How to prepare for the technical interview + Possible questions to be asked
The key to success in a technical interview is to be prepared and be yourself.
In almost every recruitment process there is first the recruiter's filter. The HR person contacts us because our resume caught their attention, then we have a call with HR where they tell us more about the vacancy in broad strokes. We mention about our experience and indicate what our salary expectation is.
Everything seems to flow very well. The call ends and, if both the recruiter and we want to continue with the process, we are left with a good taste in our mouths. Depending on the company, it may be hours or even days before the recruiter contacts us again to schedule the technical interview. He tells us that the interview will be with the hiring manager who, in theory, is an expert in the area.
Apart from our knowledge and years of experience, what the hiring manager will want to evaluate about us is that we demonstrate the necessary knowledge for the vacancy. Whether we will be the ideal candidate who will contribute to the success of the company.
The technical interview is a deciding factor for many companies, but there is no need to be nervous as with these simple steps we can move on to be an ideal candidate👇
Research the company's mission, values, products and success stories
A very simple way to be a candidate that sticks in the hiring manager's mind is to show an interest in the company. It seems very logical, but there are many other candidates who apply to many vacancies without really knowing where they are applying.
We have to evaluate ourselves and consider our needs, what is more important to us? Job stability, fame or recognition, salary, benefits, location of the offices, etc. Applying for the sake of applying is not the same as intentionally choosing a place where we can develop our areas of interest. Regardless of the answer, the change in mindset is very significant.
If the company is very attractive to us, we will undoubtedly express ourselves better in our interview, the interviewer will probably notice and all we will have done is a little research in a few simple steps:
Go to the company's website and see what they advertise first. What product or service do they focus their homepage on?
Go to About and read their mission, vision, values. Some companies will have even more complete this information including work culture and how they focus on diversifying their staff.
👉 Take the keywords that match you and use them when crafting your pitch.
Go to the section their products or the services they offer. Googling or searching on LinkedIn and other social networks, can give you even more information on their most recent launches and the latest thing they are working on. Is the company a Fintech that just launched a new consumer credit card, is it an IT consulting firm that just attracted a company?
👉 Take the keywords that match you and use them when crafting your pitch.
Some companies publish their success stories on their website. Look at what they have worked on before, what is success for them, how do they measure success?
👉 Take the keywords that match you and use them when crafting your pitch.
In summary, the research, which should not take more than 1 or 2 hours, should look something like this:
About
Our passion is building resilient businesses, while generating new business channels and revenue streams, exceptional user experiences and modernized operations at scale.
Fuente: https://www.luxoft.com/about-us/
Products o Services
IT Services focused on Engineering & Design, Data to Insights, Intelligent Automation, Legacy Modernization, QA Automation, Cloud Solutions
Case studies
Adoption of Scrum in a medical insurance company. Improving the airport experience with Computer vision. Redesigning Blue Nile's Customer Experience with Motivational UXâ„¢.
In this example, I am showing the research I did on Luxoft a few days ago to prepare for the technical interview. It allowed me to realize which keywords I could include in my pitch and my answers. This little research made the difference when the hiring manager asked me if I already knew about Luxoft and what attracted me to work with them.
What will be the technical questions?
Obviously, this will depend a lot on our profession and the position we are applying for. Most commonly, the vacancy itself will give you the answer you need and contain all the technical topics that we will be working on in the role. Sadly, sometimes recruiters just copy and paste vacancies from other sites, omitting valuable information and sometimes even looking for the wrong role. But we won't cover bad recruiting practices in this issue 😉.
For this very reason, it is very important that we understand concepts, methodologies, tools, programming languages, frameworks, processes according to our role as Product Manager, Full Stack Developer, UX Researcher, Product Designer, Back-end Developer, Business Analyst, Scrum Master, Program Manager, etc.
I leave as an example some questions that I was asked in a technical interview of an IT consulting company for a Product Owner position. Although they are more focused on this SCRUM role, they can be applied to any role that needs or has interaction with Agile.
What tools do you use to document processes?
What is the difference between Epic, User Stories and Tasks?
What is the difference between a defect and a bug?
What are the SCRUM ceremonies?
How long is a Sprint?
Difference between Front-end and Back-end
What is the difference between waterfall and agile development?
And, what if I don’t know the answer?
It is not uncommon for us to sometimes get very nervous when we are asked a technical question. We feel like we are in the middle of an exam, we are being evaluated by a professor and our grade will dictate how competent we are. For many, having an interview is a trigger for stress and discomfort, when it is simply a chat between two or more professionals. Even stress and nerves can cause us to forget something we already know.
Also, it's totally valid that we don't know all the answers - after all, who knows exactly 100% of everything? None of us. That's why it's best to go prepared, review material, study and practice. But not without neglecting our physical and mental health, since we must be well rested for the day of the test.
Surviving tips
If the question is not clear, more questions need to be asked. We can say something like could you rephrase or rephrase the question? This will give your brain time to think some more about the answer.
It is valid to say that we need time to figure it out. Some questions do not have a correct answer and are more to evaluate how we solve problems. Usually these questions are about making estimates like how many cell phones are bought in X country per year or how would you estimate how many windows there are in New York City?
Never say I don't know. Depending on the company, saying I don't know may be perceived as not being interested in learning or researching. A better way to answer would be: I haven't had the opportunity to use this process | tool | methodology | situation | X thing but I know that if I research it I will learn it quickly.
Do not lie. The most important thing is to be honest with ourselves and with the interviewer. It is better not to pretend that we know because usually the hiring manager will end up realizing it and we will look very bad.
Prove your Soft Skills
One way to "sell our work better" is to demonstrate that we not only perform tasks with excellence, but that we are capable of working as a team, communicating clearly with our bosses or colleagues, being flexible in the face of change, having emotional intelligence, and so on. Since these influence the workflow of a company.
Soft skills are not a new topic. In 1918, Charles Riborg Mann initiated a research called "Study of Engineering Education" at Harvard University. The study states that 85% of job success comes from having well-developed soft and personal skills, and only 15% comes from technical knowledge or skills. What an interesting fact, isn't it?
85% of job success comes from having well-developed soft and personal skills, and only 15% comes from technical knowledge or skills.
For this reason, soft skills are the most valued skill by companies today. The company wants to know that we are able to add value to the team, that we are able to communicate problems on time or solve them, that we can handle stress, have leadership skills, etc.
Don't forget to ask questions!
Despite what others think, asking questions looks good in an interview. No one will believe that we are less eligible for asking questions or that we don't have enough knowledge. On the contrary, there is no better way to show interest in the company than by preparing a series of questions beforehand to better understand what their work culture and team organization is like.
Some questions that help to better position ourselves
What is the company's work culture?
What are the company's prospects in the short and medium term?
How do you see my skills adding value to the team?
What is the day-to-day life of a person in this position like?
How does the company care about the professional growth of its employees?
What should the ideal candidate for this position have?
How does the company see itself positioned in the next 5 years?
What is indispensable to do a good job in the company?
What are your methods | tools | processes for doing X thing?
Tell me in the comments if you have implemented these points in your interviews or which ones stand out to you the most. See you next week 🚀