The Ultimate Guide to Acing Your Technical Interview

After spending hours polishing your resume, writing a perfect cover letter, sending job applications to tech recruiters and passing an initial screening process you’ve finally done it! You receive a call for the interview and you are all prepared to face the recruiter who could be your future employer too.

Interviewing for a technical role will test your coding skills, problem-solving abilities, subject matter expertise and more importantly, your overall personality. Technical Interviews are practical, on point and experience-oriented. Interviewing for atechnical job takes dedication and advance preparation. Having cleared the primary process and you’re preparing for a technical interview, then this ultimate guide will help you ace your technical interview.

Be prepared – Benjamin Franklin once said, "By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail." Preparation is the key to ace the technical interview. You should be ready with all type of technical questions that might be asked during your interview. Read your coding notes, do practical assignments, research on mock tests, research about the company and their services. Understand that, during a technical interview you’ll be asked a question or assignment based on the real-world problems that you will face during work. Know what job position you have applied for and prepare accordingly.

Try not to show off all your knowledge – Don’t overdo it. Yes, stop showing off your knowledge. The person who is conducting your interview is more knowledgeable rather experienced in the technical field. He/she understands the role better than you do. Make sure you listen to what they are asking and after understanding the question try to answer politely. You may have scored A+ grade in your subject but how you handle your attitude during an interview plays a vital role.

Try to give precise and specific answers – Acing technical interview requires strong problem-solving skills. Avoid answering in Yes or No format. Understand the question, take your time and then give a precise answer on how you will solve the problem? what will be your approach? why a particular technique? This is what hiring managers expect when you answer a set of questions. Answering with the thought process and clear vision creates a positive impression and increases your chances of getting hired.

Provide answers based on projects you worked on – If you don’t know the answer then be open about it, don’t try to give the wrong answer. Ask the interviewer to clarify the question so that you can try to answer. Hiring managers always prefer honest candidates. Your past experience (if you’re an experienced professional) or college work (if you’re a fresher graduate) can help you ace the technical interview. Explain about projects you have undertaken and what methods you’ve applied to solve the complex situation.

Be confident – Many candidates have knowledge but they’re not confident enough to answer and present themselves and this where their application gets rejected. Being confident is the most important part of your interview process. You know your potential, your skills, and talent, let all this reflect while attending the interview. Your profile assessment is done on the basis of skills, ability to handle the complex situation and confidence.

It’s all nice and sundry if you want to change your job in 2019, but don’t let your present manager know that just yet. It will be a risky proposition if they know about your job switch and you haven’t yet been able to find the right job.