You are hired! Preparing for an interview in English

We continue to talk about employment for Java developers and give advice designed to help coders get an invitation to an interview, successfully pass it and see the desired offer in front of them. In one of the previous articles, we already touched on the topic of preparing for interviews: Java junior at an interview: how to prepare and what to ask . However, interviews in really cool companies (and in any companies abroad) are conducted in English, and, as we know, not everyone is comfortable with it . Therefore, this material will be devoted to preparing for a job interview in English.

Adviсe

First, here are some general tips on how to prepare for an interview and how to behave during the interview itself. And then we’ll look at some of the most popular and at the same time difficult questions that programmers are often asked during interviews.

Make a cool resume

We have already talked about how a programmer can make a cool resume and LinkedIn profile in a separate article. Here we’ll just focus on the fact itself - you need to have a good resume, and not only in order to receive regular invitations to interviews, but also to successfully pass them. Don't think that the quality of your resume doesn't matter if it has fulfilled its main function and led to an invitation to an interview. It's better to look at it this way: you don't go on a date with the girl of your dreams in flip-flops and a T-shirt. Therefore, getting a dream job (or just a job that pays a solid four-digit salary in dollars) without a neat resume is bad manners. “I know many programmers who spend weeks, if not months, preparing for interviews. At the same time, they don’t spend any time on their resumes, which from my point of view is at least strange and, of course, wrong,” said Zhia Chong, a developer at Twitter.

Prepare a monologue “about yourself”

During most interviews, the very first question is like “tell us about yourself” (and interviews with programmers are no exception), so it makes sense to immediately prepare an answer to it - a short monologue: about you, how you came to this profession, about past experience, expectations, etc. Just remember that the monologue should be laconic: there is no need to retell your biography to the HR person in detail.

Let a professional create your resume

And the second tip about your resume: to make it look serious and professional, it is better to hire a specialist copywriter, at least if your English writing skills are not very high. Alternatively, the text you have written can be checked by a “native speaker” editor. “There are people who write resume texts professionally. They're not trying to write programs for themselves, are they? If writers don’t write their own programs, why should programmers write their own resumes?” asks John Sonmez, founder of Simple Programmer and life coach for developers. You may be able to write a decent text, but there is a high probability that it will turn out to be crooked, full of errors and in general will look very much like an automatic translation from Russian via Google Translate. It's doubtful that this will serve you well during an interview.

Prepare answers to trap questions

Examples of common trap questions that applicants are often asked during interviews:

• Why are you looking for a new opportunity? (Why are you looking for a new job opportunity?)

• What was the result the last time you and a coworker disagreed on a technical issue? (When was the last time you had a disagreement with a colleague on a technical issue, and how was it resolved?)

• Name your greatest strength and your greatest weakness. (Name your strongest quality and your main weakness)

There are quite a few of these template trap questions, and interviewers still widely use them during interviews with candidates. In order not to “fail” when answering them, it is better to prepare standard answers in advance or, alternatively, ways to avoid a direct answer. For many candidates, such questions, due to their stereotyped nature and deliberate stupidity, cause irritation. But remember that causing negative emotions and making you angry is one of the goals. Let's take the first question as an example: “Why are you looking for a new opportunity?” The main idea of ​​this question is to find out whether the candidate would talk badly about his current or former employer. If he does, there is a high probability that he will soon speak negatively about the company for which he is currently applying for a position. Also, the answer to this question is intended to help HR understand the true motivation of the candidate and why he is actually interested in this position. In general, when giving answers to such template questions, the best strategy is often to “play by the rules” and answer them with the same templates, rather than hacking at the truth. This brings us to our next tip.

When answering the interviewer's questions, do not be “too honest”

As many experts note, this line of behavior is especially typical for programmers. Many developers tend to go overboard during interviews, believing that telling the truth is the best strategy and that brutal honesty adds to their charm. Don't include Dr. House or Hank Moody in an effort to impress the interviewer with the wit and originality of your answers. Although lying during an interview is also not recommended, you don’t need to talk too much or too openly about yourself or your past experience in the profession; hardly anyone will appreciate it, but such verbosity can do harm in the most direct way.

