Basics for better Technical Interviews

I get it, technical interviews are tough. From a employers perspective, it is incredibly expensive and time consuming to hire new employees. This why most interviews are so hard. They would rather turn away a good developer, instead of hiring a bad developer. Bad developers lead to bad products.

For most developers, they spend most of their days in their head and text editor developing code. It can feel like walking on your hands explaining your code out loud and on a whiteboard. With this guide, you will have the tools to get better.

Think out loud.

They want to know how you approach to problems.The employer is also gaging your communication skills, so explain why you choose your solution. As with any problem, there are often multiple solutions. Think pros and cons and why you choose this solution. Explain the drawback of other solutions. Go as deep as you can with areas you have the most experience with. This will show the employer the depth of your understanding.

If stuck it may be appropriate to ask for a hint. If you don’t know how to answer the question, ask for real world examples or use cases. This will give you more time to think or come up with a solution. If you are still stuck, break up the problem into simpler pieces and solve them. This may give you confidence to solve the original problem.

Penmanship counts

Sloppy handwriting makes good code look bad. Employees assume you write bad code, if they can’t easily understand your code on a whiteboard.

Write legibly and tab your code. Make sure your font is not too big as to take up all the room on the board. Be as specific with naming of variables and functions. The code you write on the whiteboard should look exactly like the code in your IDE. Buy a small whiteboard and practice this daily. This way you will be comfortable with as little space as possible to solve your problem Take problems from codekata.com and solve them on the whiteboard. If possible, work out the logic before hand in a separate part of the board. It is hard to go back rewrite your code if the logic wrong.

Over prepare

Interviews are meant to be uncomfortable. They want you to be uncomfortable, so they want too see how you react to uncertainty or ambiguity. Being over prepared helps you remain confident and calm. Practice as much as possible. This builds confidence.

Get there early and find the office. Better yet take a cab so you won’t be stressed by driving in traffic. Arrive exactly on time, employers don’t like it when you are early. Pick your clothes the night before. Get a full nights rest, drink some tea, make sure you are 100% for your interview. Make as little last minute decisions as possible. This will save your brain for the tough questions.