Know The Star Format For Answering Them
The STAR format helps you to organize your answers to behavioral questions. This is most applicable to questions that require you to recount past experiences or behavior. Situation: Share details about the situation that gave rise to the task Task: Explain what you needed to achieve or the problems you had to solve, focusing on the scope, severity or specific benchmarks or outcomes you had to hit Action: Explain what you did to meet your objectives, describing options you had and how you made decisions Results: Describe the outcome of your actions and what you learnt
Read more: The STAR format for answering behavioral questions
Weeks 9 & 10 System Design Interviews
System design interviews are now an integral part of the software engineering interview process particularly if you are applying for a senior role. These interviews have a significant impact on your hiring level.
Learn distributed systems concepts like Cap Theorem, Consistency, Partitioning, Load-Balancing etc.
Look at the course Grokking Modern System Design for Software Engineers and Managers for more design interview practice.
As part of your System Design Interviews, you are asked to design a web-scale service. Interviewers are interested in evaluating your ability to describe the different parts of a scale-able service, such as:
- How are web-servers load-balanced?
- How are large files stored?
- How is the network set up for redundancy and maximum throughput?
Youll want to practice questions like:
- Design Instagram
- Design Facebook Newsfeed
Check out my article the How to Prepare for the System Design Interview for more example questions, tips, and resources for the System Design Interview.
Salary Negotiations After A Job Offer
Did you get a job offer and you want to maximize the compensation that you are being offered? If so, then you have 2 main ways:
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Question : Why Are You Thinking Of Leaving Your Current Job
Tip: Never complain about your previous job. No matter how legitimate your complaints might be, its just a bad look to complain about previous jobs or teams in an interview. The only result is that the recruiter will think youre someone who is going to introduce negativity to the team, and no one wants that.
Therefore, express gratitude for the people you met and the skills you developed in previous jobs and classes, then focus your answer on your excitement for the future. Show the recruiter what this change means to you. Explain why the company is an ideal fit for you.
Ex. Po Nent said: Its not going to be easy to leave. I work with some great people and Ive made a lot of good friends. But ever since I learned the basics of coding, its become an obsession for me. Ill teach a full day, and then come home to spend my night coding because its fun to me. So thats why I have to leave my current job. I have to find a way to turn this obsession into a career.
That being said, I do still love education and thats what brought me to this company. I mean, theres a reason that I became a teacher in the first place, right? I want to help people improve their lives and I want to help improve our education system. Working for you will allow me to combine my coding obsession with my education passion. Its perfect.
Facing The Remote Code Challenge
This stage is not as rigorous as the onsite technical interview with the whiteboard, but it will require much preparation. The conditions can vary depending on the company: they can either send a test for you to complete at home and give you a deadline or send a real-time challenge to monitor your work and see how you code.
However, smaller companies and startups donât generally have this stage in their process and instead have the whiteboard challenge onsite after the telephone interview.
During this stage, be sure to thoroughly go over the material, instructions, and requirements and ask questions. Plan your code before writing it, and make sure you complete every task required. Always review your work before sending it.
If the challenge is in real-time, think aloud and discuss the process. Be inclusive, show that you are a member of the team.
Also Check: What Are Great Questions To Ask An Interviewer
Behavioral / Culture Fit Interview
Behavioral questions can be asked at any step in the interview process: by the recruiter or hiring manager, or by any of your technical interviewers. In addition to this, most companies have a separate interview dedicated to assessing whether you are a good fit for that company’s culture. The types of questions asked during this interview might have different names at different companies: culture fit, behavioral, topgrading, leadership principle matching, etc.
Think of this interview like a free form conversation. You can lead it where you want it to go. If you include details in your answers be prepared to answer follow up about them. Answer as honestly as you can. If you join this company then you’re going to be working with these people for a long time so it’s better that they get to know the real you and hire you based on that information.
STAR Method – Situation Task Action Result
Use the STAR method to frame every single answer you give in this type of interview. When you practice, keep notes about your answers to the practice questions in STAR format.
Situation: Describe the context. Set the scene. Who was there? Why were you involved? What were the stakes?
Task: Give a high-level overview of the project/task. What was the goal? What did the team have to do?
Action: Talk about specific things you did. What was your part in the project? What were you in charge of? What problems did you run into? Which tools, technologies, languages did you use?
