If you’re applying for a coding job, chances are you’re already confident in your skills and ability to carry out that role, however, you’ll need to demonstrate more than your understanding of the job description to get through the interview stage.
These days, interviewers in technical companies use a combination of approaches when assessing candidates. From problem-solving tests and presentations to behavioural questions and puzzles, preparation is critical if you’re to have any chance of gaining the edge in interviews.
Here are 3 tried and tested ways to prepare for technical interviews if you’re applying for jobs in technology or engineering that require coding:
- Read up on Coding, Algorithms and Data Structures
It’s vital that you read up on, and around, your specialism to ensure your knowledge is up-to-date. A great place to start is the highly-recommended book: Cracking the Coding Interview – 189 Programming Questions & Solutions by Gayle Laakman McDowell
You should also familiarize yourself with computer science theory, testing, algorithms (tree traversal, recursion), data structures (binary search, stacks & queues, maps & hash tables, arrays & lists) and the Big O Notation to be on the safe side.
- Practice Coding, On and Off Screen
You will most likely be asked to demonstrate your coding skills in the interview, and this may or not be on screen. In many cases, interviewers want to see how you approach problems and will ask you to produce your coding on a white board, Google doc or even on a platform such as Codepen, so become comfortable with coding in multiple ways.
Practice, practice, practice. This will ensure you don’t crumble under pressure. There are some great websites that allow you to improve your skills with timed coding tests. Check out Codility, Leetcode, HackerRank and Coderbyte.
- Read Interview Questions and Prepare your Answers in Advance
A growing number of companies and recruiters are publishing their interview questions online so it’s worth taking the time to look them up and practice your answers before interview day.
CareerCup, Glassdoor and Quora provide many examples of both technical interview questions and behavioural interview questions, although if you’re applying through a recruitment agency, it’s always a good idea to ask them what they know about the employer first.
If you’d like help with applying for a job that requires coding, or you need advice on preparing for technical interviews, please contact our Technical Recruitment division who will be happy to help.