An Interview Is Not The Test Of Your Knowledge But The Ability To Use It At Right Time.
Let's Get Cracking !!
Basic Screening Round
This is generally the first round in most of the companies after the resume is short listed.
- By Whom: Generally done by HR/Talent Acquisition Team
- Objective:
- Assess the fitment for the role
- How serious the candidate is about this role and company
- Average Duration: 15 to 30 minutes
- Mandatory Round: Yes
- Interview Medium: Phone
- Type of Questions:
- Help us understand about yourself.
- Why are you interested in this role?
- Why are you interested in the organization?
- Salary expectations just to check the range
- Flexibility for shifts/relocations
- Previous experience and educations to understand how much it fits the role
- How to Prepare:
- Before applying for a job, you must check your resume and tailor it for the job. This means, you talk more and first about the skills and experience which is relevant to the job.
- When you introduce yourself, please keep it precise, talk about your skills and experience and how these are relevant to the job than about family, state, hobbies etc. You can definitely add something unique about yourself. For example: if you maintain a blog, have a website, run a YouTube channel, contribute to open source, mentor, coach etc.
- Other different examples could be: If you come from a small town, village and first person to complete graduation and inspired many more, helped many people, please highlight that.
- You could be a person with disability and might be interested to do/find small innovations, creative ways to do the stuff, please mention that with 1-2 small examples.
- To practice, think about the answers of above and similar questions in advance. If you are not confident and find yourself nervous, you can practice in front of mirror.
- Research about the role, company and culture, it will mostly be available on internet, LinkedIn
- By Whom: Done via online platforms like HackerRank, TestGorrilla etc.
- Objective: Assess the coding expertise, proficiency and logic
- Average Duration: 45 to 60 minutes
- Mandatory: No
- Interview Medium: Online using various platforms
- Type of Questions: These would be mostly technical questions. 3-5 problem statements will be given out of which you might need to attempt all or few. These will be validated by the tool along with test cases, score will b assigned. The next round of interviewer might ask questions on these as well.
- How it’s Done:
- Mostly done with the help of online platforms like Hacker Rank, Test Gorilla etc.
- There are many questions which will already be available on these platforms and the employer can add new ones as well.
- Generally the employers pick few set of questions and create a 60 minute test.
- You might have to attempt all questions or few: Like do any 4 out of these 5.
- A passing score is also defined as well. In case of programming, your answers will be validated with test cases.
- How to Crack the Assessment?
- As you might need to do multiple questions which might be of different marks, you must check which one to attempt first.
- As the time is limited, please don’t spend a lot of time to crack only one question in which you are struggling.
- Before attempting the tests, please make sure you have a stable internet as you wont be able to submit it multiple times.
- Most of these platforms have certain restrictions hence you need to be careful. One of the important one to remember is: Number of tabs which you can switch.
- Certain tests might end if you switch more than 2-3 tabs or might report back in the result. It might look as if you were trying to copy so please be careful.
- How to Prepare:
- Few of these platforms are free for developers to practice
- Get as many Hands-on exercises as possible, case studies, problem statements to solve during training or post that if you are a fresher.
- Some free platforms for developers are: Test Gorilla – Free Platform for Developers, Hackerrank – Free Coding Practice Platform for Developers
- If you are a programmer, you must practice writing test cases along with the code. There could be different kind of test cases which can be written. In most online coding tests, you would need to write or validate.
- Most online tests are time bound and you must have to finish within that time. Practice and more practice on these free platforms can make you better to understand the questions fast and complete within time.
Online Test or Screening
This round is optional & is mostly done for freshers or people with low experience to check aptitude or coding skills or such similar skills which can be scored automatically by providing objective type or logical coding questons.
Tech/Core Skills Assessment
This round is optional & is mostly done for freshers or people with low experience to check aptitude or coding skills or such similar skills which can be scored automatically by providing objective type or logical coding questons.
- By Whom: Generally done by the team member in the same role or above
- Objective: Assess the experience and/or training by asking technical questions
- Average Duration: 45 to 60 minutes
- Mandatory: Yes
- Interview Medium: Phone/Video Call/In-Person
- Type of Questions:
- Mostly related with the subject & details mentioned in your CV
- How certain thing was done, why only that solution was selected
- What challenges did you face while doing a program
- How did you overcome those problems etc.