Practice Questions
About The Object Oriented Java Programming: Data Structures And Beyond Specialization
This Specialization covers intermediate topics in software development. Youâll learn object-oriented programming principles that will allow you to use Java to its full potential, and youâll implement data structures and algorithms for organizing large amounts of data in a way that is both efficient and easy to work with. Youâll also practice critically evaluating your own code, and youâll build technical communication skills that will help you prepare for job interviews and collaborative work as a software engineer. In the final Capstone Project, youâll apply your skills to analyze data collected from a real-world network. Google has contributed real-world projects and the involvement of its engineers as guest lecturers to these courses. A small, select group of top learners who complete the Specialization will be offered practice interviews with Google recruiters. Invitation to a practice interview does not guarantee an actual interview or employment.
Also Check: How To Crack Amazon Front End Developer Interview
Try Out Mock Coding Interviews
Coding right in front of your interviewer can be a nerve-wracking experience especially if you have never done it before – which is why getting hands-on experience is so important.
interviewing.io is currently the best mock technical interview resource in the market currently. It allows you to book mock coding interviews with real Google and Facebook engineers, albeit anonymously. You could even book interviews for specific roles like Mobile, Front End, Engineering Management. Even better – if you want to have an easier transition into real world coding interview – you could view recorded interviews and see what phone interviews are like.
Moreover, if you were to do well on your mock interviews, you will be able to unlock the “jobs page” which allows you to book interviews directly with top companies like Uber, Lyft, Quora, Asana and more. I’ve used interviewing.io both as an interviewer and an interviewee and found the experience to be excellent.
Algorithmic Thinking On The Fly
As we saw in week 2, coding on the fly can be a difficult task! In this final week of the course weâll revisit the skill of live problem solving by looking at how to solve more challenging algorithmic problems on the whiteboard. Youâll recognize these problems as âclassicâ interview problems youâve probably heard a lot about, designed to test your problem solving skills as well as your analysis and coding abilities. Donât worry, weâll teach you how to approach them with confidence through a 6-step process to addressing technical questions . Weâll show you how to use this process in a number of examples. But of course, there is no substitute for practice, so weâll set you up with how to train and evaluate yourself.
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Warm Up With The Classics
How did you do? Take a moment and rate yourself on these classics. We have been asked most of these at some point in the interview process—and often early on as weed-out style questions. They often have less to do with algorithms and data structures, but still require a good understanding of loops and arrays .
The Complete Guide For Software Engineering Interview Questions
Hey there! Software Engineering Interview Course
The best way to take away the anxiety of interviewing is to go in knowing that you are absolutely prepared. Theres nothing to be nervous about once youre confident in your skills and knowledgeable about the normal software engineering interview questions. To help get you there, Exponent is pooling together our resources and knowledge into this compact guide so you can build your confidence and smash that interview.
This article will start by talking a little about the procedure of most software engineering interviews. After that, well get into what kind of questions you need to be ready for, and well even include some sample questions with our suggested answers.
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Maximize Your Chances Of Being Shortlisted
Do you still have trouble getting shortlisted at some or all of the top tech companies? Your resume could be the issue.
Your resume is the single most important entry point to getting shortlisted in major tech companies like FAANG / MANGA. After getting shortlisted, your past achievements become markedly less important as compared to your coding interview skills – which as we know, can be methodically learnt. Being able to frame your past achievements well enough to get through the screening stage is hence very important.
Unfortunately, even the most qualified candidates I know personally don’t know how to write a good resume and fail to get shortlisted. The truth is that when many of us don’t get shortlisted at top tech companies like FAANG / MANGA, we tend to think that we were under-qualified – but in most cases, it’s probably just the lack of good framing.
If you want to learn how to write a good software engineer resume, I’ve written a step-by-step guide here on software engineering resume preparation for companies like Google, Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Apple, with examples for your reference as well.
What Is Agile Software Development
A majority of software developers 86%, to be exact use agile methodology. Agile software development, also known as agile, is an incremental, collaborative approach. Agile is a method focused on continuously delivering work rather than waiting to deliver one big product. Because of how this process works, teams can improve the software as its developed, making it a more efficient delivery process.
Even if you dont have experience in this work environment, hiring managers may expect you to understand agile methodology and workflow as its a vital part of many current software engineers roles.
> > MORE: Learn about agile with Cognizants Ready, Set, Agile! Virtual Experience Program.
