{"id":1909,"date":"2013-03-24T12:46:29","date_gmt":"2013-03-24T19:46:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simpleprogrammer.com\/?p=1909"},"modified":"2022-09-23T14:21:24","modified_gmt":"2022-09-23T18:21:24","slug":"10-developer-job-interview-tips-to-land-the-best-job-you-can","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simpleprogrammer.com\/10-developer-job-interview-tips-to-land-the-best-job-you-can\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Tips to CRUSH Your Software Engineer Job Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

There isn\u2019t a large amount of advice out there on developer job interviews.\\\\n\\\\nI\u2019ve found that many talented people who became developers have difficulty<\/a> with job interviews, because they spend more of their time focusing on what they are truly passionate about, technology and development, and not much time prepping their interview skills.\\\\n\\\\nIt\u2019s unfortunate, because having good job interview skills can really help you advance your career by giving you opportunities you wouldn\u2019t be able to get<\/strong> without being skilled in this area\\\\n\\\\n.<\/a>\\\\n\\\\n<\/p>\n

1. Hire an expert to create your resume<\/h2>\n

\\\\n\\\\nI\u2019ve mentioned this idea before<\/a>, but it is so important that I\u2019ll say it again.\u00a0 Unless you write resumes for a living, you are not a professional resume writer.<\/strong>\\\\n\\\\nThere are people who write resumes for a living and those professional resume writers probably don\u2019t try and write their own software to use on their computer.\\\\n\\\\nSo, if resume writers don\u2019t write software, why would software developers try and write resumes?<\/strong>\\\\n\\\\nPerhaps you can do a good job, but chances are a professional can do a better job.\\\\n\\\\nMy advice, if you want to get the largest number of possible opportunities for a job, bite the bullet and pay the dollars to have your resume written professionally.\u00a0 It is a relatively small investment for the potential gain of landing a much better job based on the large number of opportunities you are likely to have.\\\\n\\\\n<\/p>\n

2. Research your interviewer<\/h2>\n

\\\\n\\\\nI\u2019m always amazed when I conduct a developer interview and I\u2019ve sent an email out to the developer I am interviewing ahead of time, which had my full name and my blog address, yet when I speak to them in the interview they seem to know nothing about me.\\\\n\\\\nOn the other hand, I\u2019ve had interviews where I\u2019ve interviewed someone and they worked into the interview a mention of a blog post I had written or a course of mine they had watched on Pluralsight<\/a>.\\\\n\\\\nGuess which developer I was more likely to recommend for a job?\\\\n\\\\nWe are all human, we like to know that someone is interested in us.\u00a0 Dale Carnegie taught me<\/a> the easiest way to get someone interested in you is to show a genuine interest in them. <\/strong>(Yes, I\u2019m recommending this book again for like the 8th time, and yes, that is an Amazon affiliate link.)\"\"<\/a>\\\\n\\\\nWhether this is fair and objective is besides the point.\u00a0 If you are interviewing for a job, it is just ludicrous not to research the company you are interviewing at and the interviewer, (if you know who it will be,) ahead of time.\\\\n\\\\nToday it is easier than ever to find someone\u2019s Facebook page, Twitter handle or blog.\u00a0 You can learn quite a bit with just a little bit of research and it shows that you actually are detail-oriented and care about your career.\\\\n\\\\n<\/p>\n

3. Get an inside referral<\/h2>\n

\\\\n\\\\nWant to know the absolute easiest way to get a job?\u00a0 Get an inside referral.<\/strong>\\\\n\\\\nYou will be twice as likely to be interviewed and 40% more likely to be hired.<\/a>\\\\n\\\\nYeah, that\u2019s right, it makes that much of an impact!\\\\n\\\\nIt isn\u2019t even very difficult to do, if you are willing to plant a few seeds ahead of time to make sure there are plenty of apples on the tree, when you need to pick one.\\\\n\\\\nA while back I found a company I wanted to work for.\u00a0 So, what did I do?\\\\n\\\\nWell, I found a developer at that company that I felt had some common thoughts and ideas as my own and I started following his blog.\\\\n\\\\nI commented on his blog and showed an interest in his work and the company he was working for, and eventually I had an opportunity from that situation to get an inside referral.\\\\n\\\\nMany developers say, \u201cwell, I don\u2019t know anyone in XYZ corp.\u201d\u00a0 Ok, fine if you want to give up there, go ahead, but I bet, if you try, you can find a way to meet and befriend someone in just about any company.\\\\n\\\\nBut the secret is, you have to network before you need a job<\/strong>, so start doing it now!\\\\n\\\\n<\/p>\n

4. Learn to solve algorithm based problems<\/h2>\n

\\\\n\\\\nI\u2019ve got a 6 step process<\/a> I use to solve algorithm based problems that often come up in developer interviews.\\\\n\\\\nI go step by step and teach you how to do this in my Pluralsight course on Job Interviews.<\/a>\\\\n\\\\nIt is an important skill that every developer should have and it isn\u2019t really that difficult to learn.\\\\n\\\\nMany touch job interviews include 1 or more questions where you are asked to solve some programming problem, either on a whiteboard or at a computer, yet many developers, who are otherwise great programmers, become completely paralyzed when asked to do so and flub it.\\\\n\\\\nIf you take the time to learn how to solve these kinds of problems, you\u2019ll easily put yourself in the top 10% of developers who interview for most jobs and you\u2019ll be much less nervous about being asked to solve a problem on the spot.\\\\n\\\\nThe reason why we get nervous has nothing to do with performance anxiety, it has everything to do with familiarity and confidence in solving these types of problems.<\/strong>\\\\n\\\\nFor example, if someone asked you to do 10 jumping jacks, you probably wouldn\u2019t get all nervous and flail around\u2026 why?\u00a0 Because you are confident you can do it.\\\\n\\\\nBuild your confidence in this area and you won\u2019t be nervous either.\\\\n\\\\n<\/p>\n