- How to Prepare:
- Revise all the experience, prepare the answers of above & similar questions
- If you do not have experience and have done only training, then think about practical application of the training, what challenges can you face along with probable solutions
- By Whom: Generally done by the senior member of the team or business
- Objective:
- Assess the thought process, ability to sustain & scale in the role
- Assess situations, think right solutions accordingly
- Average Duration: 45 to 60 minutes
- Mandatory: No
- Interview Medium: Phone/Video Call / In-Person
- Type of Questions:
- Here they will assess the thought process, ability to sustain and scale in the role.
- Design related questions mostly related to the subject
- Problems which you might not have solved earlier but to think how these can be.
- If you can assess situations and find solutions.
- You will be given certain problems and you need to provide solutions technically and functionally along with the rationale. For example: ABC company is planning to launch a new brand of apparel and you need to design user management feature for it. Help us understand what questions will you ask before proposing a solution, what technologies will you use and why?
- How to Prepare:
- This is definitely advanced level of screening of your skills, your attitude, solutioning abilities etc.
- Needless to say, you have to keep brushing up, keep reading about the subject and related topics.
- Think about end-to-end solutions, how various modules and process could relate, overall impact and outcome.
- You must keep thinking about various problems, features, applications and how to design these well.
- You must also think and prepare like an analyst. For example: if you are given a requirement, how will you analyze these, what clarifying you will ask etc.
- On internet, you can find many such problems, case studies etc. which you can use to practice.
- You should think of various related problem, applications and work on solutions.
- You should also keep upgrading yourself by learning advanced levels of concepts of your field. Example: If you are a developer, DevOps concept Agile methodologies are related concepts.
Advanced Tech/Core Skills Assessments
This round is optional & is mostly done for freshers or people with low experience to check aptitude or coding skills or such similar skills which can be scored automatically by providing objective type or logical coding questons.
Manager Round
This round will be done by your to-be manager and is a must do. Here apart from answering questions which your manager will ask, you must ask your role, team, roles & responsibilities etc.
- By Whom: Will be done by the potential manager
- Objective:
- Overall assessment of experience, ability to scale in the role
- Behavioral assessment, handling situations, ability to work with team
- Average Duration: 45 to 60 minutes
- Mandatory: Yes
- Interview Medium: Phone/Video Call / In-Person
- Type of Questions:
- Might ask on various challenges which you have faced technically, functional, with the team, with management etc. & how these were resolved
- You will be given situations to understand how will can you think solutions, working with difficult team members & stakeholders.
- If the manager is technical then he/she might ask technical questions as well. If that’s the case then manager will definitely ask questions from your skills like programming, System administration etc.
- Here the manager would like to assess your overall experience, skills, behavior etc.
- It will also be checked how well can you work with the team, handle not so favorable situations, how well can you fit into the role etc.
- How to Prepare:
- Practice soft skills, read about it, think how you can adopt these.
- Think about tough situations which you can face during work, with team, how will you react, analyze improvement opportunities. Don’t try to impersonate but improve naturally.
- If you don’t know answer to some questions, don’t try to fake it. Accept positively and say that you will definitely learn about it.
- Apart from skills, positive attitude is must for managers to hire hence please practice on the same.
- If you are a PwD, it is best to think of the accommodations needed during onboarding, orientation, on-the-job and discuss.
- What Questions You can Ask:
- You can ask about team structure, more on your role, how will it fit and complement the team.
- Ask expectations from you in first 30, 60, 90 days.
- Asking these curious questions definitely helps the manager to understand about your interest in this role and company.
- If you are a PwD, you can ask about accommodation guidelines and policies. For example: if you need a licensed screen reader, how to get that. If you need a specific keyboard, how will you etc.
- By Whom: Will be done by someone in HR/Recruitment team
- Objective:
- To understand logistics needed including remuneration, other allowances, accommodations needed etc.
- Average Duration: 45 to 60 minutes
- Mandatory: Yes
- Interview Medium: Phone/Video Call / In-Person
- Type of Questions:
- Why you want to join this company, why this job and role helps.
- Why do you want to leave the current company.
- What is your salary expectation, other logistical requirements
- Would be asking about other preferences like working model etc.
- How to Prepare:
- Think about answers to above & similar questions in advance
- Research about the company & think why it’s a good career move
- Talk to people working in the same company in your network
- Research a bit about company culture & ask those questions.
- If already working, check your notice period and be ready to provide a tentative joining date.
- You must think about the salary which you need and negotiate accordingly.
- In case you have multiple offers, don’t try to bargain by showing other offers. It’s unprofessional.
- Be prepared if you need to relocate as you will be asked questions on that, what, how and when.
