A technical interview is a structured conversation: your goal is to demonstrate problem solving, system thinking, and fit. Prepare the right topics, present clearly, and engage professionally.
1) Research: company technology details + partners (what to learn & say)
Before the interview, gather: primary languages/frameworks, cloud/infrastructure (AWS/GCP/Azure), data stores, messaging systems, and key partners (payments, analytics, identity). Use the job description and company repo/announcements to create a one-paragraph tech snapshot you can reference.
Example snapshot (for practice): “I saw your stack uses React/Node, Kafka for events, and AWS S3 — and you partner with Stripe for payments. I’ve worked on similar payment integrations and event-driven designs.”
(Keep this short — you’ll sound informed and relevant.)
2) Confidence level — project it honestly
- Prepare short success stories and metrics (e.g., “reduced latency by 30%”).
- Rehearse answers aloud and in timed mocks.
- If unsure, say: “I don’t know exactly, but here’s how I’d find out…” — that shows confidence + humility.
3) Eye contact — in-person and virtual
- In person: steady, natural eye contact; look away briefly to avoid staring.
- Virtual: look at the camera when making a key point; glance at the interviewer’s video occasionally.
- Micro-signals (nods, smiles) show engagement without interrupting.
4) Introduction — keep it short, two sentences
Template: “Hi, I’m [Name], a [role] with X years building [tech area]. Most recently I led [one-sentence achievement relevant to the role].”
Example: “Hi — I’m Priya, a backend engineer with 5 years in scalable APIs. I led a caching redesign that cut API latency by 40%.”
5) Core concept with example (concise, testable)
Concept: Hash map for frequency counting (common interview pattern).
When to use: count occurrences, find first unique, sliding-window counts.
Mini example:
- Problem: “Return first non-repeating character.”
- Approach: one pass to count with hashmap, second pass to select first char with count == 1.
- Complexity: O(n) time, O(k) space (k = alphabet size).
This demonstrates clarity, correctness, and complexity reasoning.
6) Listen to the question carefully — clarify & paraphrase
- Repeat the prompt in one sentence and ask about edge cases (input size, duplicates, constraints).
- Ask for sample inputs if none given.
- Confirm acceptance criteria before coding.
7) Sitting position — subtle but powerful
- Sit up straight, slightly forward to show interest.
- Keep hands visible and relaxed; avoid fidgeting.
- For remote: camera at eye level, neutral background, good lighting.
8) Take feedback & ask company-focused questions
- If interviewer hints, acknowledge: “Good point — I’ll incorporate that.” Ask for feedback after the interview politely: “I appreciate any feedback you can share.”
- Smart questions to ask (tailor to research):
- “Which part of the stack is the team focused on improving this quarter?”
- “How do you measure success for this role’s projects?”
- “How do partnerships (e.g., payment/analytics partners) shape your architecture decisions?”
