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Danilo Assis
Danilo Assis

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How to prepare for an interview

After interviewing developers, it is clear what are the common certainties between them.

In this text, I will share what I believe it is best practices to prepare yourself for an interview.

Prepare yourself
Even before going to the interview you must prepare yourself. You also must have a clear storytelling and pitch. The interview is like a business meeting.

You must convince the other side, the company, the recruiter, or the manager, why they must believe in you and your work.

  • write a cover letter: write your history, your skills, how do you learn to code, designer, manager people, what else
  • sharp your storytelling: improve this story to be interesting, easier to understand and nice to hear
  • create bullet points: if you are applying for a developer role create bullet points showing where you skill it will be used, why your skills will help the company.

Study the company
Every company has a focus on a problem that wants to solve. It is because of this principle that companies exist. It is a problem and this company wants to fix this by offering a solution.

What is the problem of this company? What is the product they offer to fix said problem? Why this role is open? Which help will you offer being hired?

All these questions above are to answer the main question:

How do you match with the company?

Communication
Communicating is important to make a clear path about what you are telling.

Avoid being laconic or prolix. You must be within those most of the time

Attempt to create rapport and let your interviewer have a nice talk with you.

Anxious
The anxious… the question that I get asked the most is: “how can I avoid being anxious?”

Feeling anxious is normal, and each interview you do will get you more used to it, but the anxiety never goes away.

If this is preventing you from doing the interview, maybe try looking for a professional to help you understand yourself and see that this will not be just another step in our life.

Also, anxious is in your mind and you need to take control of the situation (read this in a nicely way).

Let's make an exercise. You are ready for your interview and your mind starts:

“Hey, you know that thing?”
"I will succeed?"

Things like that in most cases have one way to fix: it has the answer to the question.

It's simple and maybe sound arrogant. But how do you know that you know something? Doing it, practicing, writing about, sharing knowledge, knowing the answer.

here is my opinion. In your case look for a health professional to help you.

Don't forget that my discord is here to help in on this too. I have a channel there named mind and you can share anything you want with us if this will make you feel better.

Read this blog post to know more about it.

Practicing
Practice is the exercise I most advise. Independent of the assumption, I will tell to you to practice. Developer, gym, run, bartender, speaker, it doesn't matter. You need to practice, you have to deal with the subject you want to improve in the real world.

I tell about this here in my blog post learning faster with cone of learning.

What else?
An interview's like matching with someone on tinder. You can prepare as much as you can. But, in the end, both sides must identify matches with what are they looking for.

The main thing: no, this is also important feedback.

We tend to take no as something bad and negative. But, always try to take the good side of the situation. If you arent approved in the process, try to understand what may have happened and try to work on these points.

And remember that at the right time you will get your spot.


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See more in https://linktr.ee/daniloab.


Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

Top comments (6)

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jonrandy profile image
Jon Randy 🎖️ • Edited

I have to disagree with a lot of this. The only thing I really agree with is researching the company a bit. In my experience, practicing before an interview - whether that be speaking about yourself, or brushing up your coding skills - is a really bad idea. It generally only serves to make you more nervous.

I would simply advise relaxing and being confident in yourself and your abilities. Be yourself.

Oh, and always go with brutal honesty - don't bend the truth or sugarcoat anything.

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michelsylvestre profile image
Michel Sylvestre • Edited

I have to agree with you here. If you're having an interview, you've already passed the first screening process (résumé), meaning they think that, at least on paper, you have the skills for the job.

In the interview they will want to see if your personality is a good fit and if there's a technical person, they'll try to see if you lied on your résumé.

So, be honest on your résumé, be honest in your answers, know what you know and what you don't know. Saying you don't know something is totally fine if you show a genuine interest in learning.

I also agree about researching about the company, they'll want someone who's interested in working with them.

Lastly, remember it's a conversation between human beings, don't be a robot or try to make them grasp at straws because you're too vague.

Worked every single time for me.

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daniloab profile image
Danilo Assis

It could works too.

Im glad that you have your opinion. At the end you must find what it works for you 😁

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shrihari profile image
Shrihari Mohan

Yes in my early times i do a lot of practicing and that made me more nervous.

Now I just go directly without any preparation except about the company.

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iamjaydev profile image
iamjaydev

👍🏻

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gamerseo profile image
Gamerseo

From our perspective, it is important to show real achievements.