Types of Interview Processes for Tech Positions and How to Crack them

Types of Interview Processes for Tech Positions and How to Crack them

An IT job is no different than the rest, but its interviews can surely be taken in different forms. The key here is to prepare well and do enough background research about the company and the job description.

While some companies only have one form of an interview in their selection, many nowadays have more than two interviews in the selection process. Let’s look at the different type of interview processes for tech positions and how to crack them.

1. Panel Interviews

This is typically done in large IT companies where a group of experts take turns to ask you questions. The experts may be from the same work vertical or even different. For instance, one may actually be a Java expert, one may be a marketing person and the other could be a data scientist. They are all there to ask a different set of questions to you and judge you on how well you answer them.

You can tackle this easily. Remember to make eye contact with everyone and treat all of them with respect. Although a few from the panel may not understand your background, it’s imperative that you answer their questions with the same enthusiasm.

2. Skill-Based Interviews

Now, this set of interviews are very structured and come with preset questions about your job. They are written by psychological experts who seek to gain insights into your competencies and skills. This is important because every company nowadays wants to get a good ROI on employee hiring and many hires, later on, prove to be unfit for the job. Capability checks are hence common.

It’s simple to prepare for such an interview. You need to be well-versed with all your strong skills and back them up with relevant examples from your college and internship times. For instance, if you’re a Python expert, then narrate incidences about how you handled a project of your own and support the results with some numbers.

3. Telephonic Interviews

This is a great way for hiring managers to quickly sift out those applicants who are not very relevant skill-wise. A lot of job seekers underestimate this technique. Yes, it does have a lot of advantages.

You can keep notes about what you’re going to speak about (any particular programming language), have some ready-made answers in front of you, you don’t have to dress up as you would for a one-to-one interview, but it’s all gone to waste if you recite the notes or answers like a robot or if you sound too casual.

Keep a confident tone, don’t sound too friendly and don’t take this mode for too granted (like sleeping and talking, or having friends over when talking, etc.).

4. Skype Interviews

Technology has made it very easy for people to connect. Interviews are also conducted over Skype these days as it’s a big time-saver. Here, it’s similar to a one-to-one interview in the terms that the interviewer can still see you. He may even ask you to solve a few technical problems or ask skill-based questions to check your reaction.

Since you aren’t there in person, whatever you portray on video will make the final impression. Prepare yourself well, dress well and read your technical concepts. Keep maintaining eye contact and keep smiling.

5. Case Study Interviews

The analytical, logical and problem-solving skills are tested in this type of interviews. This question may be related to a technical project which you had handled previously, or a live project that the company is having currently, or any situational problem which is hypothetical.

You have to be prepared with your basics and your line of thought. You should be able to analyse the situation and be able to find a solution to the problem given. Here, the interviewer will test your thought process as well. Stay positive and don’t give up!


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