Tech Interview Preparation Questions & Answers

Its not easy to prepare yourself for technical interview preparation. Typically, job interviews related to the tech industry differ from traditional job interviews. During a technical job interview, you can expect questions from different spectrums, such as educational, past experiences, and behavioural aspects. It does not matter if you are a student or someone who has been in the tech industry for a long time; you will gain a lot of valuable insights knowing what to expect from an interview beforehand. You can also avail Data Science and Engineering Bootcamp program offered by upGrad to get the best placement assistance. 

In this blog, we’ll talk about the most common technical interview questions asked in job interviews. We’ll also discuss some tips and examples that will help you prepare for any technical job interviews. But before that, let us understand the purpose of technical interview questions.

Purpose of technical interview questions and answers 

The main objective of conducting a technical interview is to evaluate an applicant’s technical knowledge. This test allows employers to understand if an applicant’s skillsets are adequate for the required job position.  

However, the location of the interview can vary depending on the size and the nature of the company.  The interview practices differ from place to place as well.  These may include telephonic interviews, video conferencing, or in-person interviews. The interview can be short, or it can extend several hours of various rounds and even take up to an entire day to finish. During this interview, be ready to answer brain-teasing, problem-solving, and normal technical questions related to your applied position.

During this interview, you’ll have to prove your ability and convince the company representative that you can easily manage the job description and meet the company’s goals. Additionally, you can access the best interview preparation questions by availing Master of Science in Computer Science offered by Liverpool John Moores University.

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Types of interview questions and answers 

Typically, most technical job interviews involve questions that can decode various sides of job applicants, such as technical knowledge, background, and culture. Questions are framed to determine your skills for handling challenging situations. 

Several tech companies try to determine how efficient you are at communication and other relevant skills. Let’s look at some of the interview preparation questions you can expect to face in a technical interview.     

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1. What programming languages are you familiar with?

Why do employers ask: Coding languages are necessary for the software development industry. If an applicant is foreign to a coding language required to work, then they are not a good candidate for the job.

How to answer this question:  Convince the employer that you are well-versed in the fundamentals of coding by mentioning your past experiences in different coding languages such as Java, C++, and Python. After that, tell them about the programming language that you’re proficient with and why you like it. 

2. What would you do if the program you were working on crashed?

Why do employers ask: In addition to technical knowledge, companies and hirers pay a lot of attention to the applicant’s troubleshooting skills and, in turn, test the candidate’s problem-solving skills. Crashing programs are one of the most common problems in the IT industry. 

How to answer: Tell the in-depth steps you’ll take to identify and find the root of the problem in a program. After that, explain the process that you normally take to debug software. You can provide references from past experiences when you had to debug a program to get it working. 

3. How to denormalise database design?

Why do employers ask: Interview questions like these are designed to determine the critical thinking abilities of the applicant by forcing them to weigh the pros and cons of certain methods. 

How to respond: Explain what denormalization means in the context of data management. After that, list the scenarios requiring denormalisation in different cases and identify the primary disadvantages you have to deal with. You can also share a personal case from past experience to convince the employers that you have had enough experience in denormalization. 

4. What’s the difference between A, AA, AAA, and WXAG compliance?

Why do employers ask: Nost UI and Web designers have to follow protocols strictly. Go over the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines to understand and implement efficient protocols. Answering questions like these will convince the employer that you have all the required knowledge and skills for the job. 

How to answer: Start with a simplistic explanation of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and why they’re essential. Additionally, provide detailed descriptions of Triple A, Double A and Single A while pointing out their differences.

5. What was your biggest achievement while working for a technical company before?

Why employers ask: Interviewers like to make sure that candidates must work and improve the structure within the organization rather than just operating according to it. Especially IT Directors who have seen deployment and development pay close attention to this. Questions like these offer a glance at your past experience, helping recruiters decide whether you’re a good fit or not.

How to respond: Describe your biggest achievements while working for old companies. Let the employers know if you took some actions that led to major team development. Consider providing other details and specifics that can accurately measure the amount of development of a company.

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6. Walk us through your method while reviewing someone else’s code.

Why employers ask: This question allows the hiring company to get insights into whether a candidate is a perfect fit for a company or not. Your chances of getting selected increase if you can efficiently work with other people’s reviews and existing code. Such abilities speak for themselves, showing your employers that you can easily work with the company’s workflow. 

How to answer: Consider breaking down your reviewing process to make it easier for your employers to notice coding mistakes, errors and other issues. Break some code only as if it’s a test. Consider following such interview practices to make an impact on your employer. 

7. What online resources and tools do you use while doing your job?

Why employers ask: Typically, IT companies prefer employees who know all about the latest innovations and the latest advancements in the tech industry. Employers want to ensure you’re in touch with all the recent technological advancements and the broader IT industry. 

How to answer: Know your tech niche’s go-to websites or places and share those pages with your employers. Skilled IT workers must know where to find the most recent information. Additionally, your chance of getting a job increases when you’re in touch with the broader IT community to find what you need without any external guidance.  

8. Talk about the tech projects that you’ve completed during your spare time.

Why employers ask: A good IT job applicant must spend their free time working on side projects. This will show the employers that you are passionate about computer science and you want to keep your skill set updated with market trends. 

How to answer: Carry a sample work, such as an app or a website. Ensure that you’ve used your skills while setting it up. Showcasing your skills in a brighter light can impress employers. Therefore, if you don’t have a side project to feature on, consider working on a side project so that you can feature it on your portfolio. 

9. What is the major difference between SOAP and REST web services?

Why employers ask:  Employers ask this question to understand how effectively you communicate over a network. They try to understand if you hold expertise over the Representational State Transfer (REST) model for handling public APIs and Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) models for working in well-distributed company environments.

How to answer: Provide a detailed description of how you can utilise REST and SOAP models to assess various web services. You can also choose to mention the major difference between these two models for data transfer.   

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Excelling in Technical interviews –how to do it? 

Do you want to go through any technical interview preparation with ease? Find yourself one step closer to your dreams by availing upGrad’s Executive Post Graduate Programme in Data Science, offered by IIT Bangalore. 

This extensive course covers all the fundamentals of data science. Recognized as India’s number #1 Data science course, this program allows you to choose up to specialization in at least five different subjects. Besides the course, upGrad features a seamless learning platform that extends career counselling sessions and more than 300 hiring partners. Using such a streamlined platform can help you crack any job interview. Additionally, this course also features 24*7 student support, allowing you to contact the authorities as soon as you face a problem. 

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Conclusion 

Cracking a technical interview can be very difficult. However, keep these tips in mind to make sure that you ace your job interview. 

1. Your reply to the interview questions must clear the logical reasoning behind it
2. Do not forget to ask the employer if you need more time to answer questions.
3. Consider practicing brain teasers and coding assignments to keep your skills honed. 

Following these tips and getting the best career assistance from upGrad can help you bag any technical job from any company!