I got an interview! Now what?

If you followed the roadmap so far, then it is just a matter of days until you will receive an e-mail or a phone call to invite you to an interview. Oh, wait... you are saying that you’ve already got an interview? Cool! It’s time to prepare yourself!

The phone screening stage

Most IT companies prefer to start the multi-step interview process with a phone screen. A phone screen is usually accomplished via Skype, Zoom, or Meetup (or similar platforms), and you’ll need to share your webcam. A microphone and a set of headphones are needed as well. Phone screens are very popular if you opt for a remote position, but lately, they are used for all kinds of positions.

Commonly, there are two approaches used by companies:

• Phone screen with a human resources or placement agency person: This is an optional, non-technical interview of 15-30 minutes meant to detail the offer terms, expose your personality, concerns, both your and their expectations, and so on. This can take place before or after the technical phone screen.
• Technical phone screen first: Some companies will invite you directly to a technical phone screen. In such cases, you can expect several technical questions, maybe a quiz, and one or more coding challenge sessions (tackling coding challenges is the main focus of this book). If you pass the technical phone screen, then, most probably, a non-technical one will follow.

Going to in-person interviews

Unless you opt for a remote position, the next step will consist of a face-to-face interview. There are cases when there is no phone screen, and this is the first step of the interview. In such cases, you may be interviewed by HR people, followed by a technical interview. But, if you had a phone screen, then you may or may not be contacted. This depends on how the company evaluates the phone screen. If they decide to not proceed with the next stage of the interview, then it is possible you will receive some feedback covering what was good and what was less good about your phone screen performance. Don’t ignore the feedback, read it carefully and in an objective manner. It might help you to avoid repeating the same mistakes. Speaking about mistakes...

Avoiding common mistakes

Pay attention to the following common mistakes that may sit behind the failure of an interview:

• Ignoring the power of information: There are cases where after failing an interview, we meet a friend to tell them how it went. At that moment, your friend may say: My friend, I know a person who had a successful interview at this company 2 months ago! Why you did not tell me before? I’m sure he could have given you some insights! Obviously, it’s too late to do that now! Avoid such cases and try to obtain as much information as possible. See if you or your friends have contacts in the company, ask on social media, and so on. This way it’s possible to obtain extremely useful information.
• Lacking clarity and coherence in answers: Your answers should be technical, crystal clear, meaningful, expressive, and always on topic. Answer the questions thoughtfully. Stammering, incomplete answers, interjections, and so on are not appreciated by interviewers.
• Considering that image doesn’t matter: Don’t ignore your image! Dress professionally, go to the barbershop, and smell nice! All these aspects are part of the first impression. If you look sloppy, then maybe your code looks the same. If you dress professionally, then the interviewers will treat you as if you’re a cut above the rest. However, dressing professionally doesn’t mean you should be opulent.
• Not selling yourself well: The interviewer must see your value. Nobody can communicate your value to them better than you can. Tell them about a problem that you had (at a previous company, in a certain project, and so on) and explain how you solved it with your team or independently. Employers want people who are excellent team players but are capable of working independently as well. Follow the Situation|Action|Result (SAR) approach. Start by describing the situation. Continue by explaining the actions you took, and finally, describe the result.
• Not practicing coding challenges: At some point, you will be scheduled for at least one coding challenge. Most of the time, general coding skills are not enough! These challenges are specific to interviews and you have to practice them before the interview. As a rule of thumb, solving coding challenges (problems) follows the Approach->Break down->Craft solution pattern. Obviously, you cannot memorize solutions, therefore you need to practice as much as possible. Later in this book, we will discuss the best approaches for solving coding challenges.

Once the interview is complete, it’s time to wait for the response. Most companies will tell you how much time they need to provide a final answer and will commonly provide an answer representing the offer, rejection, next interview step, or just the status of your application. Keep your fingers crossed!