- Questions Which You can Ask:
- Here you can ack questions on certain employee related policies, benefits, leave plans, health insurance etc. as well to the recruiter.
- You can ask about relocation allowances etc.
- If you are a PwD, you can ask if they have special sick leaves, medical insurances in detail, well being etc.
HR Round
HR round is very important where you get chance to understand a lot more about your expectations and from company perspective as well.
General Guidelines
Let’s look at some general guidelines.
- Always be few minutes before time be it in-person interview or over call. Joining before time gives you time to settle down, aware about the surroundings, avoid the rush.
- If travelling for an interview, then please check the distance, time it might take and consider traffic. Arriving early gives you time to freshen up and be presentable.
- Joining an interview early gives you time to check if your audio and video is working well. Your background is well lit and interviewer will be able to listen and see you clearly.
- Joining early also allows you to quickly understand the controls of the meeting platform in case you have to share the screen etc.
- Always be dressed well be it in-person or video call interview. It’s not that you have to wear tie and blazer but should be decent dressing.
- Go through the resume which was sent to the company and make sure you recall all details. You should not wonder in front of the interviewer.
- Do not fake anytime. Always provide honest answers, if you do not know something, say I do not know but I will research on it.
- Research about the company, it’s business, culture, working model etc. This helps you ask smart and clarifying questions to the interviewer which is much appreciated and it shows that you are better interested in this job thann other candidates who might not do it.
Let's Understand Greater Details of All Rounds
About this Round
Pre-screening 
round is to check your candidature for the job you have applied for. These are basic checks before your application is formally added for the job and forwarding your profile to interview panelists. This round is mostly done by Talent Partner, Sourcing team or even HR.
Importance of this Round
This is first round and you can go ahead with the candidature or can be rejected very well in this round. One of the most important round hence needs to be prepared well.
Common Questions of this Round
- Tell us about yourself
- Tell us something about your past experience/Professional skills
- There might be questions on number of years of experience in a specific technology or process.
- If there is a relocation required, there might be a question if you are ready to relocate, if yes, why.
- If there is shift required for the job, there might be a question if you are ready to work in shifts.
- If there is travel needed, there might be a question if you are OK to travel for the job.
Common Struggles & Recommendations to Overcome
One common struggle is, at times, people are not prepared to answer “Tell me about yourself” in a unique and impressive way. They start with name, family, village, city, education etc. We need to understand that recruiter is interested in you/your profile not family/village/siblings/town etc.
Please spend time in preparing for this questions in a precise and impressive way. Let’s see some wrong & right ways of introductions:
My name is Mohan, I have completed graduation, my native is ABC place, I have 2 brothers etc. etc…I work as QA in .
Better Way is:
My name is and I am one of the key person to make web experiences smooth and bug free, I find issues and get these improved before any customer catches it while working as Web Quality Assurance Engineer in from 5 years. I love my work as Quality Engineer as it helps me to have eye for details, improve experiences for 1000s of people and engage with the team.
My name is and I am content writer. I stay in ….
Better Way is:
My Name is , I love communicating with people via stories, blogs, articles and love my job as content writer. I like to write about people, products, places, companies and many other topics.
My name is . I am from , I have studied in and completed diploma but I do not have any job and no experience. Can I get a Job?
Better Way is:
My name is . Recently I am have completed and completed certification as well. I have also worked on few projects on my name. projects. Refer to
Another common struggle is, at times, job requires to travel, work in shifts, relocate but some candidates do not think about it before applying and struggle to provide proper details when asked. This causes frustration with employers.
Instead of struggling at the time of interview, you must think about these and prepare yourself to answer these questions. You can ask clarifying questions as well. For example:
- Is this extensive travel or moderate
- How many days in a week I might need to travel
- Is the travel within city or outside as well
- What will be the shift timings?
- Will the shift change every month or always remain same?
- Regarding relocation, you can ask, how much time will I get to relocate etc.?
- Being clear and asking right questions ensures the employer that you are serious about the job and have gone through the job description in detail.
If the interviewer in this round says, you will get these answers or these questions will be clarified in HR round, do not press to get all answers in this round itself. Show flexibility unless you are very sure that you cannot relocate or work in shifts or travel, in that case mention to the interviewer. Do not go through all rounds before raising these. It might frustrate the employer as it is not productive use of time for them.
About the Round
Aptitude tests is not a mandatory round for each job but if it is then it can be a knock out round. Aptitude test is generally given for interns, freshers, low to mid level experience hiring.
