Have you been repeatedly failing in the technical interview round? Are you someone who can easily get through the preliminary rounds but the technical interview is something that is a blockhead in your way to success? If yes, follow our tips to ace your technical interview.

This guide will help you crack the upcoming interviews and boost your confidence to perform better. Unlike non-technical interviews, a technical interview focuses on the coding skills, problem-solving abilities, analytical skills, and personality of the candidate. Despite the challenging facets that a technical interview entails, it gets a lot better if you know what to expect from it.

A little understanding of the tasks and questions coming your way in the interview will help you perform better and thus secure a position for yourself. Typically, a technical interview has three rounds:

Phone/ Video Screening

This round is following your resume shortlisting for a particular role. The purpose of the phone/video screening is to know further about you and find out about your interest in the role offered. The time allotted for this round generally ranges between 15-30 minutes. 

Remote Coding/ Assignment

In this round, an assignment or task is given to you where the company may ask you to solve it online/ offline based on the nature of the task. It can be conducted over any medium skype/ zoom/Google Meet or in person. 

Onsite Interview/ Whiteboard Challenge

This is the final and the most difficult round of the interview where you are asked to perform coding tasks on a whiteboard in front of the interviewers. It may take 1-2 hours to finish the given task.

However, these rounds will be different for each organization and the role applied. For instance, a senior/ experienced role will have more intense interview tasks and questions as compared to a junior/ fresher role. 

What to wear for the interview?

Many organizations nowadays are quite flexible with the dress code of their employees. The startups especially allow their employees to wear jeans, shorts, and casuals to the office. No matter which organization you are interviewing, try opting for formal business suits or smart casuals. You can also research a bit about this, and check out the pictures shared by the company on its social media platforms. Based on that, switch to one level above the way the company’s employees carry themselves.

Who will Interview you?

In case you are being interviewed for a startup, there are high chances that your reporting manager or CTO of the company will be interviewing you to check your technical and interpersonal skills. In a large setup, you will be interviewed by a recruiter/ HR, a member of the team, or your team lead. The process will be quite formal and you would be expected to follow the etiquette.

What should you carry for the interview?

Ideally, for a coding interview, you must have a pen, notepad, and printed copies of your documents/ resume. Your interviewer may also ask you to get your laptop for the interview. If not asked, do not bother about carrying it by yourself.

What to Expect?

 In a phone/video screening round: The recruiter is looking for your compatibility with the desired role. This is a good chance for you to create a positive impression in front of the recruiter. You should focus more on telling them about yourself; your professional graph and passion for the job role, your technical and basic knowledge of the role, and your enthusiasm to be a part of the company. Research a bit about these factors beforehand and answer accordingly. You must be prepared for a question like “Take us through your profile/ Tell us about yourself/ Tell us something about you that is not on your resume.” To answer this, focus on the relevant roles and skills, elaborate on the past experiences in the reverse order, i.e, starting with your recent work experience and then telling about the previous ones.

In Remote Coding round:

It depends on the company that you are interviewing for, they are usually flexible with the remote coding round. They may give you a real-time monitored coding challenge or an assignment to be submitted in a day/ two. In this round, the interviewer is looking at your efficiency to code, problem-solving skills, collaboration skills, etc.

In Onsite Interview round:

This is the most difficult or intimidating part of the whole interview process. The onsite interview may or may not have the whiteboard for coding as the start-ups are quite flexible with the interview process.

In this round, before you start writing the code:

Try to clarify your doubts to the interviewer. Discuss your coding planBe precise about your approach to coding. In case you are stuck at a point, calm yourself and think of resolving the problem.

Check for errors before submitting the solution. Your interviewer is looking to check your coding skills, problem-solving skills, analytical skills, communication skills, and your ability to receive feedback. To conclude, it is important to be prepared for each level of the interview beforehand. Research about the company, role, and culture of the workplace.

Show some passion and enthusiasm to your recruiter about the job role. Having prior knowledge will help you to interact and perform better at each level in the interview. Also, If you are honest about your experiences and ability, there are high chances of you being selected. All the best!