Career Guidance
How to Prepare for Your First Technical Interview
A practical checklist for freshers: what to revise, how to talk about projects and how to handle questions you cannot answer.
Your first technical interview can feel unpredictable. Most interviewers, however, are trying to answer three simple questions: can you reason through a problem, do you understand the fundamentals of your field, and can you communicate clearly?
1. Revise fundamentals, not everything
Focus on the basics of the role you applied for. For software roles that usually means one programming language in depth, data structures, basic SQL and how the web works.
2. Know your own projects thoroughly
Be ready to explain what problem a project solved, what you personally built, what went wrong and what you would do differently.
3. Think aloud
When solving a problem, explain your approach before writing code. Interviewers value a clear thought process even when the final answer is incomplete.
4. It is fine to say “I don’t know”
Follow it with how you would find out. Honesty and a sensible approach are better than guessing.
5. Prepare questions to ask
Ask about the team, the first three months in the role and how success is measured.