Interview Tips

February 16, 2015

some JavaScript on a laptop

Tips for candidates :

  • The interviewers in every round were very polite and technically sound. I was able to learn a lot from experience. They were technical discussions, meaning why was the most often asked question. I was asked to justify everything, and when I started going in the wrong direction, they subtly nudged me in the right direction. I would say all the guys who took my interviews were pretty cool. They were able to understand my broken and nervous language without confusion.
  • At most startups, what matters more to the person on the other end of the Internet is the approach rather than the correct solution.
  • Speak out/Type out on Collabedit all of your ideas. This way, the interviewer should understand your thought process and guide you. Like I said before, it's a technical discussion.
  • Be at ease. The guys at the other end are amiable.
  • Use the concepts of Mathematical Induction for complex puzzles/algorithms. Take a base case and then solve for a simpler subset of the problem. Then build/extrapolate on the answers that you were able to get.
  • Start simple. Simplify the case. e.g., If you are supposed to handle many cases, use the simplest one and after that, generalize the problem.
  • Know your résumé and do not lie/exaggerate. You might be asked to implement a simple code on any of the technologies/frameworks you mention. So write down something only if you are good at it. The truth shall set you free. Alternatively, in this case, it might get you an opportunity.
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