How to Prepare for the Technical Interview
HELLO FUTURE HACKBRIGHTERS!
Meggie Mahnken
Sr. Director of Education
I’m here to help you learn how to prepare for the technical interview process. First, the technical interview can be conducted in the language of your choice. The purpose of the technical interview is for us to understand your experience and aptitude with the following ideas. Make sure you study these concepts to prepare for the technical interview:
1. Basic datatypes (strings, integers)
2. Using arrays/lists
3. Looping and control flow
4. Conditional logic
5. Functions
6. Algorithmic problem-solving
TIPS
- Interviews will be conducted in the language of your choice. That means you do not have to know Python yet!
- The browser-based interview is similar to that of the site repl.it. We recommend practicing there to familiarize yourself. The only difference is that the interviewer will be able to type and evaluate code.
- Do not refer to notes or use the Internet to help you with syntax during the interview. If you’re struggling with syntax or don’t know what to do next, let the interviewer know! They will help guide you through the process.
- Run your code often throughout the interview. Being a good programmer means being a good debugger, so don’t be afraid to read error messages carefully and respond to them
- It’s normal to be nervous and this is in no way lost on your interviewer. If you draw a blank or get stuck, that’s okay! Use this as an opportunity to communicate effectively about what you do understand and what you do not.
RESOURCES
- How to Think Like a Computer Scientist: an excellent, comprehensive, and free book on Python. It has interactive components at the end of many chapters, including quizzes and runnable code-snippets.
- There are many excellent practice problems and other resources on Coder Byte. While this is a paid service, the first few problems you click on can be viewed for free. We recommend the following:
- While it requires some getting used to in terms of the interface, Hacker Rank’s free coding challenges, with a wide array of languages and levels, make it worth the effort. Make sure to read the directions carefully. Here are a couple of good places to start:
Questions or concerns? Don’t hesitate to contact us at admissions@hackbrightacademy.com.
