How to prepare for Technical Interviews
Hey everyone what's happening? It's Mayuko
Today, I'm going to be going over some of my tips and tricks for how to study for the technical interview, Which is a typical part of the software engineering interview process.
Whether you're interviewing for an internship, or a full-time job, I hope these tips will help you ace your next technical interview.
so when interviewing for a software engineering job, there's usually three stages: the phone screen, the technical phone interview, and the on-site
Today, we're going to be focusing on the technical interview, which is a core part of the technical phone interview and the on-site.
I might make another video for the other parts, but my advice here actually applies pretty generally to all of the stages—so hopefully they help.
Alright, ready? Here we go!
My first tip is to study and this might sound weird or dumb or cliche, but really study for your interview.
Companies use a technical interview as a part of the standard interview process in order to assess your technical ability.
Ideally the problems that you encounter in the technical interview are the types of problems that you would encounter IRL (In real life) at this job, because that gives a true measure on how you would do should you work there.
And for companies that don't do this. I'm looking at you. What are you really gonna learn from asking someone:
How many ping-pong balls fit into an airplane?
Now, all of that aside and sometimes those are the types of questions you might get what you're called brain teaser questions
The technical interview is there to assess how you solve problems
Anyways here are my favorite resources for studying for technical interviews
the first is cracking the coding interview now
I know y'all have heard me talk about this before but cracking the coding interview is basically the Holy Bible of studying for technical interviews.
I have my copy right here which is the fifth edition and I wanna say? Yeah, it's the fifth edition and it's it's got all my highlights and stuff in there
But this is so useful when it comes to setting for a technical interview
it includes refreshers for computer science concepts and a bunch of practice problems with answers in the back
This book is written based on the technical interviews from big companies like Google, Apple, Amazon and Microsoft
A new edition is released every year so that it's always kept up to date
That said if you don't get the latest edition, it's not such a big deal, but it is cool to see the latest editions of stuff because they're going to reflect what the interview process is like at those companies currently.
I'll leave a link to buy the book down in the description box below.
The second tool I use is called LeetCode — it has thousands of crowdsource interview questions that you can work on in an online editor, so it'll give you a problem and then you can code out your solution and it runs it against a bunch of tests, so you can see whether your solution works or not.
The problems vary in difficulty and you can use what programming language that you're most comfortable with.
I use this hand-in-hand with cracking the coding interview.
The fact that it's an online editor really mimics a technical phone screen and it gets me into the right mindset
So my next tip is to study for the specific technology.
Now I'm leaving this at like a 1.5, because this may not apply to everyone.
If you're interviewing for a role specializing in a specific technology or a stack—
And you'll know this by looking at the job description
then you're definitely going to want to study the concepts associated to that technology or stack
For instance, I'm an iOS engineer and so when I'm studying for interviews, I'm brushing up on core iOS concepts and frameworks like UI kit for example.
My friend and web engineer friends will brush up on things like JavaScript and react instead
Using this knowledge as part of your technical interview will exemplify your level of mastery with this technology
It will give companies a better sense of where you stand in terms of your experience
Okay, so my next tip is to study with a buddy
This is actually the most important piece of advice that I have for you in studying for a technical interview
We mentioned a little bit about this in my Q&A; with Jarvis video, but when companies are giving you a technical interview, they're not as interested in you having the right answer, as they are seeing what your thought process is like.
"But Mayuko, didn't you just say you needed to brush up on core technical concepts in order to do well in your technical interview?"
Well, yeah! But the way that I think about it is that you're better equipped to solve these problems if you have the right tools in hand.
Those tools in this case are being able to recall computer science concepts and frameworks, in order for you to solve your problem well!
Imagine if someone told you to build a table without any tools
you're much better off successfully figuring out how to build the table if you have those tools right?
So once you have your technical chops back up to snuff from studying, then find a buddy to do a mock interview with you they can pretend to be the interviewer and give you the interview problem.
you can practice thinking out loud as you would in a real technical interview and the act of doing this will just get you so much more comfortable with articulating your thought process
Now, not articulating your thought process in a technical interview is actually where most interviews go awry
If you're not explaining what you're thinking, then your interviewer has no chance to course-correct you towards the right direction
And they actually don't get very much information or insight into how you solve problems, which is exactly what they want to find out in this interview!
So, try this out with a buddy and at the end of your mock interview, ask your feedback on what you did well and what you didn't do well.
you can take this feedback as ways to improve your next mock interview or for your actual technical interview
My last piece of feedback is to relax and you're gonna be just fine
I know that interviews are scary and talking to an interviewer to prove your worth is downright terrifying
But know that you are going to own this!
If you (1) study and (2) practice with a buddy, then know that you can walk in there with confidence, because you've prepared for your technical interview!
Do whatever it is that you need to do in order to get yourself amped and ready for this interview!
I personally like power posing for two minutes right before my interview
Also remember that everything is a process and so there might be some rockiness along the way
Interviews can be really competitive
There could only be one spot, but a thousand applicants
But know that preparing and going in there and giving it your all is so much better than not trying at all
Do, or do not. there is no try.
With all things in life, remember that each bump in the road is a new lesson that can be learned that you can take with you next time.
so regardless of the result, I highly recommend you follow up with your interviewer if you can, to ask for feedback on what you can improve on.
they're usually more than willing to help on this and you can take these lessons with you for your next interview
Just remember to take a deep breath and stay positive during your interview.
Be polite, inquisitive and thoughtful and you're going to do great!
I know that you can do this!
So these are my tips for how to study for a technical interview
Remember to study and sometimes for specific technologies
Practice with the buddy and remember that you're going to do great!
Leave a comment down below for your favorite interview tips and tricks
I'd love to hear them
Also, if you know of someone who's interviewing for a job right now, then please share this video with them
And don't forget to give this video a thumbs up if you liked it and subscribe to my channel for more videos
Good luck on your interview, and I'll see you next time. Bye!
