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Welcome

In this "preparation kit" i'm trying to explain how to prepare and how to deal Software Engineering interviews based on my experiences (it is originated out of my own personal notes while preparing for such interviews)

Usually an interview for a Software Engineer role consists of multiple steps.
The following are some of them that you could expect (not necessary all in one interview process):

  • HR call
  • Take home project (Optional)
  • First tech interview usually a live coding session
  • System Design interview
  • A second live coding session
  • Behavioral interview
  • Troubleshooting

Now, the process really depends by the company, but we could say that usually we have:

  • A first call with the HR to understand the role and have first impressions
  • A Tech interview that could consists of theory or coding live sessions or even both
  • A final round that usually consists of multiple steps:
    • System Design
    • Troubleshooting
    • Coding Session
    • Behavioral

But, as I said, this really depends from company to company

Phase One

Usually, every interview starts with a round of presentations of the participant.
Preparing a presentation of yourself beforehand will help you a lot on focusing on what to say

Tip

The presentation doesn't have to be necessary the same every time.
You could/should prepare a slightly different one for every kind of interview you have: Something more focused on your tech life in a Coding or System Design interview or something about your hobbies in a behavioral interview. This is up to you 😃

Phase Two

Study the company that you applied for.
Often the majority of the companies has a "life at company" website or section where you can learn a lot about the company culture, interview process and more.

Take notes about things that you think are important and that match some of your experience so you can talk about it in the interviews.

Phase Three

The last minutes (10/15) of an interview is usually dedicated to allow the interviewee to ask questions about the company, the team, the role, etc...

So don't get caught unprepared and prepare some questions on topics that you are interested in learning more about or of which you are interested in an opinion from an insider!

Tip

Take advantage of the Phase Two to understand which kind of question to do. Also, asking the same question to different people (if you'll have more interviews) in the same company could be very useful

Questions examples:

  • Are you happy with your work/life balance?
  • What's your typical day at work?
  • One thing that you like about working at and one that you don’t