Don’t fail your next software engineering job interview

You’re sitting in a job interview, and it’s going well. The conversation is flowing easily and you’re answering questions confidently. Then, all of a sudden, they ask something that throws you off your game:

“Can you give us an example of how you’ve used machine learning? What did you learn?”

While this might seem like an easy question at first glance, it can actually be tricky to answer if you don’t know what they are expecting to hear. Luckily for you, we’ve been there ourselves! And now that we’ve knocked out many interviews as engineers (and failed some), we have some advice on how to prepare for these types of questions:

Turns out that having knowledge about machine learning isn’t enough — how do we convey our understanding? What does the interviewer want to hear from us? How do we get them excited about our work experience with ML? This guide will help you see clearly through the answers of these questions and will walk you towards the success of your next job interview.

80% of job interview success comes from being well prepared.

First, do your research

Before you interview, it’s important to do your research to understand the context and to set your expectations.

• Researching the company, including its product and culture.
• Researching the interviewer(s). What are their interests? What do they tweet about? Do they work on open source projects in their spare time?
• Researching the technology stack. Is it something you’ve worked with before? Are there any gaps in your knowledge that you need to fill as quickly as possible? Don’t be afraid to ask questions!

When we talk about technology stacks, we mean all of the different tools used by developers when building applications or websites. For example, if you’re interviewing at an enterprise-level financial institution, then SQL (Structured Query Language), Java/Android and C++ may be part of their stack but not necessarily something that you’ve used before — and asking about these languages can help demonstrate how well prepared for this position you really are!

Practice by solving problems

If you want to master the art of software engineering interviews, then practice is important.

To practice effectively, you need to approach problem-solving in a manner that will mirror the interview process. There are many ways to do this:

• Solve problems by yourself for an extended period of time (no more than 30 minutes at first). Once again, this will help identify areas where improvements are needed and make them obvious when they come up during interviews.
• Get help from someone who has already been through an interview process so they can help guide you through it and give feedback on how well or poorly your approach worked out; this person could be another student or an older engineer who works in industry so they know what kind of questions candidates get asked during job interviews at major tech companies.

Prepare for personality questions

When preparing for personality questions, keep in mind that your answers should be related to the job you’re applying and to the company. Throughout your responses, make sure you mention the below factors:

1️⃣ What am I here for: First job? Looking for a better opportunity? A higher salary?

2️⃣ Why am I here: For the company reputation? For its culture? For its benefits?

3️⃣ Why me and not another candidate: What are your tech skills? What are your soft skills? How do you fit within a team?

Adapt a strong CV and LinkedIn profile

It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of applying for a position you’re excited about, but before you submit your resume and LinkedIn profile, there are some things you need to make sure are in order.

• One-page CV. No one has time to read more than one page about you.
• Add explanation to your experience.
• Mention the projects you worked on.
• Update the wording and the information based on the company culture you’re applying for.

Your resume must be error-free. It’s important that the information on your resume is accurate and relevant to the job you’re applying for (and if it isn’t, take that as a sign that this particular role isn’t right for you).

You should also make sure that your resume is easy to read — this will help ensure that hiring managers spend more time reading it rather than skipping over parts because they were too difficult or boring.

It’s also important not only highlight what makes you unique from other applicants but also why these skills would make them better at their jobs.

For example: don’t just say “I’m great at Java” without explaining how they’ll benefit an organization if hired into a team where most members have no experience using this programming language!

Adopt the right mindset

You need to be realistic about the level of experience you have, and how well it prepares you for a job. If you’re just out of college and haven’t had any real work experience yet, don’t try to sell yourself as an expert or an old pro.

Don’t act like a know-it-all. The interviewer is not your enemy — they’re trying to help you get a job! And remember that even if they ask hard questions or seem skeptical at first, they are on your side and want to see you succeed.

Don’t exaggerate or make things up in order to sound impressive — this is called lying (and it’s not just frowned upon by interviewers; employers usually fire employees who lie on their resumes). Instead of bragging about being able to write code quickly, focus on how much time it took for you to learn new concepts and solve problems independently during self-study sessions outside of classwork

Prepare a list of questions to ask the interviewer(s)

You should have at least 3–5 questions prepared to ask your interviewer(s). It’s important to ask questions that demonstrate your knowledge of the company and the role. You’ll want to make sure you’re asking appropriate questions with a tone that shows interest in what they do and how it can benefit you.

• One about company culture.
• One about the job itself.
• One about the interviewer’s experience in that company so far.
• One about the growth that this company offers its employees.

An example of an acceptable question would be: “What is most important for someone working in this team?” Be sure to phrase it as a question, which will help keep their attention focused on their answers rather than trying to make them feel like they’re being interrogated by someone who already knows everything about them!

You can have a successful software engineering job interview if you are prepared and practice before hand.

When you are interviewing for a software engineering position, you want to be sure that you are as prepared as possible. To do this, it is important to practice before hand. You can practice by asking questions of yourself and then answering them out loud in front of a mirror or with a friend. This will help you become more comfortable with giving answers in an interview setting and give the interviewer a sense that you have done your research on the company’s particular job requirements.

Learning what it takes to be successful at any job is not always easy; however, if you follow these tips on how to prepare for an interview, then hopefully your chances of being hired for this position will increase dramatically.

To conclude…

Don’t be nervous! All the preparation in the world won’t make up for a lack of confidence. If you don’t think you can do the job well, why would they hire you? When it comes down to it, don’t be reactive, adopt the right mindset and be prepared when it comes down to asking questions.

Don’t forget that interviewing is just as much about them as it is about you.

Get prepared to negotiate your salary too! We recommend reading Negotiation: Get More Of What You Want.