5 Min Read Guide to Crack Technical Interviews

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You learned to code, you did some personal projects, and went through the hassle of creating a resume and applying to jobs. And finally, you have been invited for a technical assessment interview. Now, what? How do you go about it and how do you land your first job as a developer or quality assurance engineer? First things first let’s discuss what is basically a technical assessment.

You may have mentioned some technical skills in your resume that may perfectly align with job requirements. Contrary to just asking questions about those skills, recruiters want to test you out with those skills by giving you real-world problems to solve. That’s the first filtering phase.

There may be online coding tests or mini-projects that you will have to be done within a specified time. You would have to use your coding, analytical, and problem-solving skills. That’s the technical part of a series of interviews.

The next phase will start if you are shortlisted from the initial round of technical assessment.

That’s a brief overview of what you can expect in a technical interview. Now, let’s hop on to the how part of preparing and cracking technical assessments. Don’t miss the bonus tip at the end.

Read the job description and prepare accordingly

A technical interview usually is not really technical when there is no programming involved. Your next question should be programming using what tools and technologies? Will I be working with algorithms or just object-oriented programming?

The answer to those questions will likely be available in the job description of the role you are applying to. There it’ll be mentioned like ‘website development using Django’. So, start getting your hands set on the Django framework of Python. Practice extensively and buckle up exactly for the problems they are working on.

Know what kind of projects they work on

A thorough research about the company you have been invited by for a technical interview will come in handy when preparing for the interview. By knowing what they are currently working on will enlighten the interview pattern.

Moreover, they are busy professionals and they don’t have time to prepare new problem banks for every interview, so, the problems are usually repeated. Go and check this page by Geeks for Geeks. It’s a handsome library of top companies and their interview questions.

Having said that, while doing preparations nobody wants their internet connection to hold them back. A sound home WiFi becomes crucial when you are giving an online technical test. So, we recommend Windstream Internet as they provide one of the best internet connections that you can depend on.

Anyhow, after you know what kind of projects they work on it will be rather easy to create a roadmap and get ready for the technical interview.

Turn the timer on when practicing questions

It is deemed negative when you take too much time to solve a particular problem. You can avoid that if you consider your practice session as an actual interview.

While practicing for the interview turn on a timer on your laptop, phone, or your watch for that matter, and set a limited time to solve the problems. Now, this is essential that you follow the set time limit and be done solving the problem within that very time.

If you are going beyond the time limit then practice again and again until you have achieved the speed. Your problem-solving speed is really important if you want to take the edge over the other candidates.

Be confident but not overly

Well, this one tip is particularly important when the technical interview is just verbal and you don’t need to solve problems in programming.

Interviewers do try to put candidates in difficult situations in order to test their patience and confidence at the same time. How can you sound confident? Take your time. When a tricky question is thrown at you, instead of being uncomfortable, listen to it carefully, take your time, and then answer it.

And it is totally okay if you don’t know the answer. Just be transparent and honest about it. Instead of waffling about a totally different response, say that you don’t have any idea. In the corporate world, honesty is appreciated.

You can overpower this lack of knowledge by showing that you are enthusiastic about learning new technologies and how swiftly you can learn them.

The Bonus One-Reach out to developers in the XYZ company over LinkedIn

No one will know how to prepare for a technical interview better than the developers of the company you got an invite from. Reach out to them and ask questions.

LinkedIn is an amazing platform not only to connect with recruiters but also to learn more about what’s working in the industry.

By connecting with the developers in the XYZ company you can reach out to them specifically for your technical interview. Ask them what kind of questions interviewers ask, what technologies should I learn to edge past the other candidates, what’s the culture of the company and most importantly what’s the growth in that company.

You must sound professional and polite with your first message to get a response. Some people don’t use LinkedIn daily, so, dropping messages to more than one person will do the trick.

Summing Up

We know that it’s a tough ride landing your first job and we believe that you are skillful enough to get the job. The difference makers are your confidence, communication skills, and eagerness to learn & grow. So, keep those tips in mind, prepare well, and ace your interview. All the best!