I think most of these questions youll also find in other interview assistance sites where the more helpful info for tech coders at least would be the programming testing portions.
For example, if youre applying for a marketing analyst position and you know that the company uses HubSpot, then you can mention that youre looking forward to diving into that.
If youre applying for a development or design job, youll almost certainly be asked how familiar you are with a particular programming language. Unless youre applying for a senior developer position, youdontnecessarily have to be an expert at the particular language in most cases to get hired.
12 Tricky Job Interview Questions in Techand How to Answer Them
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This one can be a little bit tricky. If your long-term goals are to be doing something entirely different from the job youre currently applying for, you may not want to mention that in so many words.
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And if its your first interview in an entirely new career field? Oh boy. Nervous doesnt even begin to cover it.
Heres a secret: if you feel like your qualifications are lacking for a certain thing, you can use this question to express your interest in learning more about that particular area. Expanding on the last paragraph, if youve only ever used Google Analytics and you know that they use HubSpot for metrics, then you can express your interest in diving into HubSpot and seeing what it can do compared to Analytics.
To get even more prepared, check out ourUltimate Guide to Interviewing for a Junior Tech Job!
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Heres another place where you dont want to be too negative. Instead, look at the frustrating things from your old job that will be less likely in your new position. The last thing you want to do is complain about something that isnt going to disappear in the job youre interviewing for.
This is kind of a trick question. If you say you prefer to work alone, then you may come across as a loner. If you say you prefer to work as part of a team, then you might come across as incapable of working on things independently.
To that end, talk your way through the problem. Ask any questions that you need to in order to clarify what is being asked. And then tell the interviewer how youre going about figuring it out. The entire point of these brainteasers is to test your creativity, your analytical skills, and your logic, not to show that you actually knowhow many gas stations there are in the US.
You knowwhat not to say, but how do you answer those tough questions youre bound to be asked? Here are a few of the most commonly asked questions you might encounter, and how to prepare to answer them, particularly in a tech interview.
One way to prepare is to take on some programming challenges before your interview. Sites likeCodewarscan really help you get used to these kinds of questions. You can also check out ourUltimate Guide to Interviewing for Your First Tech Jobfor details on how to ace these kinds of code tests.
Be careful with this one. You dont want to come across as negative, or disparaging to your current company, boss, or coworkers. Instead, put a positive spin on why youre leaving. Instead of saying Im bored out of my mind, you could say that youre looking for new challenges at work.
So the safe bet here is to say both, even though that may feel like a cop-out. Express that youre happy to dive into team projects, but you also like to work on aspects of projects alone to get things done quickly. The ideal employee in almost every tech company is one who can work well with others while also being able to take on projects solo without handholding.
This can be one of the most challenging questions to answer, especially when youre new to a field. In most cases, though, you want to avoid answering the question at all. Instead, you want the interviewer to tell you what their budget range is for the position.
This is another case where getting the right answer isnt necessarily the most important part. How you approach the problem and go about solving it is being evaluated just as much.
And I was nowhere near as prepared as I should have been, looking back on that first interview (or the secondor the third). Im sure I gave more than one wrong answer in those interviews. In fact, I didnt even think my first interview with Skillcrush went all that well and was surprised when I got a second interview!
Think about ways that general tasks from your last job could roughly translate into tasks you might have at your new job and go from there!
The good news is that its not the end of the world if you say one wrong thing. But that doesnt mean you shouldnt be as prepared as possible before stepping into your first tech interview.
As Randle hasmentioned here before, whatever you do, please dont answer this one with Im a perfectionist or anything else along those lines. Sure, it might be true, but its also so commonly heard that its completely unoriginal, and in fact, its more of a strength than a real weakness. Rephrasing it as paying attention to detail and wanting to get things right doesnt sound like much of a weakness, does it?
Instead, talk about something that is really a negative, but frame it in a way that shows how you compensate for it. For example, you might say that you have a tendency to be disorganized, but to combat that you have a system set up that keeps you on task and prevents important things from falling through the cracks.
What you do need to show is that youre very comfortable with it, and that youre happy to dive in to learn what you dont know. Its more important that you show that youre familiar with coding on a conceptual level, and have good problem-solving abilities. But just because youve worked more with Rails than Python doesnt mean you cant get a junior developer job if you show that you can quickly figure out problems and how to solve them.