5. Answer questions with passion<\/h2>\n

\\\\n\\\\nOne word answer to questions or one sentence textbook definitions may technically be correct, but if that is all you do, you are missing an opportunity to showcase one of the greatest assets a developer can bring to a team\u2014passion.<\/strong>\\\\n\\\\n\"answer\"<\/a>If I ask you what polymorphism is, I am not just asking to find out if you can read a textbook and memorize a definition to repeat back to me later.\u00a0 I am trying to find out what you think about polymorphism.\u00a0 I want you to expound upon the subject and use it as an opportunity to have a conversation.\\\\n\\\\nNow, not all interviewers think the same way, and you have to be a little cognizant of when it is time to shut-up, but the point is you should try and show some passion in your answers and expound upon them if possible.\\\\n\\\\n<\/p>\n

6. Avoid \u201ctrap\u201d questions<\/h2>\n

\\\\n\\\\n<\/p>\n

Why are you looking for a new opportunity?\\\\n\\\\nName your greatest strength and your greatest weakness.\\\\n\\\\nWhat was the result the last time you and a coworker disagreed on a technical issue?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\\\\n\\\\nYou should really know how you are going to answer these types of questions before you are asked them and what the interviewer is looking for when asking these questions.\\\\n\\\\nI\u2019ve got some recommendations on exactly how to answer these questions in my course, but you should at least consider these kinds of questions ahead of time and reason through some of the possible answers you can give.\\\\n\\\\nFor example, if we look at just that first question about why you are looking for a new opportunity\u2026\\\\n\\\\nIn many cases interviewers are trying to find out if you are going to bad mouth your current or previous employers.\u00a0 It is a sure sign you will do the same to them, so don\u2019t do it.\\\\n\\\\nIf you don\u2019t think about this ahead of time, you can easily fall into the trap of saying something negative about your current job and severely hurting your chances of landing that new job.\\\\n\\\\n<\/p>\n

7. Don\u2019t ever lie!<\/h2>\n

\\\\n\\\\nOne of the worst things to do in an interview is to lie.\\\\n\\\\nIf you don\u2019t know something, don\u2019t make up an answer.<\/strong>\u00a0 Don\u2019t pretend like you worked with some technology if you haven\u2019t or make up some story of how you used something in your last job.\\\\n\\\\nInstead, either say, that you don\u2019t know or that you aren\u2019t 100% sure, but you can try and give an answer based on what you think.\u00a0 It also doesn\u2019t hurt to follow up by asking the interviewer what the correct answer is, because you are genuinely interested.\\\\n\\\\nThere is a good chance whatever an interviewer is going to ask you about is something they are familiar with, because they don\u2019t want to look like an idiot if you start talking about the subject.\u00a0 For that reason, even if you consider yourself a good BS\u2019er, most of your BS will be instantly detected and you’ll immediately lose your integrity, which is very hard to ever gain back.\\\\n\\\\n<\/p>\n

8. Don\u2019t ever be brutally honest<\/h2>\n

\\\\n\\\\nMany developers go overboard the other direction and reveal too many personal details about themselves, thinking that honesty and complete transparency is the best policy.\\\\n\\\\nWhile you shouldn\u2019t lie, you also shouldn\u2019t spill all the messy details of your life and all your personal flaws to your interviewer either.\\\\n\\\\nPeople are drawn in by a bit of mystery and generally don\u2019t like to gamble on whether or not your OCD or obsession with World of Warcraft will cause you to be a flop at your job.\\\\n\\\\nPersonality is good, character flaws are bad.<\/strong>\\\\n\\\\nDon\u2019t ever lie, but don\u2019t volunteer up information that is going to paint you in a bad light.\u00a0 Not only will that information likely hurt you, but it also shows a lack of judgment as well.\\\\n\\\\n<\/p>\n

9. Know your computer science basics<\/h2>\n

\\\\n\\\\nI also cover this in my Job Interview course<\/a>, because it is so important and can be learned in less than an hour.\\\\n\\\\nYes, so many developers claim that they don\u2019t know what linked lists and stacks are, because they don\u2019t have a formal education in computer science or it was too long ago when they graduated college.\\\\n\\\\nI agree that we don\u2019t use deep computer science concepts in most programming jobs, but as a professional software developer, you should at least know the basics.\\\\n\\\\nI seriously doubt you\u2019d want an electrician to rewire your house, if that electrician didn\u2019t know anything about the basics of electrical engineering<\/strong>, so don\u2019t assume that someone wants to hire someone who can code, but doesn\u2019t understand the fundamentals of their profession.\\\\n\\\\nYou don\u2019t have to be a computer science professor, but you should at least know the basics that I am sure can be taught in an hour, because I do so in my Job Interview course<\/a>.\\\\n\\\\n<\/p>\n

10. Build experience creatively<\/h2>\n

\\\\n\\\\nLast but not least, many developers, especially developers starting out or moving from another career field, lack relevant work experience and have no idea how to get it.\\\\n\\\\nIt is a bit like the chicken or the egg problem of which came first.\"presentation\"<\/a>\\\\n\\\\nHow do you get experience if you don\u2019t have any?<\/strong>\\\\n\\\\nThe answer is to be creative.\u00a0 There are many ways to get experience that doesn\u2019t involve working directly for a company as a software developer.\\\\n\\\\nHere are just a few ideas:\\\\n\\\\n<\/p>\n