A Detailed Technical Interview Guide

An interview is a process that unfolds your personality and knowledge base in front of the one who is going to utilize your skills for the growth of one’s firm.

Many colleges conduct campus placement of which technical interviews are an integral part. Students find it interesting, as well as apprehensive about this particular round, that is technical interview.

• Are you one among those who find it difficult to face technical interviews?
• Do you struggle to get yourself prepared for the technical interview?
• Do you feel that you lack while preparing for the technical round during the campus placement?
• Is the technical interview a hurdle for you to get your way through the giant firms?

If your answer is a big YES to all these questions, then worry not! All your doubts will be cleared and by the end of this article, you will come out confident enough to face not just the technical interview, but also, the other types of interviews which are part of the selection process used by almost all Multinational companies.

Let’s first dive into the reasons or purpose of conducting these technical interviews in detail.

Here you go!

Purpose of Technical Interviews

Have you ever contemplated what is the reason behind every company conducting technical interviews? 

Well, you will soon get to understand the exact and logical reason behind this process.

Here are a few of the major reasons:

Technical Knowledge

A technical interview lets the interviewer evaluate the technical knowledge and command over the subject of the candidates.

Critical Thinking

Also, the technical interviews help the interviewer gauge the creative and critical thinking abilities of the candidates.

Problem-solving Skills

Additionally, when a candidate is given a technical question to solve, it reveals his/her way of solving the problem. Every problem has many ways of finding a common solution. The way by which a candidate finds the solution to the given solution, tells a lot about handling the problems while working in a firm. Therefore, the firm prefers to check one’s ability to handle a problem and hence reach out to a specific solution.

Interviewers try to understand the methodology with which the candidate approaches to solve the problem. This helps in better assessment of this particular skill of any candidate.

Professionalism

Technical interviews help the interviewer to assess the professionalism trait of the candidates. 

To work efficiently in a firm, it’s important to work with professional etiquette. Technical interviews are one of such methods that evaluate this trait of professionalism in a candidate.

Analytical Skills

Every problem needs an elaborated analysis, without analyzing the problem, it is difficult to solve the problem. Therefore, when a candidate successfully solves the given problem during a technical interview, then it proves his analytical skills as well.

How to Act during Technical Interviews

Unlike any other interviews, the technical interviews encompass a rigorous process and are specially designed to test the analytical ability of the candidates to solve the problem, coding ability, and eventually the personality.

It is always better to be prepared before you appear in front of the interview panel

Following are a few tips that will certainly help you crack the technical interview:

Know the Technical Basics

The foremost approach that a candidate should apply is to hold command over the basics of the subject. Such as knowing the basics of C, C++, Java, Python, and other tech subjects will surely be a boon while appearing in front of the panel.

If you fail to answer even the basic questions pertaining to the technical subjects which you have studied throughout your course, may lead you to rejection, which no one can afford.

Dress Code

This is the widely asked question by almost every candidate before going to a technical interview.

Well, anything which is appealing to the panel, such as the formal dress code for both men and women, will go along with the interview process.

For Men

Black formal shoes, a formal shirt, loose pants, and if possible, a tie can get you ready to go for the selection process for your career opportunity.

For women

Following the Indian dressing, women can comfortably wear the cotton salwar suit and a well-ironed dupatta, and an analog wristwatch.

Research 

Well, we all know which company we are going to appear for the selection process, therefore, it’s always good to invest some time to research the company culture and basics, such as the origin, vision, and mission of the company.

You can visit the company website and navigate through the provided information, also, you can check out the social media pages of the organization to learn more about the working culture.

Things to Carry

You don’t have to carry a lot while going for a technical interview, but you can easily carry the following basic things:

• Notepad
• Pen
• Printed copies of your resume

Types of Interviews

There are various types of interviews depending on the job profile and requirements of the organization. 

These interviews make the selection process easier both for the Interviewer and the interviewee.

Let’s get to know some of the important types of interviews.

Depth Interview

These interviews are conducted to test the candidate’s knowledge and command over the subjects. This is more like the technical interviews which examine the competency of the candidate.

Such interviews are semi-structural in nature. These require prior studies and a better understanding of the subjects.

These include technical Interviews, which evaluate the problem-solving skills of a candidate.

Group Interview:

This is also known as Discussion Interview. In this type of interview, the candidates are divided into small groups and are assigned a problem or given a topic to solve and discuss, respectively.

The interviewer presides over till the process ends and judges the candidates based on their individual performance.

The purpose behind conducting such interviews is to observe the leadership ability of the desired candidate. The interviewer observes who assumes the leadership role while performing the task/discussion.

Such interviews are framed to save time, labor, and cost and also, to observe candidates’ reactions to a particular situation and their behavior with others.

Panel or Board interview

These interviews, unlike the other interviews where only one interviewer examines and evaluates the candidate, are carried out by a group of interviewers.

