Planning for interviews actually begins when you make the decision to change your current job or uplevel or seek better or different prospects. At this point, it’s good to keep these in mind:
You must apply to multiple companies
You may have your sights set on one company but it’s a mistake to get wedded to the idea of joining that one, and one alone. Never put a single company on a pedestal. Interviews are dates and not standardized tests, so you need to expect chaos.
Companies need you as much as you need them
This is something one tends to forget but it’s important to remember that the hirer needs you as much as you need them; so, brace yourself against pressure tactics.
Ensure that your resume is error-free
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We see this all the time in the resumes of students coming into our program; they are riddled with typos. When you have typos on your resume, you may not even get an interview. Of course, the interviewer may overlook the typos and some will, and some may not pick it during their rapid scanning. Mostly, interviewers tend to be highly detail-oriented, working in value-protecting areas of tech, and the odds of them missing typos on your resume are stacked against you. Especially there are many.
Case in point: Lessons from a year’s worth of hiring data
For the most part, you’ve had ample time to create your resume. There are very good tools available today to correct your mistakes. You really have no reason to send one out with typos. You shouldn’t be surprised if you don’t get an interview for that single reason.
Before the interview
Having closely trained nearly 2000+ candidates, we believe that prepping for an interview has to be less about gaming the system and landing the job and more about becoming better engineers, about problem solving, and communication. In other words, prepare to be a better engineer and not just a better interviewee.
While technical prep is critical, we advise job seekers to take some time to think about how they communicate during an interview. Our research shows that what trips up the interviewee the most is Communication skills.
As software engineers, because we spend so much time in front of a computer to get things done, it often reinforces our thinking that communication skills are less important than technical skills.
Nothing can be farther from the truth.
Most projects fail because of lack of proper communication. Same goes for interviews. In fact, because communication nuances can be subtle, in interviews, they are more severe than on live projects because you often don’t get feedback right away or a chance to explain yourself.
In an interview, communication skills become even more important to get right (compared to daily life), because in a time-boxed construct like that, you neither get enough feedback right away, nor do you get another chance to explain yourself.
What’s more, when a candidate is on the borderline technically, having demonstrated excellent soft skills tilts the balance in their favor. But the reverse is never true! You may be superior technically but if your communication skills are not good enough, you will *not* get an offer!
At the interview
Our advice is to never go to an interview to look for a job but go to the interview to show what you do and show what you are capable of. Of course, with humility. Remember that authentic communication is as important as solving the problem, if not more.
Nobody explains it better than Bryan Cranson does in this 1-minute impromptu advice:
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https://youtu.be/v1WiCGq-PcY
Skipped the video? Don’t. For many, this one minute was life-changing advice. Listen to it, over and over again.
When you look under the hood of failures in interviews, almost always,
it’s the lack of introspection, not the lack of coding speed.
it’s the verbal expression, not expressive code.
it’s the pitch, not LinkedIn or resume.
it’s people, not tech.
Here’s a checklist for your interview prep:
1. Have you rehearsed an elevator pitch?
What’s your response to a ‘tell me about yourself?’ Will you ramble inarticulately or speak lucidly about your career journey, your goals and aspirations, strengths and interests?
Knowing how you brand and sell yourself can set you off on the right track during an interview. An unclear pitch just tells the interviewer that you don’t know what you want and lack clarity on your career progressions.
2. Do you know why you are interviewing with a certain company?
Another question you’re likely to hear is ‘why do you want to join us?’ Many candidates find it difficult to answer this question.
Look, we get it. You just want a job. Or well, the answer is as obvious as who-doesn’t-want-to-join-Google? But that’s not going to win you any points. Have you done your homework? Are there some things the company does that you connect with? Things that excite you?
The question is more or less a courtesy, but it’s a critical one, because interviewers are risk-averse in that hour, by definition. If you don’t do them the courtesy of responding intelligently, you can come off as clueless or just opportunistic.
3. Have you got questions for your interviewer?
So many candidates don’t ask questions at the end of their interview.
But this is the only time before you make your decision, when you’ll have access to core engineers of the company/team, spending an hour each with you. It’s a goldmine.
You should be prepared with solid questions, to try and understand as much as you can about the culture, the tech-stack, the org chart, and everything else in between. Yes, even if the interview didn’t go well. It’s what will feed your final decision, whichever company you join.
Not asking questions makes you come across as either very disinterested, or worse, clueless and arrogant.
4. Are you suffering from an acute case of the insecure-itis?
What if things go wrong? What if I can’t answer questions that they ask? What if my friends secretly ridicule me if I don’t clear the interview? What if I’m stamped a stupid incapable person by my family, forever? What if this is the last interview I ever have?
Clouding your mind with such insecurities is often natural to many many people, especially before an event where they are going to be judged (e.g. an interview) by another person.
But they never ever do any good. Self-doubt just weakens your brain-response, and that in turn, ironically leads to low performance in an interview!
5. Are you listening to the interviewer?
So many candidates don’t take hints even when they are struggling with solving a given problem during the interview.
When you struggle in an interview, make no mistake – the interviewer can see it. When you struggle a little too much, they may offer you a hint. You should take it, even if you don’t agree with it, or even if you didn’t ask for it.
Having a quick discussion with the interviewer about your current approach and how their proferred hint works with it, is just respectful. Doesn’t take too long.
Ignore the hint, and the interviewer will note that you’ve ignored them. Seems childish on the interviewers’ part? May be, but if you do that to two interviewers on the pane, that is flagged as a negative pattern, and the interview is lost.
6. Have you really prepared for the interview?
Understand the nature of the beast. Before you go to interviews, take a few minutes to understand what they are. And specifically, how they are done for the companies/roles you’re targeting. Every company has a specific process they follow for specific roles. Getting as much information as you can about the process and people involved in the company will also go a long way in avoiding these mistakes.
If you are the kind of person who doesn’t have an unshakeable faith in your instincts to support you at the right time in an interview, then you need to prepare beforehand. And prepare well.
Put yourself into a similar situation number of times.
Do mock interviews with people on the other side. Seek detailed feedback and calibrate. Do burner interviews at companies you don’t care to work for. Introspect and seek as much feedback as possible.
This way, you’ll substantially overcome self-doubt, and recognize your own strengths and limitations, leading to very positive outcomes. Everything else will fall in place. Oh, it will. We’ve seen that, over and over again.
After the interview
Everyone expects an interview to lead to the best outcome – of being hired. How an interview went will indicate to you what to expect. You may be informed when to expect a call back but if you think the interview went well, you should follow up.
If not, wait a year before you apply once again. In engineering, companies themselves tell you what the cool-off period is. This could be three months if the interview was borderline, or as long as two years if it was a disaster. You should know that most companies use an Applicant Tracking System, that will track this information. But just after the interview, step away knowing you’ve done your best. Put it behind you and move on.
