As a graduate of the Flatiron School, you will be asked to complete a mock technical interview. You are gifted a token (free interview) for Skilled Inc, a technical interviewing startup.
Their motto is:"The world's Outcomes company. Our experts interview, educate and certify job seekers to help them get hired."
You have the option upon passing a technical interview to be considered "certified" by their team and alert potential employers.
I chose not to alert employers, as I had not started my job search and was still putting together my materials.
One of the best aspects of Skilled is that they team you up with a senior engineer from a reputable company. These engineers have extensive experience interviewing potential candidates, and bring that expertise and experience to Skilled.
I chose to interview in Javascript, which funny enough, I felt at that point, was slightly weaker than my Ruby skills. However, I wanted to challenge myself, since this was not an official job interview, and I wanted to assess my frontend abilities.
I was a paired up with a senior engineer from a very well known company. You would think this would be incredibly intimidating, but he was the kindest, warmest engineer I'd ever met! Whew! As soon as we began, my nerves melted away.
The 60-min session is set up to mimic a typical technical but also include moments where the engineer gives you candid advice and insight about what he typically is looking for.
At first, we worked on CSS and HTML, which was a bit of a surprise since I was expecting only Javascript. The interviewer gave me an aside that this is very typical in terms of Javascript interviews. I had to rack my brain a little bit, but was able to answer all of the questions and coding challenges. This was great information to know for the future!
We then went over a Javascript coding challenge which involved array manipulation. It was pretty straight forward. But one thing interviewer challenged me on was my using my voice! He wanted me to speak aloud about my thought process, as I initially had just start coding silently. This was brilliant advice, in that it encouraged engagement and let the interviewer in on my problem-solving skills.
I passed the interview. But I will continue working on my skills. This Skilled interview was a great introduction into the hiring process. And future Javascript interviewees*: get ready to have to complete CSS and HTML challenges as well! And remember, think your problem-solving thoughts out loud!
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