Prepare a mental list of different types of projects youve worked on, as well as your favorites. This is particularly important if you have a large body of work. When Ive been asked about examples of things Ive written, its sometimes a struggle to think of specific pieces since I have over 350 articles in my portfolio (not to mention pieces Ive written that arent included for one reason or another). But I can name off a handful of examples of specific pieces off the top of my head if necessary. Be sure you can, too.
Hopefully when you applied for the job, you included a link to your portfolio. But that doesnt mean an interviewer wont ask you about specific projects youve worked on. They might ask for examples of your most successful project, your favorite project, your most challenging project, or just for a general example or two.
How to answer the 12 TOUGHEST job interview questions in tech: via @skillcrush @cameron_chapman
Programming challenges are generally more common at second or third interviews, rather than initial ones. But you should still be prepared at your first interview.
For example, maybe part of the new job is diving into the data that drives the company (sales, visitors, etc.), while at your old job you had no access to information about what was happening behind the scenes.
Now, that being said, its still vital that you know what the market rate is for the job youre applying for. If you know that the typical salary for a junior developer job is in the $60,000 range, and they tell you that theyre looking to start someone at $40,000, thats a potential red flag. Of course, they might make up for the lower salary with amazing perks (remote work, weeks of paid vacation, free child care, technology perks, excellent health insurance, etc.). However, if they asked you what your salary range is and you say $60,000, they might write you off as out of their price range when youd actually be quite happy working for that particular company for $40,000. You can use sites likeGlassdoororPayScaleto find average salary rates for a ton of different positions.
This is a great time to emphasize the parts of your job that you like that will carry over to your new position. If your dream tech job will include working with clients, and youve been working in retail, you could say that youve loved building relationships with your regular customers. Of if your new position will include a lot of data organization and reporting, you can talk about how you loved organizational tasks at your old job (even if they werent data organization).
Now, if you have a clear idea of where you want to be and its in line with the job youre currently interviewing for, then by all means share that plan! Interviewers want to hear that you understand the typical or expected career path that will follow the job youre applying for.
What you can say, though, is that youre looking for work that is fulfilling and challenging, and that youre passionate about.
Ive been a freelancer for going on eight years. Interviews were not part of my vocabulary. And then I decided I wanted to scale back the freelancing, and find a normal job (albeit a remote normal job). Which meant interviews.Shudder. I hadnt been on a job interview since 2004!
This is where knowing something about the company youre interviewing with, in addition to the specific position, is vital. Know what kinds of things those employees in positions similar to the one youre interviewing for are doing. And make sure you read the job responsibilities and requirements carefully.
Job interviews are nerve-wracking, to say the least. Even if youve got years of experience and the job description sounds like it was written specifically for you, youre still likely to be nervous.
When asked on a recent interview why I was seeking out a more traditional job after freelancing for years, I answered that I was looking to be part of a team again, not that I was tired of feeling isolated and cut off while working. It means the same thing, but its all about how you express yourself! Hiring managers will almost always prefer someone who answers with a positive statement rather than a negative one!
These can be intimidating if youre new to programming and coding. Brainteasers and riddles can definitely throw you for a loop, especially if youre not prepared. But what you need to do in that case is show that you arent going to get flustered under pressure, and that you can think through problems logically.
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In some cases, an interviewer will sit you down in front of a computer and give you a problem to solve (and a time limit). In other cases, you may just have to talk through how you would code something.
Spending some time familiarizing yourself with the most common types of brainteasers you might be asked is a good way to prepare. But whats more important than a correct answer is the ability to think through the problem logically.
Cameron is a staff writer here at Skillcrush, and spends most of her time writing and editing blog posts and Ultimate Guides. Shes been a freelance writer, editor, and author for going on a decade, writing for some of the worlds leading web design and tech blogs. When shes not writing about design, she spends her time writing screenplays and making films (and music videos for rock and metal bands!) in Vermonts Northeast Kingdom.
Instead of stating a number when youre asked, say something along the lines of, Im sure that whatever youre paying is consistent with the going rate, or Im sure we can figure out a fair salary based on what my responsibilities would be. Dont be afraid to say that because the job youre applying for is so much different than your previous jobs, its hard for you to specify a salary range.
We all make mistakes in interviews. Dont beat yourself up if you botch a question or stumble to find the right answer. The key thing to remember is that confidence, character, and personality can make up for a lot. But if you combine those with being well prepared for whatever questions youre asked, youll stand out from others competing for the same job!
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a junior developer job is in the $60,000 range
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