A CTO’s guide to crushing an interview for a job in tech (apart from coding)
If you think reading this article will land you the dream job, I'm sorry to say, it will disappoint you. This is not clickbait, we'll make no promises, guarantees or pledges.
However, if you're interested in the opinion of four experienced CTO's, whom have hired tons of engineers the last years, you've come to exactly the right place!
Before applying
There are no shortage of interesting jobs in the tech industry, but before applying for your dream job, take a look at your knowledge and compare it with what the company is asking for.
Roger Campos has led the technical team at Camaloon for years, and has built his team on principles he thinks are the most important when hiring new people:
First of all the candidate need to have specific and deep knowledge of the core concepts - base concepts. Frameworks can become popular in 3 months and die in 2 weeks, languages the same. What remains is the core fundamentals in which software are built. It’s a pity, but in reality those core things will remain important just because upgrading them is too expensive and will never happen.
He continues:
So what’s core? Javascript, sql, networking (routing, dns, tcp/ip, protocols, http), html/css, unix systems (processes, threads, memory, permissions, etc). If a candidate knows all of these things well, I’m 90% for hiring him. This is actually very rare to find!
Don't be a hater
A technical interview consists of several elements, but to get hired, the CTO needs to know that you're capable of solving problems.
And if you want the dream job, it's often not enough only to solve the problems, but to actually have several ways of solving the problems you're faced with in the interview. Remember that the ability to go deep in any problem, is a virtue all technical teams needs from their developers, according to CTO of Factorial, Pau Ramon:
Show that you are willing to learn anything. Some developers have very strong opinions like “I hate Rails” or “Javascript sucks” without realizing it’s part of the interviewer stack. Others only want to use their technology of choice. Versatility is a huge asset.
The CTO of Gym For Less, Guillermo Ceballos Hernández agrees with Ramon:
When I hire I want to see developers that aren't afraid of getting their hands dirty, especially junior people. I want someone that's openly curious, on the borderline to restless.
Open source
Young developers often find it challenging that startups and tech companies only are looking for experienced developers, but remember that experience can be interpreted in different ways, says Campus:
If a developer has worked in five different jobs the last years, doing the exact same task, to me he is less experienced than a younger developer, that has worked on many personal projects and faced complex challenges.
Even tough your position is purely technical, a lot of startup jobs need someone that loves the whole product, says Pau:
Show interest in the company beyond tech. A good dev is also someone that understand business priorities and can sacrifice their “playfulness” with tech and take pragmatic approaches to problem-solving.
Proactive
Hernández says that there are especially two things he looks for in a senior developers:
They need to manage the balance of both being pro-active, but also very good listeners.
Also Albert Bellonch, CTO of Quipu appreciates pro-activeness:
I love to see some spark in the people I interview. It can either be asking more about the position, technological details about the company or how the organization works. That’s all good signs to me.
Show off your human
Pau led the technical team at Redbooth for years, before starting his own venture at itnig with Factorial.
He believes that soft skills are extremely important and should be in focus when hiring. Nobody wants cyborgs. After all, a development team still consists of human beings:
Try to show of your soft skills as much as your technical skills. You need to be able to reach a consensus with people, not only focus on your own opinions. Even though the interview process is about winning, the job you're trying to get is all about collaboration.
Albert wants to get to know you, not the person you want to be:
Be yourself, be natural, don't try too much. If you're trying to be someone that you're not, it's easy to think you're hiding something.
Also, don’t be afraid to show your opinion when it suits the situation. Having an opinion often shows that you’re more mature as a developer, but don’t pick unnecessary battles and arguments, and don’t share your opinion unless your asked.
I hope you got some good tips, and if you feel ready to go to an interview with these CTO's — take a look here.
If you're aiming at becoming a CTO yourself — this where you should take a look:
This post was written by Sindre Hopland, media manager at itnig.
