DOs and DON’Ts While Appearing for a Technical Interview

DOs and DON'Ts While Appearing for a Technical Interview
DOs and DON'Ts While Appearing for a Technical Interview

Introduction

Most interviewees appearing for an interview do not get selected due to miscellaneous reasons such as being nervous or talking too much, since they are not aware about the DOs and DON’Ts while appearing for an interview. People get so scared over analysing what could go wrong that they forget the things they should do correctly to get the job. In order to secure a job, you need to stand apart from the rest and basically prove to the interviewer how you can provide value to the company.

If you have never appeared for an interview before, then we would definitely recommend you to Google mock interviews and check out the various online mock interviews available so that you can at least understand the basics of how the actual interview process works.

What you Should Follow Before the Interview Process?

It is true that your first impression is your best impression, so your appearance does matter here. Be sure to clean yourself up, wear a wrinkleless shirt and keep your shoes clean. If you know that you have decent skills, cracking the interview would be a cakewalk.


Read the JD (job description) first and understand what skills you require for the job role. Prepare according to that. If you do not read the job description, then you will probably end up brushing up on all skills, giving you less time to master the few required for the interview and reducing your chances of securing the job. Do not be anxious.

Your cognitive abilities reduce by a significant amount if you are. Make sure you are carrying that amazing resume you printed last night.

Frequently Asked Interview Questions

Before you get to the HR round and answer questions that we will discuss later, you do need to clear the technical interview. Depending on your resume and the job role you are appearing for, you will be asked to answer a few questions to assess your technical skills. 

If you need any help in gaining confidence, then please visit https://www.codingninjas.com/ and check out the Interview Preparation section.

Here are a few mock interview questions for you to look at:

Q. Explain Inheritance and Polymorphism. (Question on Object-oriented Programming System)

Q. What are the various types of Inheritance? (Question on Object-oriented Programming System)

Q. What do you mean by O(n) and O(n²)? What is this ‘O’? (Question on Time Complexity)

Q. How would you find a duplicate element in an array? Explain how you would proceed with the problem. (Question on Data Structures and Algorithm)

Q. When are JOINS used in RDBMS? (Question on Database Management Systems)

Q. Suppose you are given a dataset containing employee salaries. How would you extract the people earning higher than the average salary from the dataset? (Question on Database Management Systems)

Q. What are the four main types of Normalisation in DBMS? (Question on Database Management Systems)

Q. Explain a bootstrap in the Operating System.

These are a few mock interview practice questions. If you want more questions, then you can type in ‘mock interview online free questions’ in your search engine. You will find a lot of questions on websites that do not charge you. We now head over to the more common questions that every interviewer will ask you. This is where you prove that you can provide value to the company.

Here are two examples from which you can understand how to answer questions and how not to answer questions:

Q. Why should I (The Interviewer) hire you (The Interviewee)?

DON’T: “I am very hardworking, a fast learner and work pretty well with other people.”

DO: Be honest. You need to convince the interviewer why you need that particular job role (emphasise on your skills) in that specific company. You also need to convince the interviewer why that company is the best place for you to learn and grow in that particular field of employment and why not any other company. Make sure you do your prior research on the company you are applying for. See where they stand out and emphasise this factor to ask for an opportunity from the interviewer.

Q. What are your hobbies?

DON’T: Do not lie about your hobby. Whatever you say, the interviewer will ask you one or more questions about it. Do not say that you play chess to look smart if you do not.

DO: Say what you are actually interested in. If you play the guitar then the next question will be on guitars. If you say that you like to play football then the next question might be on football positions. The interviewer checks if you have really built an interest in your hobby to gain in-depth knowledge about it. This question will really show your ability to gain passion in a particular field. This quality does set candidates apart.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should an interviewee avoid while appearing for an interview?

An interviewee must not be late for his/her interview. Also, he or she must not lie about their skills. Another thing to avoid is saying that you do not know the answer to a particular question. You are here to prove that you have critical-thinking skills. So, take a minute and try to solve the question.

What are the five things you should never say in a job interview?

1. Do not provide unnecessary information: In simple words do not provide what you are not asked for. You should not use incidents that you overcame in your personal life to prove that you can work under stress or be a reliable employee. This is highly unprofessional.
2. Do not say that you do not know the answer to a question thrown at you: If you come across a question that you do not know the answer to, then do not say that you do not know the answer to that question instantly. This will show that you are not willing to use your brain to solve new problems and portrays a lack of critical thinking and self confidence.
3. Do not discuss the pay, unless there is a direct question thrown at you by the interviewer: Money is definitely a factor, but the company is looking for people who want to learn, not people who want to earn.
4. Saying that you have the experience on your resume: The interviewer obviously checks your resume before asking you questions. “Work experience of 5+ years in Data Science” is not enough. The interviewer wants to know more about what you have learned in those 5+ years, what technology you have worked with to see if you will be able to fit the job role. So, please do not ask the interviewer to check your resume for the experience.
5. Do not leave without asking questions: When the interviewer asks you if you have any questions or not, please do ask questions about the job and the questions should have a good relevance, please avoid asking questions like “What are the office hours?” Instead, ask about the technology or services used by the company that you would have to be accustomed to in order to work there.

What are a few must-have mobile applications for mock interviews?

If you want to prepare for interviews online, then there are a few mock interview apps on Google PlayStore that you can check out. A few mobile applications that will help you prepare for your upcoming interviews are GeeksforGeeks, Linkedin, CV Builder, etc.

If I am asked to solve a question on Data Structures and Algorithms, which programming language should I use?

Usually, there is no such compulsion to learn a particular programming language. The most widely accepted languages are C/C++, Java and Python. So, make sure that you are well versed in one of these three languages.

How do I practice more mock interviews?

You can visit https://www.codingninjas.com/services/interview-sessions to appear for mock interviews. This will let you assess your problem-solving skills and help you find your strengths and weaknesses. It will help you understand how each company conducts its interview and will provide you with a confidence boost on the day of the actual interview.

How many rounds of interviews do you have to clear to secure the job?

Usually, there are two rounds of interviews – the technical round and the HR round.

How do I practice more coding related questions?

CodeStudio is a great platform to practice coding related questions. It has a vast bank of questions. You can also filter the questions by difficulty level, job role, and company.

What are the relevant topics from which I can expect questions?

The general topics on which recruiters ask questions are Data Structures and Algorithms, Object-oriented Programming Systems(OOPS), RDBMS (e.g. MySQL), Operating System and Networking.

How can I crack technical interviews?

You can easily crack technical interviews by enrolling yourself into a full-fledged interview preparatory course such as the ones offered by Coding Ninjas and by using Technical Interview mock interview services. You can even sit for mock interviews for software engineers held by recruiters from companies such as Facebook or Amazon through these services.

Key Takeaway

If you have an interview coming up and you have a bit of time left on your hand to prepare for it, then solve coding questions, brush up on your computer science fundamentals, build an eye-catching CV, and practice your soft skills. If you have an attractive LinkedIn page or a GitHub repository, then make sure to link both of them.

If you concentrate on the DOs and DON’Ts, the interview process will surely become easier for you.

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