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Coding Software Engineer Interview Questions
One of the most important hard skills in software engineering is coding, which is why initial software engineer interview questions focus on your coding skills. Hiring managers will ask you to show off your coding skills in a live interview, called a whiteboard test, or in a timed, take-home coding test.
Countless Engineers Have Gotten A Job At Faang With This Free Handbook
“Preparing for my first rounds of tech interviews was really daunting – I wasn’t sure what to expect and where to start. This handbook together with theFront End Interview Handbookwas a great starting point for me. It clearly describes each part of the process and has tons of awesome tips and resources. With this handbook and lots of practice, I managed to get offers from Facebook, Dropbox and Amazon!”
Front End Engineer, Facebook
“Tech Interview Handbook was the best resource I used during my coding interview prep. Its structure and hand-picked questions and detailed explanations really set it apart from other resources out there. I helped me go into my interviews with confidence. I ended up landing offers at Meta, Amazon, Twitch, Microsoft, Coinbase, Splunk, etc. I highly recommend Tech Interview Handbook to anyone looking to secure an offer from big tech companies.I’ve learnt a few things and blogged about them on, check them out if you’re interested!”
Senior Software Engineer, InstacartSoftware Engineer Intern, MetaSoftware Engineer Intern, Meta, GoogleSoftware Engineer, GoogleSoftware Engineer, Uber
Read Also: How To Be A Good Interviewer
Work Simulation Beyond Code
Our platform subjects candidates to real-world scenarios to get a concrete feel of their abilities. This ensures that software engineers can evolve and adapt to any change in the work environment and requirements.
Our engineers give detailed and unbiased reports based on set values. You can rest assured that the candidates scores and performance have been thoroughly reviewed.
Utilize The Best System Design Interview Preparation Resources
Some of the best system design interview preparation resources include:
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Phone & Video Interview Tips
Phone interviews usually happen at the very beginning of the hiring process. Video interviews may take place for a second interview or any follow up interviews if companies are hiring for a remote team. Whether it’s a phone or video interview,it should be taken as seriously as an in person interview. All of the tips we’ve given above â conducting research on the company, tailoring your elevator pitch to the role, preparing relevant questions to ask, closing the conversation by asking about what to expect next â apply to phone and video interviews as well.
We won’t repeat the tips we’ve highlighted in the previous sections here. Instead, we’ll provide you with some practical tips on what to watch out for during a phone interview and video interview.
Phone interview
Technical Software Engineer Interview Questions
After youve demonstrated your coding skills, you may be asked technical software engineering interview questions.
For the fundamentals, you might be asked to define and explain various software engineering concepts, revolving around things like object-oriented programming, data structures, or language-specific concepts, Becca Miller, freelance software and game developer and Forage program consultant, says.
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Preparing For The Systems Design And Coding Interview
At Big Tech and high-growth startups, coding and systems design interviews are common – and fairly standard. A lot of people have asked me for preparation advice for these. Here is what I used when getting ready for an E5/E6 Facebook interview, and the one at Uber – where I was hired as a senior software engineer . It’s the same resources I recommend to people who are preparing for Big Tech or high-growth tech company interviews.
Note that none of the below links are affiliate links or sponsored. See my ethics statement on the lack of such links.
How To Conduct A Software Engineer Interview
The traditional software engineer interviews have their success stories. These software engineering interviews are held either via telephone, on-site, or in video-conferencing facilities. However, the tech world has changed and evolved. Your organization needs to embrace this shift to stay ahead of the pack. Gone are the days when you relied on these outdated, traditional software interviews to look for fresh talent. Often, they are:
- Labor-intensive
- Not candidate-friendly
Plus, many of the stages of the interview process are handled and directed by the hiring manager.
All that has changed, and the odds have tilted in your organizations favor. We created a revolutionary software engineering platform that has become a dominant and preferred recruitment tool for top brands across the board.
Wovens online assessment and screening platform is a unique tech-hiring platform thatll screen dozens of candidates for you. Our ultra-modern software engineering assessment tools, backed by our vast tech expertise, give you the best and most cost-effective chance at obtaining the ideal software engineer.
Better still, Woven has eliminated the pitfalls common with traditional software engineering interviews. Our assessment matches you with the ideal candidates to fill your organizations high-performing engineering teams at a third of your recruitment budget and an 80% reduced hiring time.
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