Find out the interviewer's name and do some research in advance

This advice applies more to technical interviews and interviews with managers at the final stages, and not to communication with HR at the start. Many experienced developers who have often interviewed other programmers note that in most cases, even if they communicated with the candidate by email before the interview and the candidate knows their name, programmers do not bother to look up basic information about the interviewer, such as social media profiles and all kinds of blogs. And it would be worth doing. The best way to get someone interested in you is to show genuine interest in that person yourself. This principle was formulated by Dale Carnegie in his classic book “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” This rule should not be neglected.

Prepare for specific interview questions for a programmer

We took typical questions that programmers are often asked during interviews in English from the popular recruiting portal Indeed .

1. What do you enjoy about programming? (What do you like about programming?)

   Typical trap question. First and foremost, the interviewer wants to hear that the candidate genuinely enjoys performing routine tasks and operations, especially those that most developers hate.

   Therefore, it’s not worth saying that what you like most about programming is 4-5 figure salaries (just kidding). Instead, it’s better to pretend to be a typical nerd who can’t imagine life without digging into the code and fixing bugs.

   Response template from Indeed: “I love looking through code so I can find errors and fix them. In fact, I've always loved fixing things methodically. When I was a kid, my dad and I fixed a 1967 Mustang. It took a meticulous approach and a lot of patience. I feel the same way about reviewing code.”

2. What's your favorite programming language? (What is your favorite programming language?)

   A fairly standard question, the answer to which is best prepared in advance by studying what programming languages ​​are used in the company. Of course, in the answer it is advisable to mention the main language of the vacancy for which selection is taking place.

   Response template from JavaRush: “I love using Java because it's such an elegant language with so many purposes and such a bright future. Personally, I learned Java on JavaRush, a popular online platform, which allows you to master Java. What I love about Java, it allows a programmer to create an application, which can be deployed on any device. It’s the language of choice for the Internet of Things, cloud computing, Blockchain, big data and other innovative IT market niches.”

3. What's the hardest thing about working as a computer programmer? (What is the most difficult thing for you about being a programmer?)

   This question is asked in order to better understand the programmer’s strengths and weaknesses, to understand which parts of the project he might like least. Therefore, it makes sense to answer in a somewhat formulaic style about the fact that you are, of course, a big fan of staring at the monitor all day long, but, as they say, work makes horses die.

   Response template from Indeed: “As much as I love sitting at my computer and solving problems, I need regular breaks to maintain my focus. After two hours staring at a screen, I need to take a short walk to clear my head and get my body active.”

4. What's the most recent language that you learned? (What was the last programming language you learned so far?)

   Technology in general and the world of programming in particular tend to evolve quickly and constantly change. This question is asked to understand how much the programmer follows new trends and whether he strives for this at all. Therefore, in your answer it is worth mentioning at least basic knowledge of one of the new languages ​​like Julia, Rust or Swift. And if this is also true, it’s absolutely perfect.

   Response template from Indeed: “I probably don't keep up with as many new languages ​​as I should, but I've learned a lot since I graduated from college. In school, I had to focus on C++. Outside of class, I spent time experimenting with newer languages ​​like Julia and Swift. Since progressing, I've worked on some projects that require those languages.”

5. What would your skills and personality contribute to our team? (What can your skills and personality add to our team?)

   This is a question designed to find the candidate’s notorious soft skills and understand whether he can join the team. Therefore, in your answer, it is better to indirectly note that you are a team player, a sociable guy and, in general, just a darling.

   Indeed response template: “I enjoy solving difficult problems. If other members of your team can't find the right solution, then I will search for it. At the same time, I'm a team player. I know that other people contribute a lot of work to every project. Even when I find a solution that eluded other people, I’m happy to share the success with everyone.”

Last words of advice

And instead of an epilogue, a few more tips, in a short and concise form.

• It is good practice to turn off your phone during the interview (or at least put it on silent mode);

• Answer questions to the point and stay on topic;

• Talk only about technologies that you really understand. Don't try to impress the interviewer with the number of buzzwords and trends you know;

• Take with you to the interview all documents that may be relevant to this position and may interest the employer; Don't say anything negative about your past jobs or employers.

And finally, here are some good English-language videos dedicated to interviews with programmers and preparation for them: TOP 20 Software Engineer Programming Interview Questions and Answers I RECORDED MY JOB INTERVIEW - WHAT ITS LIKE IN PROGRAMMING How to Succeed in any Programming Interview 2018