In most of the cases (unless with very high experience) there are many applications received for a job opening and Aptitude test is given to test reasoning/logic/speed and thinking ability of the applications.
Common Struggles and Recommendations to Overcome
Most of the candidates fail to crack this due to multiple issues:
- No hands-on hence fail to complete the test
- No practice hence not able to comprehend the questions
- No practice hence not able to complete the test fast enough
- No practice hence get nervous due to time limit and knowing it will be knock out round
Practice, Practice & Practice different types of Aptitude test for reasoning, comprehend and for speed. Below are some links to practice Mock Tests for Free.
About the Round
Online coding tests are also done to filter out better candidates from many. At times for an entry level position which is either fresher or less number of years of experience, there are lot of applications received. It’s humanly impossible to scan each of these and call for interviews. Hence everyone who has applied are given these tests and only those people proceed further who pass with a certain percentage.
These tests could include only coding or coding plus case studies or only case studies. These tests are generally done using online technical assessment platforms like Hacker Rank etc.
These tests are evaluated and scored automatically unless you get to further rounds and interviewer is interested to discuss on this.
At times, this can be a knock round as well.
Common Struggles & Recommendations to Overcome
- No practice can be the most common issue.
- Without practice you might not be able to understand the format of the test. You might not be able to understand the portal itself and struggle to navigate. Because of these issues and less or no practice you might not be able to finish the test on time.
- The test is evaluated and scored automatically, syntax and logic of the code needs to be correct which comes with practice.
- Code needs to pass test cases as well but in general people might not write the code from test cases perspective.
Again Practice and more practice is the solution here. There are many free mock tests available which can help us prepare for such rounds. Apart from that many technical assessment platforms are free for developers though they charge companies. HackerRank is one of them. TestGorilla is another well used platform which is free for developers.
Use HackerRank to Practice Coding Tests – Free for Developers
About the Round
Technical assessment is first discussion with potential team members or seniors. However, in small companies or start-ups where number of people in a team are very less, this round might be done directly with your manager itself who is technical.
Technical round will be the screening of your core skills. For example: If you are a physiotherapist and going to an interview in an hospital or clinic, related questions will be ask. You might be asked to demonstrate or explain certain exercises and postures.
If you in Software field, questions will be according to your skills. If you know programming languages, then you will be asked concepts like Object orientiation, multi threading, constructor etc. Example: JAVA Interview Questions & Answers
If you are business analyst, then you will be asked project management concepts. Business System Analyst Interview Questions & Answers
The interviewer will definitely ask questions related to what you have done, how did you apply the concepts and technical knowledge to solve problems because only knowing concepts and syntax is not enough, you must know what to apply where in order to solve a given problem.
Common Struggles & Recommendations to Overcome
- Each field is huge and it is not possible to remember each and every concept all the time hence brushing up the technical knowledge is most desired.
- Generally people do not revise the work which they might have done in the past to think why it was done this way and not the other, why only a a certain technology was adopted, how this feature helped and when interviewer ask, we struggle.
Here, revising the concepts, technology, work done in the past is the key. Based on the work done in the past, you must also think about the questions why a particular solution was selected, why a particular feature was developed, how did it help. Think about the situations and problems which could have been solved better.
There are many interview questions and answers available on various subjects on internet, you must look at these as well.
About the Round
After initial technical assessment, this round is to check your advanced technical skills and will happen only when you pass initial round. This round is optional as well and might not happen depending on the role, size of the company, team structure and hierarchy. If there is no advanced technical rounds, you might be asked few advanced questions in the initial round itself hence preparing for advanced technical screening is important anyway.
Here the focus will be on:
- How well can you think of the solutions given problem statements.
- Did you work on design and architecture, you will be asked to explain the same
- Depending on the field, there will be questions on solving tough challenges. For example: In Software field. you will be asked to think of design, logical/integration architecture of a feature or application which needs to be implemented.
Common Struggles & Recommendations to Overcome
- The struggle will come here when we do not give enough time to think why we are doing a solution, what value it will add, is this the best way of doing it?
- Another struggle will be there when you do not learn about advanced concepts which are essential in design and Architecture. For example: If you need to design an application for users, then you must need authentication, Secure Socket Layer – SSL, User Management, Session Management etc. knowledge but if you do not know these, the interviewer might not be happy.
Here, keep reading and learning more is the key. Even if you are working or fresher or getting trained, once you know the basics of the subject, you must explore. A lot of information is already available on internet plus you can explore low priced or free available courses as well.
