Coding interview Preparation
How to ace your Behavioral interview.
This is the third part of a three-part series for everything that leads to the coding interview. We have covered DSA, followed by projects and now we are here.
If you haven’t reviewed them yet I suggest you do, as not only are these steps essential for placements but it’s also the road that one must follow if they wish to be a GOOD software developer.
Let’s jump right into what the interview will be like! But first…
General tips:
⭐Communicate!
Think out loud, let it go long, let it be wordy, let the interviewer know what you are thinking.
The goal of the recruiter is to check how you will fit in the company, how you think and approach a problem, and how you deal with team situations.
⭐English, The Language of the Engineer
You don’t need to be a pro at English, what you do need is a basic understanding of what is right and what's wrong. Words have meaning, words have power, use them wisely. Misplacing words will mean the wrong things and is best to avoid such scenarios, use simple words, you need to make sure the people you are talking to understand you.
All of this comes with regular practice, mainly reading out loud because you’re expected to be talking the entire time.
⭐Research your Company
Although obvious, it is important to understand that the company you choose needs to choose you too. A good portion of the companies look for the same basic skills and behaviors, hence one can say it’s about developing yourself by understanding what someone is looking for.
Research about the company; its values, traditions, what they prefer, and their work style. Understanding what your recruiter wants will allow you to tune yourself for them.
After your online coding round where you need knowledge of DSA, basic CS subjects and DBMS, let’s get into what each Interview round has for you.
The Coding Round
Here the interviewer will ask the problem based on the DSA that you are already prepped for, the interviewer asks you to not only test your knowledge but also how to approach the problem.
They will guide you towards the solutions and in most cases, it is alright to make a few small mistakes, just be sure to work your way up from a brute-force solution to a more efficient solution. Follow the Time complexity analysis to make sure that your answer is the most efficient.
It is always better to talk through all the steps as you are taking them as if you were teaching someone how to approach the said problem.
There may be 1 or more of these rounds, they may make the next round project-based, so let's head on there!
The Coding Round 2 (Could Be Merged with HR)
Here your resume is reviewed, your resume is your professional profile, it goes through everything you have done and everything that you know. A good resume is not more than 1-page long, these are the usual steps one could follow to make a good resume.
- Not more than 1 page
- 3 projects max
- Education somewhere on top preferably
- Priority tends to be in this order:
a) education
b) work experience of any kind
c) projects + publications (if any)
d) your tech stack
e) extracurriculars and more that you wish to add
It’s not necessary to abide by this, it’s just a guide. You can always search for Software Engineering specific templates. You can even use a split resume approach (tends to be more reader-friendly). You can check Clement Mihailescu’s resume to get a better idea of the same. You can even lookup Goldman Sachs’s preferable resume template/order to get a better understanding.
Here are a few links for resume templates that work really well. the goal is to make it as readable as possible while being very informative and clear about you.
https://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-job-resume-advice-strategy-careers-tips-2016-7?IR=T
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10ME5zTo2ycC0W5-HYyvgkt2DeW8n-RZa?usp=sharing
The HR Round
The HR’s duty is to find if you are culturally fit to be in the company. They want to test how you would behave, and how you would respond in situations.
There are multiple ways to frame a sentence and the more neutral statement is, the better it will be for the company as you don’t wish to fall into a miscommunication trap.
Communication is key and that is possible with a little practice. Give mock interviews online as there are plenty of sites that undertake them.
I found it helpful to read blogs for answers that developers give to HR questions for a software engineering job. You will notice that it’s all about how you reframe the sentence.
Searching tips in different colleges
On-campus is the most common mode of selection for all companies, it’s seen that only bigger companies have off-campus. You can try that as well.
You should note that your first company will never be your last, but your goal in your first company is to learn all the industry-relevant skills. Eg- Some companies run entire business operations on excel. You probably don’t want your only skill to be excel, you may want to actually code. A particular position may suit you more than others, hence take your time to evaluate the company during your research period.
Mental health
Rejection, dwindling hopes, not getting the responses you hoped for; a question is too difficult, you wish to give up is all to be acknowledged. We all have our bad days. It’s important to find ways to look up, rekindle your fire, consult a friend and/or a senior for help, and just talk it out.
People help as long as you’re willing to approach them. The buddy system mentioned in the first blog of this series (read it if you haven’t) did that for me. At times I was down because I wasn’t getting DP, I took a break, let my mind rest, and kept trying to edge forward. And voila! I found a resource that taught it in a way that I understood best, and that is portrayed here.
It’s important to not lose hope as it can be very disheartening while you do this, maybe it will also lead to a revelation of what you truly want People have different drives and mine was that at my very core I love to code, I love to make working applications and seeing technology work because it excites me as to what is possible by just typing instructions to a computer.
Concluding
With this, we have concluded the 3 blog series on how to ace your placements through adequate practice and preparation. All of these points are the minimum that you should learn and understand in your 4 years of engineering, after which you will be learning a lot more on the job, other than that just enjoy. Enjoy your 4 years, understand yourself, hone your soft skills by participating in events and fests, it's the best first-hand experience you can ask for.
With this, I wish you luck for your placements and I hope you succeed,
Do not hesitate to contact me with doubts.
You can reach me through LinkedIn or by mail.
shreyansh.chheda@gmail.com
Do send in some applause👏 if you found this helpful and resourceful.
