Interviews for any job are generally difficult, but technical interviews are even more difficult and daunting as they rigorously test problem-solving, analytical and coding skills, personality, and more. To impress recruiters during a technical interview and sail through it, you need to prepare for the most important aspects of the interview process in advance.
To take your IT interview preparation in the right direction, Xyber IT staffing experts are sharing some insightful interview preparation tips. Following them will help you achieve a less daunting and more confident, enjoyable interview experience and eventually make it successfully through the interview process and secure the job that you are applying for.
Here is a comprehensive guide that prepares you for success in technical interviews.
1. Study and research the company
The interview process varies from employer to employer. So, it is imperative to customize your interview preparation accordingly.
To prepare for a particular organization’s interview, you need to consult its website and thoroughly review its various sections. It will help you understand what the company does and its field or area of operations. By visiting the company’s blog section, you will know which IT processes, tools, languages, and methods it uses to serve its customers’ needs. This knowledgewill help you in the interview.
It would be best if you also refer to the LinkedIn profiles of relevant and important people in the company, like software developers, CEO, project managers, etc. Some of these people will likely be the ones who interview you. Reading their profiles will give you an idea of their personality, professional achievements, qualifications, etc. Knowing about their professional background (management or software development) will give you an idea of what kind of questions they may ask. You can determine whether they will ask technical or non-technical questions.
Consulting and studying these resources will give you the knowledge to confidently appear in the interview and strike the right impression on interviewers. Interviewers are likely to pay more attention to candidates who know about their company than those who don’t.
2. Work on your skills
The interviewer will test various skills in the interview. These include technical, coding, problem-solving, creative thinking, analytical thinking, and collaborative working skills. It may help if you work on improving these skills to present them confidently in front of the interviewers. Working on them will help you prove yourself as the most deserving candidate. To practice these skills, you can take help from various resources provided by reputed online IT education course providers like Udemy Business, Coursera for Business, and LinkedIn Learning. Alternatively, you can seek help from a friend or mentor from the IT field.
3. Communication skills
Your interviewers will also test your communication skills.
Software development involves teamwork, where you must regularly interact with your team and your client’s team. It will help if you are good at understanding most applicable technical issues and have the ability to learn about others, then also have the ability to explaining them to your team members. For this reason, interviewers look for candidates who can communicate things proficiently.
4. Other soft skills
Apart from communication skills, you must also possess soft skills such as being a team player, leadership skills, business knowledge, etc., especially if you are applying for management and leadership positions.
5. Show enthusiasm and positivity
If you want interviewers to engage with you, you should be enthusiastic, confident, and positive in the interview. Interviewers love candidates who show enthusiasm and passion for the job. They want to ensure that the candidate they hire is passionate about the work and happy to get the position.
6. Prepare for the interview in a stepwise manner
Your interview may consist of several steps like HR (non-technical) round, technical round, etc. Your technical round may be further divided into several interviews. These may include creative thinking interviews, problem-solving interviews, coding interviews, programming interviews, etc. Therefore, you need to prepare accordingly for these rounds and allocate enough time to study and practice.
It would help if you also plan what you should work on and when. Better time management and focus on preparing only the most important aspects at a given time will help you peak at the right time. It also will improve your chances of a smooth, successful interview.
7. Prepare well for other questions
Apart from technical questions, the interviewers may also ask you behavioral questions and questions related to situations and your education. Hence, it would also help if you prepared for them.
The behavioral questions are based on real-life situations that you may have encountered. They want to know from you how you have acted in a specific situation in the past.
Situational interview questions deal with hypothetical situations in the future. They want to know what you might do in a specific scenario.
Some of the interviewers may ask you questions related to your education. Some questions can be “Did you pursue a college education and name the college you attended?” and “Are you self-taught, and which resources you used to teach yourself?”
To understand what the interview process will be like and what questions you will be asked, you should check interview process-related blog articles of various companies.
You can also find interview-related questions from prominent companies like Google at Glassdoor, a popular web-based job board. Former and current employees of these organizations have put these questions. The questions will be of great help to you in preparing for your interview questions.
8. Don’t guess the answers
You may need to learn the answers to all the questions you are asked in a technical interview. If you don’t know a question’s answer, honestly reply that you don’t know the answer. If you make wild guesses while answering the interview questions, this will not go down well with the interviewer.
9. Do mock interviews
You may have to attend a remote or on-site interview where the interviewer will test your skills and knowledge by asking you questions, writing code on a whiteboard, etc. So, you have to prepare for these interview scenarios in advance. Mock interviews are a great way to prepare for these scenarios before facing them. You can take help from friends or online resources to practice these mock interviews.
10. Learn time management
You will get limited time to prove yourself in a tech interview. Thus, you must prepare for the interview per the time constraints. Try to be more focused and efficient in your tech interview preparation which will translate into better performance during an actual interview. Setting a timer during practice will help you perform within a limited time. Manage how long you speak for each question. Do not over-explain or be redundant in your explanations, but at the same time, be very thorough in what you cover. The idea is to show your technical depth, but not be repetitious or too simplistic in your answers.
Focusing on these areas will not only give a boost to your interview preparation but will also help you pass your IT job interview with flying colors. You may not succeed at the first attempt, but with constant practice and focus, you will eventually be able to make it through.