Every employer would prefer a person who can solve problems than just following instructions hence you must practice on complete solutions. If you are already working then you can participate more in discussions with seniors, you can ask them to help you understand complete application, how it is integrated, various design & architecture elements. At the same time you should ask questions to clarify doubts.
About the Round
This is must have round and will always be there. You need to really careful at all rounds even if you have cleared few. Manager round can be a knock out round even if you have done well in technical assessment rounds. This round is mostly preferred in-person but in case you have accommodations or have difficulty in traveling, you can request for it to happen over video call.
If you are in a different state and willing to relocate later, few companies also provide paid trip to travel for attending this round. You must take advantage of that only when you are serious to join the company. If it a mass hiring program in your state, then company can ask hiring manager’s itself to travel to your city, in that case, you must try to attend the interview in-person.
Here the focus will be on:
- If the manager is technical, then he /she can definitely ask you questions about your experience, projects etc.
- They would want to know about the challenges which you have faced technically or while working with the team and how have you handled the same.
- They would try to assess about your personality, attitude and how well you will fit in the team.
- Manager will also try to understand your communication level, how do you react to situations, how well do you communicate etc.
- If there is no advanced technical assessment round then the manager might cover some here related to how can you think of solutions of the problem, how do you approach issues etc.
Common Struggles & Recommendations to Overcome
- Here your struggle will be when you are unprepared and have not thought about the questions which the manager can ask.
- The struggle will be there when you do not practice soft skills well which includes improving communication, handling situations well, solving problems well, keeping calm in difficult situations and finding solutions etc.
First thing here would be to make a list of all the questions which might be asked. Some questions are mentioned above. After that, you must think about your experience, your personality and how should you respond to these in all transparency.
For example: Think about a situation when in a team, if someone is not working well, how will you help.
Think about a situation when you are not able to proceed and struggling to meet a deadline, how will you ask for help, extension in deadline or ask someone to be added to help.
There could be many more such situations which you should prepare for.
Questions Which You Can Ask the Interviewer:
This round allows you to ask questions and you must to know more about the team, structure, your responsibilities etc. Few sample questions are:
- Can you please help me understand how the team is structured?
- Can you please help me understand my role?
- Can you please help me understand what will be the expectations from me in first 2 weeks, 30 days and 60 days?
About the Round
This is again a must have round to close your candidature. This round happens only when you clear all rounds. Though there are less chances that your candidature might be rejected but it can still happen as HR / Talent Partner feedback is very important.
Here the focus will be on:
- Understand your expectations regarding remunerations?
- Understand your expectations about joining, when and how?
- Understand about your joining, date and accommodations needed which means if you need to relocate and needed facilities regarding the same.
- If you are already working, they will also try to understand about your notice period and if it can be reduced, buy back in case there is need for you to join here faster.
- They will also try to understand your other preferences about working model like work from home, remote etc.
- Based on the responses to questions, interviewer also tries to understand your behavioral patterns, attitude and flexibility and other soft skills.
Common Struggles & Recommendations to Overcome
- Again here the struggle will be when you not prepared. You have not thought well about the salary you are definitely looking for and negotiate accordingly.
- You might not be clear about the notice period in your current company if you are working or training or either way how soon can you join.
- You might not be clear on the accommodations which you need and so on.
- You might not have practiced soft skills to put across your asks, negotiate and say no politely etc.
Here again, doing homework is very important which means thinking about what are your expectations and how would you want to put forth these.
In case you are not very confident and feel nervous, write down the answers and practice in front of the mirror. If you are a person with speech and hearing impairment, you must identify an interpreter who help help you throughout the interview cycle, who can establish a good understanding with you, who understand the sign language dialect well which you use.
Questions Which You Can Ask the Interviewer:
This round again allows you to ask questions and you must to know more about the company, culture, benefits and more. But please refrain from asking questions which are very obvious and which is very much available on internet. For example: What the company does, company’s business, strategy, benefits, working model etc. is already available hence you should read from there and only ask clarifying questions. Sample questions which you might want to ask:
- Can you please help me understand about health care benefits? Is there a top-up available?
- Can you please explain about working model in detail? Is there work from home available in case of need?
- If you are a person with disability, you must ask accommodations policies for sure. What is the process if you need assistive technologies for example: a specific keyboard, screen reader license etc.
- You must also clarify on-boarding process and if you need accommodations during that, for example: Sign language interpreter
