A Walkthrough for Software Engineering Interviews

Over the past few years, I have interviewed at tech companies such as Google, Facebook, Palantir, Dropbox, and Zynga. This has given me a reasonable perspective on what to expect during the interview process. If you’re someone who wants to understand how technical interviews in software engineering work, read on. This article covers how to approach a technical question and is the first installment in a three-part series. I’ve also written targeted articles for how to approach phone interviews and on-site interviews, which form parts 2 and 3, respectively. ...

If you’re reading this article, you’re interested in interviewing at a tech company and are familiar with how a technical question will be presented. The first test for most tech companies is to do 1-2 phone screens with engineers to test your aptitude in software engineering and your fit with a company’s culture. This is a roadmap for how phone screens work and how you should prepare for them. The layout of the interview Logistics The remote interview is usually conducted over phone or video chat (Skype, Google+ hangout, etc). In addition, the interviewer will often send you a link to a collaborative editor (e.g., Codesignal, CoderPad, collabedit, Google Docs) where both parties can see and type. ...

If you’re reading this article, you’re probably interviewing at a tech company and have made it to an on-site interview after passing some phone screens. This is a roadmap for how you should prepare for a grueling day of back-to-back interviews to test your aptitude in software engineering and your fit with a company’s culture. The layout of the on-site interview The Morning Once you arrive, you will check in at a reception desk. You may or may not be provided breakfast. You will do 2-4 back-to-back technical interviews, each of which is similar in style to a phone interview. ...