We're for Tech Teams

Interview Prep.

Summary:

This is a guide to help you prepare for your upcoming interview. Here are a series of questions that we commonly see asked in interview. Our recommendation is to print out this page and write out your answers and then practice them.

General technical interview advice:

• Read and know your CV well.
• Review some common data structures and algorithms - just so you have a couple in-mind.
• When you're answering questions think out loud - sometimes it is showing the way you would think about a question is more important than the actual answer.
• Ask questions to clarify - this helps to make sure you're answering what they're looking for.
• Have a challenging project ready to discuss and unpack.
• Be ready for questions about conflict and how you work with others in a technical team.

Common Questions:

• Tell me about yourself?
• Why are you interested in this job?
• What do you know about us?
• Why do you want to work here?
• Why should we hire you?
• What did you like/dislike about your last job?
• What would you like to be doing five years from now?
• What are your biggest accomplishments?
• What is the most difficult situation you have faced?
• What are some of the things that bother you?
• How do you handle conflict?
• How do you work under pressure?
• What major problem have you encountered and how have you dealt with it?
• Did you ever have a group leader or boss you disliked? Why did you dislike him/her?
• Describe a situation where you had to resolve a problem at work and explain how you resolved it?
• Give me an example of how you are a risk taker?
• If you could have any job in the world, what would it be?
• What motivates you?
• Describe a situation where you did not agree with something your boss asked you to do and how you resolved the problem?

General Tips:

• Smile and make eye contact. Interviewers value warmth, honesty, energy, clear communication, rapport and enthusiasm.
• Be on time.
• Have your talking points ready. Review some technical sites so you've got some good small talk just in case. Check out scotch.io, Smashing Magazine and read the company website too.
• Ask questions. Remember you must learn as much as you can about the job in order to determine if it is suitable for you. Some good questions might include:
  • What sort of work will I be doing?
  • What are the key responsibilities and would you want me to achieve in the next year? What are the reporting relationships?
  • What resources are available to the position? How will my performance be measured? What is the next step?
  • What does a day look like at your company?
• All interviews are different. The order of the interview will depend on the interviewer. Go with the flow.
• Not all the positions you apply for are right for you. The purpose of the interview is to help you sort out if the 'fit' is right in both a job and cultural sense. You must ask questions which will give you information pertinent to your decision-making.
• Remain positive. No matter how you felt the interview went. This might not be the right job for you, but they might have another one coming up.