How to get through a technical interview and land the job you want

Interviewing is always nerve-racking, and you want it to go well. That takes preparation and knowing what to pay attention to.

Alongside the standard questions — how old you are, what your strengths are — an interview puts particular weight on the technical ones. Employers want to know how well you understand testing, whether you can find defects in code and how you approach problems of software quality. Your answers to those questions can decide whether you go through to the next round.

Where to start

Here is the advice our instructors and PASV graduates shared:

The first step is your resume. Make it fit the vacancy you are applying for as closely as possible. Make sure it reflects only real experience. If you are just starting out in testing, forget the old jobs — waiting tables, say. List the courses you completed, the certificates you earned and links to your projects instead.

Identifying your own strengths and skills can also be hard. Remember that your resume is not merely an advertisement but a hint to the interviewer about how to steer the conversation. Work out what you do best and where you feel confident, and where the gaps are. Perhaps you have a solid grasp of testing fundamentals but not much automation experience? Or you are confident in the theory but run into trouble in practice? Describe your achievements honestly, and do not forget the soft skills: communication, working in a team, resolving conflict.

You have an invitation. What next?

1. Go over the theory.
   Before the interview, refresh the main terms and principles even if you have experience. That spares you the awkward moment of not being able to recall a definition.
2. Prepare how you will talk about yourself. Put together a short account of your projects and achievements. Applying for a mid-level role or above, you should prepare in advance the results you can point to. That keeps you confident and lets you convey your experience clearly.
3. Practical exercises. A technical interview often includes problems that have to be solved on the spot: writing tests, working with code, finding and fixing defects. Feeling confident in those situations takes practice and, above all, composure.
4. Check your equipment. Make sure your computer and webcam work. Pick a quiet place for the interview so that nothing distracts you.
5. Give some thought to how you look. Dress neatly and comfortably. Keep a glass of water to hand so that you can pause and collect your thoughts.

How to conduct yourself

1. Avoid saying "I don't know". If you meet a hard problem, work through it step by step and show your reasoning.
2. Be clear and concise. Plain, comprehensible speech matters more than long, complicated sentences. If you did not understand the question, do not hesitate to ask again.
3. Be courteous. An interview is a conversation. Look the other person in the eye and do not turn your answers into monologues.

What if you get feedback?

If the employer's answer is not what you hoped for, do not panic. Treat it as a chance to develop. Ask for feedback and find out what else is worth working on. Update your resume, remove the parts you are unsure of and concentrate on your strengths.

Advice for testers:

1. Go over the main topics: the software development life cycle, test documentation and Scrum.
2. Use the resources. Study the material on Guru99 and the ISTQB syllabus. Read in English so that the terminology is exact.

If you want to prepare for a technical interview with confidence and build up your skills, enrol at Programming Academy in Silicon Valley. We offer courses such as QA Manual, QA Automation, DevOps and more — see the details at PASV.US.
Teaching is available in both Russian and English.

Many of your questions can also be answered by our graduates, who already work as testers at leading American companies.

PASV is a leading online school in America:

• Our instructors and assistants work at companies in the USA, Canada and Europe.
• All teaching is done by working programmers and testers.
• The programmes are built around how tech corporations and startups actually work.
• We publish free courses in programming and testing.

And most importantly, we help with your resume and prepare you for interviewing in English.
Our students take internships on real American commercial projects and find well-paid work quickly after the course.

Do not be discouraged if an interview does not go the way you hoped. The experience you gain from it becomes an excellent foundation for still more appealing projects later.

And PASV will help you prepare effectively and build the skills a successful career takes.