CRACKING CODING INTERVIEW

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Technical Interview

Technical interviews are an important part of the hiring process in many technology companies. These interviews are designed not only to test coding ability but also to evaluate problem-solving skills, communication, and technical knowledge. Understanding how interviewers assess candidates helps students prepare effectively.

A) Role of Algorithm & Coding Questions

Algorithms form major part of interviews
Interview focuses on problem solving
Sometimes only one problem is discussed in an interview because time is limited (around 45 minutes)

B) Skills Evaluated by Interviewers

Analytical Skills

Problem solving ability
Solution optimization
Decision making

Coding Skills

Writing clean code
Error handling
Code organization

Technical Knowledge

Data structures
Algorithms
CS fundamentals

Experience

Projects
Technical decisions
Initiative

Communication & Culture Fit

Communication is important because employees work in teams.
Interviewers observe:

Confidence
Communication style
Teamwork
Personality fit with company culture

Evaluation is based on Ability to convert logic into code.

Interviewers observe:

Clean code writing
Proper formatting
Error handling
Readability

for Example:

Bad code:

a=[1,2,3]
for i in a:print(i)

Good code:

numbers = [1,2,3]

for num in numbers:
    print(num)

C) Why Companies Use This Process?

Problem-solving skills are valuable

Companies believe candidates who solve difficult problems can contribute effectively.

Data structures & algorithms knowledge

Topics like:

Trees
Graphs
Lists
Sorting

are considered important foundations.

Whiteboard Interviews

Focus on logic instead of syntax
Encourages communication
Tests thinking process

Interviewers do not expect perfect syntax. They observe how candidates approach solutions.

D) Interview Question Selection

No fixed question list in most companies
Interviewers choose questions individually
Questions are often similar across companies like Google, Amazon, and Meta

E) Candidate Evaluation System

Candidates are assessed by comparing performance with previous candidates who solved the same question rather than using fixed marks. Hard questions are difficult for everyone, so receiving a difficult problem does not necessarily reduce chances of success.
Candidate Evaluation Process

There is usually no strict marking scheme.

Interviewers compare candidates based on: