exam. Here, employers focus more on technical knowledge and critical thinking. They are also interested in your soft skills, like communication and ability to work well with people.
A technical interview usually involves the following:
- Problem-solving Scenarios: Employers may ask you to design an algorithm or propose a solution to a hypothetical client issue, showcasing your analytical abilities.
- Coding Challenges: This often tackles tasks like debugging code or solving logic-based problems to demonstrate your programming skills.
- Behavioral Interview Questions: While typically part of a separate interview, technical interviews may also include questions about your past experiences handling technical problems, highlighting your ability to navigate similar situations effectively.
- Case Studies: You might be given real-life scenarios the company has faced and asked to propose practical solutions, offering insight into your approach to real-world challenges.
How to Prepare for a Tech Interview
Preparing for a tech interview will involve tasks like sharpening your technical knowledge and practicing how to explain your thought process. In this section, we’ll go over eight helpful ways to ace your tech interview.
1. Research the Company
The first thing to do is to gather as much information as you can about the company. Go to their website and browse the essentials: mission, vision, core values, and blogs. More importantly, study everything you can about the technical aspects relevant to your role, like their product technology, tech stack, and areas of expertise.
As you study the company, you can also prepare questions for the interviewer that show you’re interested in the company’s work. For example, be ready to ask something like: “How does the team handle scaling and performance issues with the current tech stack?” This shows that you’re interested in how the company’s technical resources contribute to their growth.
2. Review the Job Description
Make sure you have read through the entire job description before the interview. Focus on the “key responsibilities” or the “job duties” section. From this list of responsibilities, identify which ones already align with your current expertise and which ones require further improvement.
Another important section that will need your focus is the set of technologies that the company expects you to know about. This may include tools, languages, frameworks, projects, or products. Companies are usually transparent about this information in job descriptions so candidates can know if they match the demand.
3. Review Past Work and Projects
Interviewers may want to assess your knowledge and skills based on what you’ve already done in the past. Practice discussing your past projects in as much detail as you can provide. Focus on the challenges you faced, how you solved them, and the impact of your work.
As your practice, you can also figure out the right time to mention both the technical knowledge and skills you have. For example, if you’re applying as a developer, prepare to mention both the tools you used and the process you executed: “In a previous project, I faced challenges with ensuring the scalability of a microservice built with Java and Spring. To address this, I optimized the service’s performance by improving its data handling and ensuring it followed RESTful API.”
4. Review the Basics
Don’t underestimate the power of going back to the basics. After reviewing the company and the job description, you can browse articles or videos on the technical areas used by the employer. This will not only help you refresh your knowledge but also update yourself on relevant changes in your industry.
Make sure you have a solid understanding of foundational concepts in the tech industry, like data structures (arrays, linked lists, trees), algorithms (sorting, searching), and time/space complexity analysis (Big O notation). You don’t want to do the interview missing a few important yet fundamental ideas about programming or development.
5. Practice with Coding Training Programs
Coding challenges are a common assessment method done by technical interviewers. If you’re applying for jobs like data engineering and software development, except a test on coding. Here, they want to know your ability to write efficient code or apply data structures and algorithms.
LeetCode and HackerRank are online platforms for practicing coding challenges. They make excellent tools for preparing for technical interviews. Spend time on them to get your brain running and to find out which skills and knowledge you need to improve.
6. Prepare for Problem-Solving Questions
Technical interviews commonly include problem-solving questions and case studies to assess how candidates think about real-life situations. Here’s an example: A team member is unable to access certain websites on the company network, but others in the same department can. As an IT technician, what do you do?
As you practice answering, don’t just jump into coding—first, break down the problem. You can start by clarifying the job that needs to be done, discussing trade-offs, and then listing the steps of your plan. Take all the time you’re given to express your thought process in detail. This will show the interviewer how you logically think about the problem instead of just hearing about the final answer.
7. Practice With Mock Interviews
Schedule mock interviews with a friend or use online platforms like Pramp or Interviewing.io to simulate the interview experience. This helps with getting comfortable under pressure and getting used to the feeling of being interviewed. After each practice run, ask your friend for feedback on areas where you can improve.
Self-evaluation is also just as important as receiving criticism. Try recording yourself so you can review how you look and sound while answering questions. Minimize filler words and unnecessary movements. You can also set up a timer to know how much you spend on answering and adjust accordingly.
8. Prepare Your Environment
If it’s a virtual interview, make sure to test your video and audio setup beforehand. Check that your microphone and camera are working properly. Also, make sure the lighting is good in the room that you will use. Do a trial run to help you identify and avoid these kinds of technical issues during the interview.
Additionally, ensure that your workspace is quiet and free from distractions. Advise your family about your upcoming interview. Maybe you can also ask for exclusive use of the internet to ensure a stable connection throughout the process.
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References:
- Smith, Jacquelyn. “7 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Your Job Search.” Forbes, 17 Apr. 2013, www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2013/04/17/7-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-your-job-search.