Phone Interview Technical

What to expect?

Your interview with take up to hour. You will receive a link to hangouts and Coderpad where you will write and share your code in real-time. Coderpad is straight forward, but it’s worth familiarizing yourself with the interface.

  • Coding:
    you will be given a coding problem and asked to write code in Java, Python or c++.
  • OO Design:
    we expect you to know OO concepts, you can’t work on a big code base without running into it.
  • Data structures and algorithms:
    demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of data structures. Make sure you are very familiar with those basic stuff like binary tree, linked list, sorting algorithms, etc.
  • Ownership:
    Challenges, contributions to the projects you have on your resume. Be proud to claim credit for your achievement.
  • Motivation
    Managers love the energy as well as the motivation factors behind your move and this will help them align you to the organisation.
  • Role Specific Subjects:
    • For Front-end Engineers: Javascript/CSS
    • For Modeling Scientists: Machine learning concepts, probability, modeling examples
    • For System/DevOps Engineers: Scripting and bash fluency

Tips For Your Interview

  • Find a quiet space in advance. This will help you focus on the interview.
  • Don’t assume your internet connection is good: make sure you test your connection and headset before joining hangouts. Test call a friend, it will take less than a minute and avoids any last-minute gremlins.
  • Aim for clear and well-structured answers: people’s attention spans tend to be shorter over the phone.
  • You will get much better in interviewing by practising, get out the old pen and paper and practise writing answers and solving problems. Practise answers to questions you know you will be asked, The interviewer is judging not only technical but also behavioral and general questions.
  • Please feel free to ask questions about anything that is unclear, clarify any ambiguity you have been asked for, interact with your interviewer.
  • If you are cutting corners, state that out loud, say what you would do if you had more time.
  • We encourage candidates to be as honest as possible. Don’t be afraid to admit that you have no experience or knowledge when quizzed on untrained skills and technologies.
  • Prepare questions to ask: you will have a chance to ask your interviewer questions. Some questions will come to you during your interview but you should prepare questions in advance.
    • Think of something that you could have a discussion about, something meaningful, something you are passionate about or something you didn’t enjoy at your previous job that you would like to change. If you have a tech blog refer to it.
    • Skip the HR, money questions- this is something you will discuss with your Recruiter, not Engineering Interviewers.
  • Smile as you talk. Yes, it makes a difference, even over the phone! Be positive and enthusiastic.

Additional Resources

Cracking the Coding Interview Effective Java Java Concurrency in Practice

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