The candidate is asked questions from the field of his/her expertise. The questions are asked serially by each panel member.

The candidate is evaluated collectively by all the members of the panel.

Phone Screening  and Video Conference

Now since the world is going through a draconian phase of pandemic, it has become a bit of a complex process for the companies to conduct on-campus interviews,  therefore, the organizations have moved towards conducting telephonic or video conferencing to recruit a suitable candidate. for the required designation.

This makes the process of recruitment easier for the candidates who cannot move to the location due to the pandemic, otherwise.

NOTE: Before you appear for any telephonic/video interview, make sure you know who is on the other side. If the interviewer has the technical knowledge, then you need to play with your technical skills for a seamless interview process.

Stress Interview

These interviews are deliberately conducted to check the emotional stability of a candidate. 

In such a kind of interview, the candidate is asked frequent questions by the interviewer, the candidate is even made to feel uncomfortable by asking him/her awkward questions just to examine the behavior and emotional stability.

Therefore, in case you come across such a situation where you feel you are being frequently questioned by the panel, you need to keep your cool and be answerable to the panel in a humble manner.

What is a Technical Interview?

Taking further our discourse on Technical interviews to better understand, let’s learn more about it in detail! 

Technical interviews are intensive, challenging but as it’s said that

In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.

Albert Einstein

Similarly, you need to find the opportunity while going through any technical interview.

It is conducted not just to test your efficiency to solve technical challenges such as coding skills, remote coding challenges, while working at the organization, but also to examine your ability to solve real-world problems.

Different Stages of Technical Interview

Usually, there are three stages in a technical interview.

1. Technical Phone Screening
2. Remote coding interview/assignment
3. Onsite interview/whiteboarding challenge.

Let’s understand each stage in detail:

Stage 1 – Technical Phone Screening

Hey! Good news! Your resume has been shortlisted for the next round!

In this stage, your interest is being tested to know if you are interested in getting the job or not.

This is conducted over the telephone.

Your enthusiasm and excitement will decide your entry to the next stage of the technical interview.

Make sure you succeed here.

Stage 2 – Remote Coding Interview

After having successfully cleared the first stage of the technical interview, the company examines your coding skills to test your proficiency for the job profile.

Clearing which you need will enter the final stage of the technical interview.

This stage can be carried out over the phone, via Skype or Zoom, or could be an assignment that should be submitted within a specified time.

Stage 3 – Onsite Interview/Whiteboarding Challenge

And finally, you are closer to your dream job. For many, it is the actual Technical interview. This is due to the fact that in this stage you will be given code which you need to solve in front of the interviewer.

There are many giant companies that conduct technical interviews somewhat in a similar manner.

Required Technical Skills 

Following are the technical skills that an employer looks for in every aspiring candidate.

• Coding skills
• Analytical thinking skills
• Ability to think creatively
• Problem-solving ability
• Communication skills
• Culture fit
• Handling feedback
• Understanding of the bigger picture

👉 Related: How to Choose the Best Online Course

How to Prepare for a Technical interview

Every candidate has to more or less go through at least two processes

• Written assessment
• Series of Interviews

Series of interviews, include one such interview;-“technical interview”!

But, what precisely do you need to prepare for your technical round of interviews?

Written Round

This consists of the following sections that every candidate must prepare before he/she appears for the interview.

• Aptitude
• Basics of coding 
• Puzzle
• General English

Coding 

For coding, the candidates must have command over either of the two languages, C++ or Java.

Generally, Data structure and Algorithms are the most asked questions.

Topics like:

• Array
• Linked List
• Stacks and Queues
• Binary Tree and BST
• Heap and Hashing
• Graphs
• Git
• Dynamic Programming

are some of the topics that a candidate must learn and revise.

These are the most important topics that candidates must practice questions for appearing before any campus placement/interview.

Languages and concepts that you must revise are:

• C
• C++
• Java
• Operating System
• DBMS
• Python
• Object-Oriented Programming
• JavaScript
• Data Structures

General Technical Questions

After reading this section you will get the clarity of the kind of technical questions that are being asked during a technical interview.

Let’s check if you can answer these super generic technical questions or not:

• How do you keep yourself updated with the new technology?
• How accustomed are you to different operating systems?
• Assume I’m not a technical expert. Can you explain [any relevant technology] in simple terms?
• How can you make sure your computer network is secure? (By asking this question, the panel wants to know how can you keep the data protected.)
• Why do you want to join IT?
• How can the new technology impact your professional skills?
• Describe yourself in three words.

And the most frequently asked question!

• Why should we hire you?

You get the idea, right?

Conclusion

The technical interview is the most crucial process of any tech company, therefore, it is quintessential for every aspiring Software Engineer to keep learning the basic concepts of the core subjects of computer science, and master at least one of the programming languages.

Be confident and give your best to bag a job of your choice.

And remember:

One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.

Arthur Ashe