Whether it’s your first software engineer job or your tenth, the process of going through an interview can be daunting and stressful. Unlike many other professions, programmers are often put on the spot and expected to perform during their interviews which often makes or breaks the job offer.
I’ve come up with a Programming Interview Checklist that I think will be helpful for people all along the spectrum of career experience to help you feel more confident interviewing and have better odds to actually land the job. Some of the items on the list are more in the category of “soft skills” or general interviewing tips, whereas others will focus more on things that we as software engineers need to take into consideration.
For the time-crunched, here’s a quick overview of my list with more details of each step to follow. This list assumes you have already scheduled an interview and are in the process of preparing for it.
- Learn about the company
- Search for interview tips/questions
- Review your git repository
- Practice programming challenges
- Prepare questions and main talking points