How to tackle your first software developer interview: my experience.
Let’s face it, interviews and job searching can be stressful. And what is already a pretty daunting process has been made even more stressful by the pandemic and a shift in the way in which the recruitment process is happening. There are, however, some things you can do to make yourself shine during this cloudy time and bag that first developer job.
I recently graduated from Mayden Academy coding bootcamp, and after several applications, have now started my first software engineering role in health tech at Mayden. I previously worked as a Speech and Language Therapist in the NHS but discovered enjoyment in coding, so now getting to work as a software developer making healthcare better combines perfectly with both my passions.
The latter part of the intensive full-stack course, my interviews, and my induction at my new job have all been remote as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has had its challenges but has also been a great opportunity. Here are six things that I learnt in getting my first software engineering role (without leaving the house!)
1. Shift your mindset
Why do we fear interviews? For me it’s the lack of control and fear of the unknown. What will they ask me? What if I don’t know what to say? What if I freeze? Even confident people will fear interviews. However, the difference is confident people will accept the fear, face it head-on, and welcome the challenge. They are not afraid to embrace a feeling of discomfort in order to grow. See this interview as a great opportunity to practise.
The worst that can happen is you do freeze; you don’t know the answer to a question, or you make yourself look foolish (and this is likely only your perception, not theirs). It is not going to harm you. Even if this happens, say your mind has gone blank and you need a moment to think about the question. If you still can’t answer the question, be honest: say you don’t know the answer but explain what you would do to find out. If anything, this shows you are comfortable not knowing something and that you have the initiative to find out for yourself- a trait definitely needed of a developer!
Even if one interview doesn’t pan out, consider it an excellent opportunity where you got to practise your interview skills to get better for the next one.
2. Prepare, prepare, prepare
Despite the many unknowns, there is a myriad of things you can do ahead of your interview to prepare. Not preparing for an interview of any type is basically a recipe for disaster. How much preparation, you may ask? It’s not so much the hours you spend, but more the quality of your preparation and how deeply you have reflected and thought about things. The main things I did to prepare for my coding interview:
Prepare answers for the generic interview questions
Some of the general interview questions that I have been asked in interviews are:
What skills can you bring to this role?
What do you find challenging about coding and what do you enjoy?
Tell me something you have learnt recently?
Tell me about your strengths and weaknesses?
Where do you hope to be in 5 years time?
How do you cope with pressure/stress?
What sort of people do you not work as well with/how do you work in a team?
If you can prepare in advance for questions such as these, that will put you in good stead. It will also take some of the pressure off and give you a greater feeling of control and you can be in a better mindset to tackle those tougher technical questions!
Other common questions may be like “Tell me about a time when you demonstrated [insert skill here]?” This could be a range of all the wonderful skills developers need such as creativity, problem solving, flexible thinking, team working (the list goes on!) Be prepared to explain how you have demonstrated the key skills and back them up with specific examples, and be honest. You could use the STAR method when answering this question: what was the situation; what was your task to do; how did you act; and what was the result of your action.
Another thing that has helped me is keeping a coding journal during my time learning to code, which I will continue over my first developer job and subsequent jobs (it’s never too late to start one!) I have been able to look back on things I have found challenging and see the development of my knowledge, which has helped me to reflect and answer some of the above questions. Having a career in technology means a career of continuous learning, so the more you can show how much of a keen learner you are the better.
Revise some of the technical concepts you are less confident on
You may not even get asked about the SOLID principles, about containerisation, or what dependency injection is; but the main purpose this serves is allowing you to go into the interview feeling more confident and knowledgeable!
During my time at the Mayden Academy we had regular short technical tests, which I later realised were really helpful when it came to remembering all the tricky stuff. It has helped me to take notes as I learn new things and look over these now and again to refresh my knowledge.
If there is a technical test, try and put across your thought processes and ideas clearly.
Sometimes you may have a technical test to do in your own time and submit before the interview. Other companies will give you a technical test during the in-person interview in the form of a ‘whiteboarding’ activity (basically solving a coding problem with someone else on the whiteboard), or a pair programming exercise.
Whichever type you are given, make it your mission to communicate your plan and thoughts clearly. Whether this be written down, pseudo coded into your code editor or communicated out loud to your interviewer.
You could put your ideas across to your interviewer and ask for their opinion, or if there are multiple ways of doing things, tell them all your ideas so they can see you have considered the different options. This will show off your creativity and problem solving skills! Additionally, the benefit of doing this is, if you didn’t get a chance to finish the test or exercise, the interviewer can see what you had planned to do.
If the test is in a language you are not very familiar with, you can also ask if you can complete the test using one you have more experience with, as talking through your process is often more important than the language used. Not all, but many interviewers are willing to do this.
3. Identify your value
Quite frankly, you fulfil a business need. You need to determine what this is — how does the company make money? What are their goals? What are their values?
Once you have distinguished this; think about how you can evidence what skills, attributes and qualities you possess and how they will benefit your desired employer. What is your value? What can you bring that others cannot? What is unique about you?
Your job is not strictly to perform the points that are in your job description but overall is to provide value to the business by making saleable products. So let them know how and why you will be good at doing this. If there is something in your life that is a personal passion, interest or skill which can relate to the work you’d be doing, make sure you bring that forward and let them know about it.
4. Rest
After your preparation, make sure you spend a sizeable chunk of time resting before your interview. I like to spend at least half of the day before chilling out and not thinking about it.
Giving your brain a rest is more important than you realise. Rest is a huge part of success and will allow space for creativity and for you to think flexibly on the spot when you’re asked those trickier questions. Da Vinci and Einstein only worked 4 hours a day, during which they were highly productive.
And get lots of sleep! Interviewing at any time can be stressful, and even more so during a world-changing pandemic, so after you have done your prep work take it easy on yourself.
5. Ask questions
Don’t forget you are there not only to be interviewed but to interview your potential employer. This is your chance to find out everything you can about the company and what they would be like to work for. You could end up accepting a job here, so surely you want to find out about what it would be like to work there before you do!
Also, you will be demonstrating that you are curious and inquisitive and that you are comfortable and confident asking questions which is something certainly needed in your first developer role. Questions will probably crop up throughout the interview as you hear from your interviewer, however just in case you get a mind blank, take a list of written down questions with you that you can ask at the end of the interview or whenever appropriate. Some good examples of questions you could ask might be:
What would my first 3 months look like?
How has the lockdown affected the onboarding process for junior devs here?
What are your favourite and worst things about working for this company?
What is your company doing to improve diversity in tech?
Can you tell me about the company culture?
What opportunities are there for training and development?
How much automated testing do you do?
Do the development team follow scrum/agile principles?
6. Be yourself
One of the most important things to remember is that people hire people; so allow your personality to be seen.
Be energetic and enthusiastic — don’t hide your natural passion and why you’re here. Try and enjoy the process and do your best to connect with the interviewers as individuals.
And smile! For interviewers, there’s probably nothing worse than interviewing someone who appears bored and aloof, they want to know who they’d be working with every day. This may be even more important if you are interviewing remotely as there is less opportunity for non-verbal communication (and no opportunity for a handshake!)
Dress smartly but in a way you feel comfortable, confident, and still yourself. Yes, this goes even if your interview is remote. I found this helped me feel more in ‘interview mode’ despite not physically attending an interview. Even if it may be tempting to wear your PJ bottoms, resist the urge!
Remember always that you’re seeking a company that fits what you want, in the same way they are looking for someone to fit what they want. So go with an open mind, great preparation, a clear idea of your own worth, a rested mind and body, lots of questions, showing your true personality, and you can get there.
Good luck, and stay safe!
