How to nail your software engineer interview?

Over the past decade, I’ve conducted countless interviews for software engineering roles, meeting hundreds of engineers with varying levels of experience, unique personalities, and distinct communication styles.

Early on, I believed technical skills were the most important factor in engineering success. However, over time, I’ve come to appreciate the significance of soft skills even more.

Here are my insights on preparing for a software engineering interview. While my focus is software engineering, these principles can help you refine your interview skills in any field.

The Basics

Arrive on Time

This can’t be emphasized enough. Make it a priority to be punctual. For in-office interviews, aim to arrive about 10 minutes early; for online interviews, join right at or 2–3 minutes before the scheduled time. That said, sometimes unexpected things happen even with the best intentions. The key is to communicate.

Communicate Any Issues

Few things are more frustrating than a no-show. While it may sound obvious, this comes down to basic respect. If you’re running late, need to reschedule, or have decided not to pursue the position (which is completely fine), just let the TA partner or hiring manager know. A heads-up, however brief, goes a long way. No hard feelings.

Similarly, if you experience any issues during the interview that affect your ability to participate, let me know. We can always work something out.

Have a Solid Setup & Ideal Environment

If your interview is online, put some thought into optimizing your setup. Here’s what you’ll need:

• A reliable, stable internet connection
• A webcam with decent resolution (720p or higher)
• A good-quality headset
• A quiet, private space where you won’t be interrupted
• Adequate lighting

It’s also a good idea to practice with your setup beforehand to ensure you’re comfortable with it and ready to join a meeting without any issues.

Landing a job can significantly shape your future, so it’s worth investing in a setup that supports your ability to fully participate, interact, and engage.

Of course, if there are limitations or you can’t afford an upgrade, that’s completely understandable. However, be aware that if the connection constantly drops, or if we can’t hear each other clearly, it can affect your chances of making a strong impression.

An assorted list of advice

Communication & Language

Effective communication is essential. You might have brilliant ideas or be an outstanding developer perfectly suited to the role, but if you can’t express yourself clearly, it won’t come through. In any engineering role, you’ll work with a diverse range of people from different backgrounds, and you’ll need to engage with them effectively, regardless of your seniority. During the interview, I’ll be looking at how clearly you convey your thoughts and how naturally conversation flows.

If you think your language skills could use some fine-tuning, consider taking a few focused lessons or courses. Improving expressiveness and fluency can make a significant difference in how well you communicate.

Personality

We all come from different backgrounds and cultures, which means there’s a vast range of personalities we bring to the table. Personally, I enjoy working with people who are friendly, open, and humble. As an engineer, I appreciate when you have strong opinions — whether about a technology, design pattern, or approach to work — but I prefer when those opinions are shared without arrogance.

For the team, I believe it’s essential to approach one another with respect, be open to constructive criticism, communicate issues transparently, and foster a sense of camaraderie. Creating an environment where everyone feels supported and valued makes all the difference.

Tell a Story, but Stick to the Point

In our conversation, I’ll ask questions to understand how you’ve approached different challenges in the past. When responding, I find it most helpful if you use a specific structure:

• Context
• Behavior (What did you do?)
• Impact

For example, if I ask you to explain a challenging bug you recently encountered and how you solved it, here’s the kind of response I’d expect.

Context:

In my previous role, we were building a solution for posting content to social media, integrating with various social network APIs. One day, I received an alert about increased error rates on a particular API.

Behavior:

I checked our monitoring solution to pinpoint when the issue began and reviewed the application logs for that specific API. I saw we were receiving an HTTP 408 status code intermittently but couldn’t trace it to a specific issue. The network’s status page reported no problems, so, recognizing the inconsistency, I implemented a retry mechanism for the error and added extra logs for future troubleshooting.

Impact:

This adjustment resolved the alert, and our system returned to normal operation. Thanks to timely action on the alert, our customers didn’t notice that there was an issue.

While this structure is helpful, it’s not set in stone. For some questions, answering in this way might sound overly formal, so feel free to use your best judgment.

How to Walk Me Through Your CV

I’ll have your CV open during the interview, so there’s no need to give me a word-for-word recap. Instead, here’s what really interests me:

• Your Professional Journey: Help me see the path that led you to where you are today. What has your career trajectory looked like, and what were the key turning points?
• Key Learnings: For each position you’ve held, share the main lessons you took away. How did each role help you grow or become better at what you do?
• Challenges and Solutions: Talk about the obstacles you faced and the steps you took to overcome them. This shows your problem-solving mindset and resilience.
• Standout Moments: Share any highlights — projects that had a big impact, experiences with advanced technologies, or times you stepped up in a significant way.
• Your Passions: Tell me about what you’re passionate about. Whether it’s a particular tech area, mentoring, or something else, it helps me get a sense of what drives you.

Interview Questions in General

I appreciate clear, concise answers, and I aim to ask straightforward questions. If something isn’t clear, please feel free to ask for clarification. I’m happy to rephrase if needed.

I’m particularly interested in your contributions, so I’d like to hear responses that start with “I…” rather than “We…”. Demonstrating how you work within a team is important, and I’ll ask about that specifically, but for now, I want to understand what you’ve personally done.

I fully understand that no one knows everything, and I believe acknowledging knowledge gaps is a strength. If you don’t know something, just say so, that’s perfectly fine. It’s far better than giving a vague answer that lacks substance. That said, I’m always open to hearing your ideas or problem-solving approach if you encounter something unfamiliar. Just ensure it’s grounded in your professional experience so that I can trust you have a solid foundation for assessing the issue.

Advice for Juniors

I believe organizations should invest in juniors with strong growth potential. I’ve worked with many juniors who have gone on to become exceptional engineers. Here are some tips if you’re just starting out:

• Don’t worry about a sparse CV: Even if your experience is limited, include anything relevant to the role. Completed some online programming courses? Great. Written code for a hobby project? Even better — add it. Had an internship? Describe your projects and what you learned. Share how each experience made you a better engineer.
• Show who you are as an engineer: Tell me about your passions, career goals, and specific technologies that excite you. Let me know if you’re actively learning something new. For junior engineers, I look for growth potential, and a strong sign is when someone is consciously working to upskill.
• Be prepared to provide high-level overviews: Juniors often struggle to structure answers about hobby projects or internships. I suggest a layered approach. Start with the user experience, describe how user requests interact with the system, and outline the roles of each layer without diving into implementation details. Focus on data flows, inputs, and outputs rather than the exact code.
• Embrace the learning process: Interviews can be stressful, especially early in your career. Don’t aim for perfection. Show your enthusiasm for software development, communicate openly, ask questions, and don’t hesitate to say if you don’t know something.

Your Turn to Ask Questions

I always reserve time at the end of interviews for candidates to ask questions, and I encourage you to bring them up anytime during our conversation. I’m happy to address them right away.

That said, I do expect you to have thoughtful questions. I appreciate questions that reflect on topics we’ve discussed during the interview — things that show you’re engaged, curious, or interested in our technologies or processes. Don’t hesitate to bring up anything I might have missed, either. A good question tells me you’re genuinely interested in understanding the role and the team.