How to get the first job as an iOS developer

Thanks to unDraw for great illustrations!

If you already read my last article on interviewing, you know that I failed dozens of my previous interviews. In that article, I mentioned how to improve developers’ hard & soft skills in order to impress a potential employer.

Now, after a lot of hard work, I joined a company here in Egypt as an iOS intern. So I’m more than happy to share useful resources that helped me pass interviews and got my first iOS internship.

Please notice, some of them may seem overkill for you, but I think the complexity of the interviews may vary depending on your skills and what company you are applying for.

As far as I know, there are two categories of questions companies ask in the interview:
1. Problem-solving questions
2. iOS related question
I will be going through each of those and providing you with the resources that I find helpful.

Problem-solving questions

Books

The idea here is to solve as many problems as you can. I recommend two great books:

1. Cracking the Coding Interview
   When you are preparing for interviews you should have a solid understanding of algorithms and data structures. After that, you should start with reading and doing the problems in Cracking the Coding Interview book.
2. Elements of Programming Interviews
   You should start in Elements of Programming Interviews book after you have solved multiple questions from CtCI as the problems in this book are harder than those in the CtCI book.

Websites

You can also solve problems from websites like:

1. LeetCode
   It’s a great website for solving whiteboard like questions.
2. GeeksforGeeks
   I had an interview with Google once, and I found out similar questions to those that I interviewed in on websites like LeetCode and GeeksforGeeks. So, I really recommend checking those websites if you have a technical interview.
3. HackerRank Interview Preparation Kit
   After I study a specific data structure. I solve problems from Cracking the Coding Interview book. Then, I solve easy to medium problems about the topic in which I’m studying from LeetCode. Finally, I might solve a problem or tow about the same topic from HackerRank’s Interview Preparation Kit.
   I do my best to try to solve from multiple sites as it opens my mind to different problems and strengthens my coding skills.

Mock interviews

I’ve used this website multiple times and I highly recommend this website for practicing mock interviews with a real person.

• Pramp.com
  It’s really recommended to practice the interview style with someone of your friends. You can practice mock interviews on this website. I really recommend this website, for practicing an interview-like setting.

iOS related question

Books

I personally haven’t used these books but I heard some very good feedback about them.

1. Swift Coding Challenges
   Swift Coding Challenges book is one of Paul Hudson great books. It sets you the task of solving the most common questions you’ll get asked at coding interviews. You get hints in case you get stuck, then complete solutions so you can compare your results.
2. The iOS Interview Guide
   This guide will help you prepare for your next interview by systematizing the learning, helping you refresh what you already know, and giving you answers to common iOS interview questions.
3. Read Advanced Swift
   It’s a great book to learn more beyond the basics of Swift.

Videos

Sean Allen playlist helped me a lot in my interview, and honestly, I owe him a lot for that.

You can watch a video then try to also search online more about the topic he was talking about to help you get a deeper understanding of the topic.

• Swift Interview Tips

Apps

An open source application for viewing Swift Algorithm Club markdown resources.

• Algorithms & Data Structures (App Store)
• Algorithms & Data Structures (Github repo)

Websites

Using “be the compiler” tests. This will present you with 20 questions graded at three difficulty levels, and ask you to choose a correct answer. This is a highly technical test designed to hone your Swift knowledge. Also created by Paul Hudson.

• Test your Swift skills

If you are struggling to create iOS applications and can’t have a good resume because you are not a designer you can also buy some great iOS App Templates and if you are more interested in React Native App Templates you can buy them from here they have a really great collection.

Articles and Github repos

1. RW Swift Interview Questions and Answers
   In this article, you’ll work through a series of Swift-specific interview questions and answers.
2. How to get a job as an iOS developer
   A great article by Paul Hudson that really discuss deeply how you can get a job as an iOS developer.
3. Awesome Interview Questions

Conclusion

Anyways, I wish you luck passing your next interview and getting your iOS engineering job.

Don’t forget to share with me any other resources that you found helpful in passing your interviews.