How do you prepare for technical interviews

steppinthrax

Just curious, what do you guys do?

This might sound weird but my thinking is there really isn't much you can do (nothing)!!!! Just read the req and go there.

The recruiter indicated that the job description/qualification hardly every matches the job perfectly. That in her history out of 20 desc only one matches.

joelsfood

I don't, generally. What I do prepare for is the interview with the company. Research their business, their competitors, their products, their history.

DoubleNNs

Google "<position title> interview questions" -> click on every link on the 1st page -> review them and make sure I can answer them. Then go over the job description and try to imagine questions or talking points on the topics and what I'd say. Try to spend 20 mins or so labbing up a few of the topics. Then go over my own resume and make sure I know what I actually wrote down and can talk about it.

For me, my biggest goal is to be able to get to the interview and say the most eloquent and complete answers, as shortly as possible. That way I'm not stumbling over my words and talking outloud trying to figure something out or force myself to remember.

Might be overkill for some people tho.

olaHalo

The technical stuff you should pretty much know and not have to really review. And most technical interviews Ive had have been questions about "what would you do if this happened" or "how would you handle this issue"
Also its good to have prepared answers to common questions like "tell me about yourself" or "why would you fit in here"
Research the company and have prepared questions to ask them.

One early interview I had they told me they were going to ask a question that I shouldnt know. They asked me the 5 FSMO roles.
Blew them away when I knew them all.

Iristheangel

olaHalo wrote: »

One early interview I had they told me they were going to ask a question that I shouldnt know. They asked me the 5 FSMO roles. Blew them away when I knew them all.

LoL! I was asked that question as well. It was years since I took my MCSE and I wasn't deep in servers at the time so I think I got 3 out of 5. Still impressed them though because most people hear "FSMO" and get a blank stare. Good on you for knowing your stuff

yzT

IMO, if you need to prepare for a technical interview is because you are not qualified for the job your are applying for.

Master Of Puppets

yzT wrote: »

IMO, if you need to prepare for a technical interview is because you are not qualified for the job your are applying for.

Generally, I agree but it doesn't hurt to review a few things before you go in there. I like to be as better prepared as I can be.

dave330i

yzT wrote: »

IMO, if you need to prepare for a technical interview is because you are not qualified for the job your are applying for.

Only if you have perfect recall. Rest of us forget things we haven't used in a while.

DoubleNNs

yzT wrote: »

IMO, if you need to prepare for a technical interview is because you are not qualified for the job your are applying for.

Every position I've applied for so far has been a step up. One position asked for 3-5 years of experience when I only had 6 months of tech support experience. During the interview they hit me w/ over 20 technical questions - only 3 of which I couldn't answer: 1 from lack of recall at the moment and 2 from lack of experience dealing w/ the technology. When I actually started the job, I was bored before the 1st week had finished and was a top performer by the 2nd week.

I would assume most people are under qualified when they attempt to move up, pivot specialties, or even define a specialty to begin w/.

But my opinion might be a little different based on my circumstances and the fact that I'm still in the beginning of my career.

cruwl

I research the company, figure out what they do, what their products do ect.

The single most import thing I do for an interview is write down a half to a full page of counter questions about the company, the environment they run, how the team interacts ect. I also bring in a small notebook to take notes for these questions, or notes for the questions they ask.

I find that if you can make each interview a 2 way conversation where you have just as many questions as they do, granted relevant ones. You come across much more prepared and interested in the position then 95% of other candidates.

Mike-Mike

cruwl wrote: »

I research the company, figure out what they do, what their products do ect.

The single most import thing I do for an interview is write down a half to a full page of counter questions about the company, the environment they run, how the team interacts ect. I also bring in a small notebook to take notes for these questions, or notes for the questions they ask.

I find that if you can make each interview a 2 way conversation where you have just as many questions as they do, granted relevant ones. You come across much more prepared and interested in the position then 95% of other candidates.

this is the best advice