First Tech Interview? Here's My Experience
Published: 2022-09-11 19:55:38

So you’re making a career pivot? Getting into tech and you have your first interview – are you excited or nervous? I’ll be the first to admit that I was both – I wanted to share my experience with the interview process to serve as a reference for anybody facing a similar situation. 
 
All of the interviews that I’ve had consisted of the same general structure:
 
Three Rounds:
 
Round 1: Recruiter/HR Introduction
 
Duration: 30-45 minutes 
 
This round is a great opportunity to introduce yourself to the recruiter and offer your backstory. I would run through my elevator pitch with a brief summary of my resume and would ask the recruiter if they wanted me to elaborate on anything in particular. The interview would wrap up with the recruiter running through more details about the company, and then I’d try to ask a few questions based on what the recruiter shared. 
 
This round was usually conducted over the phone in a semi-formal manner. I found that the interview process was more casual for the larger companies.
 
I really enjoyed all of my first round interviews – it offered immediate feedback on the type of culture that the company promotes. Although most of us are trying our best to get into tech, it’s important to remember that interviews are a two-way street. YOU want to make sure that you’d enjoy working for the company in the long run, or you’re setting yourself up for a whirlwind of unnecessary stress (because we all don’t have enough stress already, right?).
 
Key Advice
·      I would try to read through the recruiter’s LinkedIn before the interview and would target a question or two based on the recruiter’s background.
·      Come prepared with several questions regarding the company itself – show the recruiter that you are interested in the company beyond just getting a job in tech.

 
Round 2: Technical Interview w/Senior Devs
 
Duration: 60-120 minutes
 
For me personally, this round was the most intimidating. You don’t necessarily know what to expect. I expected to be thrown into the code-challenge gauntlet as soon as the interview started, and that wasn’t necessarily the case. Although some did, most interviews started with a review of the projects that I had completed or was currently working on. The senior developers would ask questions based on the code that I was presenting. For the questions that I didn’t have an answer to, I would be honest and tell them that I didn’t know, and would ask if they could explain it. Almost every time I did, the senior developer would happily explain. If they didn’t, remember that this is still a 2-way interview, and may reflect on the company culture as a whole. (I wouldn’t want to work with anyone who refuses to answer questions).
 
The project review was generally following by a code challenge. These varied widely, and I was given the choice of using my preferred language. The best advice that I can offer here is to try your best. Stay relaxed – the interviewers know that most folks are going to be nervous. Trust your training – you’ve likely spent hundreds of hours learning. If you get stuck, ask the interviewers for help! This is SO important. Do not sit there struggling without asking for help. Part of the interview is evaluating your ability to ask technical based questions. 
 
Even if you ultimately don’t pass the technical challenge, it is great practice for ultimately furthering your career. It happens! The most important thing is that you’ve built a good relationship with a company and recruiter. You can continue studying and come back and try again (if you’d like). These interviews are designed to be relatively challenging, so trust in yourself and your abilities!
 
Key Advice
·      Come prepared – make sure that you are ready to talk through your projects. Clean up your GitHub and make sure that the necessary repositories are public vs. private.
·      If you get stuck during the code challenge, don’t be afraid to ask your interviewers for help! The worst thing that you can do is to struggle in silence.
 
Round 3: Executive Interview
 
Duration: 30-45 minutes
 
This was my favorite part of the interview process. It was always such a good feeling to make it through the technical interview. Imposter syndrome is very real in the tech community, and passing the technical round affirmed that I deserved to be there!
 
This round usually consisted of meeting with an executive to be evaluated based on the company culture. The questions were more behavioral based. I found that they would usually leave a generous amount of time for questions, so make sure to come prepared! All of the executives that I met with were very easy to talk to, so don’t feel intimidated! It was great being able to ask questions regarding the future vision for the company from somebody in the c-suite. 
 
Key Advice
·      Similar to the recruiting round, research the executive(s) prior to the interview and come prepared with a question or two based on their background. 
·      Research the company itself and ask company related questions that you are genuinely interested in. If you can’t come up with any questions that spark your interest, you may need to evaluate if you’d actually like to work for the company in question.