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Job Interviews

 All of us reach a moment in career when we need to pass interview. It may be tough, stressful process that we want to finish faster. Personally, I feel enthusiastic about interviews. Why? Let me share my viewpoint in this post (when I say 'interviews' it is mainly about 'engineering job interviews'). 

Initially, I divide job interviews into 2 categories: 

  1. external - when you want to get into a new company
  2. internal - when you want to pass an interview for promotion inside your current company.
 Despite to the category, you of course need a solid technical preparation. Everyone has own approach to technical preparation while I may suggest to write key points by hand. The purpose is not to reread these records later but mainly to remember the information in a structured format as we structure records in a paper. I will not write about resources for preparation as different position and companies have different requirements. Just google it, and do some research.  

What about time? I also divide interviews by preparation time into 2 categories: 
  1. Regular - when you you different sources (books, documentation, blogs, videos), reinforce with examples/solved problems. 3 - 6 months.
  2. Accelerated - when you learn mainly from documentation and blogs specific techs/tools. 1 - 2 moths.
Rarely, any candidate fully satisfies all requirements for job position. Interviewers and hiring mangers also understand it whereas they often choose best matching candidate, not the "best". Interview is process where you are examined 20% from 100% of what you know/what is required. Therefore, it is important to keep the balance between the width and depth of knowledge. Try to cover wider list of required topics and do not deeply dive into a specific topic unless it is specified in job description. During the interview stop thinking that you are being examined, instead try to build the communication in a way where you and interviewer just discussing about different topics. It helps you to release the stress and interviewer may feel sympathy due to your confidence. 

So, why do I like to attend interviews as an interviewee? Firstly, it is the fastest and most transparent way of objectively testing my knowledge and competence. Moreover, soft skills interviews encourage me to develop my communication and management skills. Finally, I just like to talk with someone who is more experienced and has wider vision. 

At the end, I recommend you to apply for interviews more frequently, even if you are not planning to work for that company. 


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