Lesson 14 Flashcards
Interviewing Questions
The Funnel for Interview Process
- Resume Placement
- Phone Screening
- Technical Screening
- Face to Face
- Negotiation
Goal: You hired
Organize your job search and use spreadsheets to keep:
- List of jobs you applied: position title + company website + date applied.
- Version of the resume you sent (if it was tailored for a certain position.
- Job description (or short notes on it).
- How you applied (reference, directly, Linkedin, etc.)
- Whom you talked to + interview notes + status.
How many resumes a day?
When to apply?
Submit ~ 10 - 12 resumes a day, but adjust this number for yourself depending on the number of responses you are getting.
Do not apply on Fri-Sat and holidays, except for jobs posted the same day.
Do not miss Nov-Jan and May-June seasons.
Never get discouraged, because job hunting is hard.
Phone Screening
A short, 20-30 min conversation, usually with an HR or recruiter, sometimes with a team member.
Usual scenario
Phone Screening
- Intro
- Tell me about yourself = tell me about your work experience.
- Short overview of technology you are familiar with and your skills (they try to match those with what they search for)
- Why are you leaving your current position?.
- Possibly 1-2 behavioral questions.
- Go over your work status.
- Go over your questions.
The Story (Sales Pitch)
Tell me about yourself
* Most common question
Sale Pitch should be:
- This is your sales pitch! It should be a successful story, mention your accomplishments among the job responsibilities.
- Over 10 min is usually too long.
- Adjust for an interviewer. Make sure to check whom you’re talking to. If it is an HR, they are not technical, do not go too deep into tech details, if it’s a technical manager or team member - stress on technical details.
- Adjust for a job. For example, if this job requires working with mobile, stress on your mobile experience if you have it.
- Do not mention non-relevant experience. Try not to be boring.
- This par is usually a prequel to some basic technical questions on the tools you are familiar with and they are interested in.
Technical (Hiring Manager) Screening
Tech screening is usually scheduled over the phone, skype, or google hangouts (be ready to turn on your camera). You can be contacted by a member of the QA or dev team, team lead, or manager.
Technical Screening
Usual scenario:
- Intro + Sometimes they talk about the role
- Tell me about yourself = speak on work experience
- Deep dive into the technical part of your current role: which tools you are using, % of work with mobile vs. web, which tools you are using, how you use them, commands, etc.
- Possibly - Theoretical questions related to the current role, i.e., how do you report a bug? What do you put in a bug report? etc.
- Open questions about the tools required for a position applied: how familiar you are with the tools, could you name certain commands, etc.
- Go over your questions.
In-Person Interview
You made it to on-site, congrats. Many companies will only invite 2-5 candidates to an on-site interview. Therefore, the chances to get a job are high, your goal: to be better than others.
Before the interview, Prepare:
- Get familiar with the product (if possible).
- Read reviews about the product. Outline the best and worst features users mention.
- Study the interviewers. Before an interview, you’ll likely get a list of your interviewers. Check their Linkedln’s and find out their titles, job responsibilities, experience. Think about the questions they will be interested in asking you and prepare the answers.
- Prepare for common questions.
- Prepare your questions. This shows that you’re interested + you will always be ready to fill in an awkward silence if an interviewer doesn’t know what to ask.
- Print out enough resumes.
Interview Questions
What would you do if you created a bug report and a developer tells you they cannot reproduce it?
