Coding interviews are nerve-wracking, and they’re not going to get any easier. But what if you had a foolproof plan? The best way to succeed at coding interviews is to prepare for them. And the best way to prepare for them is to have a strategy.
What is a coding interview?
Coding interviews are the interviews in which your skills as a developer/coder are tested in a live session. These are interviews in which your code is assessed rather than your resume, and the objective is to make sure that you can actually code. There is no better way to evaluate a candidate than to see them work. The interviewing organization will have some special software like Geektastic’s (https://geektastic.com), and these companies specializing in setting and marking coding tests.
How to prepare for a coding interview
How do you nail a coding interview?
Get some experience. It doesn’t matter how smart or talented you are — it does matter that you’ve actually done it before.
Don’t be afraid to point to past work experience, but don’t stretch the truth. Don’t show off the latest package you put together in Python, but do show a side of yourself that shows you’ve executed on a task, even if it’s just something as simple as a coding challenge. Show your results. Show what you’ve done.
Don’t simply say you’re working on this, but tell a story about how you’re working on it, and how you’re working on it.
Remain confident
Coding interviews are often designed to weed out candidates who may not have as many technical skills. It’s a business meeting, and recruiters want to see the most technically proficient candidates. So, the question isn’t if you have the ability to perform at this level — the question is, can you perform as smoothly as possible?
The worst thing you can do is psych yourself out. If you’re confident and prepared for the interview, you won’t sweat the small stuff. It’s all about getting into the flow, whether it’s in a chair facing a whiteboard or with a recruiter at the computer screen. Avoid any distractions It’s tempting to work on a project while you’re waiting for the interview to start, but you don’t want to work on a project.
The right mindset
If you’re not excited to code the interview questions, you’re not going to nail it. When you see a coding interview coming, your mind should be filled with questions about the code, not questions about yourself. If your mind is completely consumed with wanting to ace the interview, you’ll find your way to wondering about how the interviewer is going to respond to your code. Instead, try to focus on the code itself. How do I write a function to print words? What if this function reads a string and then, for every word, prints the first letter and then that string again? How do I represent that? Concentrate on the code and not how well you are performing.
Conclusion
Sometimes in your career, you’ll be asked to take a coding test. You’ll be asked to write a function, and you’ll be asked to create a database. Don’t be scared. We’ve covered a lot of ground and put together a number of pointers that you can use. Maybe you already have some of the training, but even if you don’t, all you have to do is get ready for the interview. And when you get there, remember to take your time. And remember to be confident. Good luck.
