Ask Lemmy

This will be the main interview. Welcome to software development interviews, where you can have 6 interviews and a take home exam and they still aren't sure if you're worth hiring.

This is what we call the "Loop". I have done too many of these. I did one just yesterday actually! Probably... 15-20 under my belt now throughout my career.

There will be 4 1-hour interviews you will go through. Usually there will be some combination of the following. This is how most of mine go (my mid-tier ones and now my senior ones). They may mix and match them, you may get 2 technicals instead of a system design, maybe they don't do the last one, who knows, but this is to help you prep a bit.

Technical - 1 hour with a sample problem. Chill companies will give you something like "Solve a wordsearch". Maybe they have something premade like "Add some functionality to this". Companies like Amazon will do a more intense leet-code style question. The number one advice I have to you is never stop talking. Be talking the entire time. Every thought you have, verbalize it. The interviewer is not a mind reader, they will be trying to figure out what you're doing, and if you tell them they honestly will probably help you. Just describe everything you're doing. "I'll make a method here because I think it'll be easier to reuse - well.. maybe I won't. Actually I'll keep it and we can use it later, so yeah that'll be what we use to do X functionality". Even if you think you sound silly, it'll really help your chances. Do this for the System Design below too. Worst thing a candidate can do is clam up and not talk in their interview, leaving the interviewer at the end trying to guess if they understood the problem or not.

Culture Fit - Talk about projects you did, since you're coming out of entry level, focus on results. Outcomes. A lot of people ramble in these. Prepare for this interview. Look at your history, find projects, and learn the STAR Method for behavioral. It honestly is a clean way to tell your own history.

System Design - This will heavily change based on your level, and that's okay. Usually it's a question like "Design WhatsApp" or some vague thing like this. They won't expect you to have a perfect answer. Instead, they're looking for you to ask questions and how you think. I strongly recommend watching This video - again they lay out how to organize the interview. Most interviewees just start throwing stuff on a whiteboard - watch the video and learn how to lay out things in an ordered way. Even if you don't know the answer, it shows how you think, which is much more valuable in the interview.

VP/Executive Chat - This will be a fairly informal chat with someone higher up at the company. They are mostly going to lean on the others to decide if you should be hired - but they want to know if you're "excited" to work there. Show an interest in the company. Ask questions about something you heard they were working on. Are they smaller? Are they pushing towards IPO or something else? Show an interest in the business side. Talk about how you want to uplevel your skills and you think X company is the right place.

Bonus - The "Bar Raiser" - This is more of a "style" of interviewing that can happen in any of the mentioned ones above. I was caught off guard the first time I encountered one of these. The Bar Raiser is essentially they're going to push you to see if you "raise the bar" for them, if you go above what a normal employee will do. You'll notice this if you find they are asking a lot of questions, maybe even to the point of offending your or annoying you. This is essentially what they want, how do you do under pressure? How do you do when people are second guessing you? Don't let it get to you, and don't start bullshitting. Admit when you don't know things. Stick to your guns on things you believe in, but admit when you don't know things. Software engineers need to know when they don't know something. When I was younger I insisted that a SQL database would be the best database for a system design. They asked why - and I didn't have an answer. It's just what I had used. What I should have said was "It's what I'm most familiar with, but there are some others I would want to look at first to really make a decision". Since I insisted that it was best, they asked how I would scale it? How would I make sure it wouldn't go down. I quickly realized it wasn't the best choice, and I worked myself into a corner.

Important Notes

• Ask for a break - you deserve a break between these. If you need to go to the bathroom, make sure there is time for it. You're looking at 4 hours of interviews, most will offer between "Do you need anything" - don't think it's impolite. Just go to the bathroom if you need it.
• Accept the drink - They'll offer you coffee or water. Just accept it. Again, 4 hours of interviews. You'll need some water. You'll get dry mouth, just trust me.
• Think about food - Most good ones will provide a lunch... but I'm seeing this less and less. Eat right before going in, nothing heavy or you'll be sleepy, but have a good solid breakfast and eat before you go into the meeting. (Even if they provide lunch then you don't look like a pig on their dime). Pack a snack with you if you can, after one loop I was shaking with hunger and went to the mcdonalds immediately after right next door because I was so hungry.
• Get a good night's sleep before hand. You'll have to be on the whole time, it's just going to be tiring, physically and mentally.

Alright padawan, that's my advice for you. I wish you all the luck in the world, take what I've learned about these and may my knowledge help you. We're all rooting for you!