OQ x Not Only Code Interview Series with Greg Witek: The Technical Interview

Numerous talented software engineers find their dream jobs, while many job-seekers might block their success by making unnecessary mistakes. What determines the winners, is the understanding that competency does not include technical skills only. Although these technical skills are crucial, the importance of soft skills and interviewing know-how are repeatedly underestimated.

This is exactly why Greg started his channel Not Only Code, for advice-sharing on how to become a successful software developer with both programming skills and soft skills. To enhance that advice, OQ and Greg have invited four thought leaders to share their insight and experience on all interview-related topics.

Next up is Bart van de Garde, giving us expert advice and actionable insights on how to prepare optimally for a technical interview and its different types, dealing with live coding stress, take-home assignments, remote coding, and what matters most during the interview. 

We’ve set out some key components that will help you and other software engineers on securing that dream job:

• Ask what kind of coding interview to expect 
• Ask what matters in the coding exercise (clean code, tests, or correctness) 
• Include instructions on how to run code 
• When writing a web application, deploy it and include a link to the running instance
• If live coding stresses you out, ask whether to do a take-home assignment instead
• Prepare to explain your solution and what alternatives you considered
• Think about how your code could be improved if you had more time 
• Research the company and find out what kind of problems their business solves
• Prepare questions for the interviewer, asking about challenges they deal with and how you can contribute to the team

To make sure you will be winning your upcoming technical interview, check out the full interview here:

If you’re in tech and thinking of moving jobs, currently applying, already in the interview process, or ready for contract negotiations: stay tuned for more!

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