Digital Transformation Through Agile Delivery
IT Agility AbilityTM
Digital Transformation Through Agile Delivery
IT Agility AbilityTM

Preparing for an IT Job Interview

By . June 30, 2021
Many people live by the maxim that if you fail to prepare, then you are preparing to fail.  This is especially important during an IT job interview.  As well as your standard set of interview questions, IT interviews will contain many specialist questions.  Employers may be interested in questioning you on your skills, qualifications and coding languages.Since the Covid-19 pandemic, many job interviews have moved online via Zoom, or another similar video platform.There are a few extra things you should prepare for or take into account if the interview is by video, rather than face-to-face.  These include:
  • Prepare your surroundings – choose a clean and tidy space for your interview, nobody wants to see your laundry drying in the background!
  • Look the part – wear the same smart outfit you would wear if attending the interview in person, strictly no loungewear!
  • Get rid of any distractions – switch off your phone and TV and make sure you have a babysitter for your kids or dog.  Tell everyone else in the house you are in an interview and must not be disturbed.
  • Look at the camera – this is what your interviewer will see, so don’t look at the screen as this will appear that you are avoiding eye contact.  Remember to smile!
  • Make some notes, but don’t rely on them – you need to be talking to the interviewer, not looking down at your desk.
  • Practice – have a dry run to check your technology is working, your chair is at the correct height, the best angle for your webcam, so there are no hiccups on the big day.
Preparing possible answers in advance can also help make your interview a success.  Here are a few questions you might expect during an IT job interview.
About You
Firstly, expect general questions about you so the interviewer can get to know each candidate.  For IT job interviews, this may also include questions on your technical skills and experience.  This will help employers build an idea of you as both a person and employee.You may be asked a series of questions including:
  • Why is this job position of interest to you?
  • What qualifications do you currently hold?
  • Which programming languages can you confidently work with?
  • What experience do you hold in using automated-build tools or processes?
  • What experience do you have in source control tools?
  • How do you keep up to date within this industry?
  • What were your responsibilities during your most recent project?
  • How would you score your time management skills with meeting deadlines?
  • Provide an example of a time when you were able to improve an original design from a client.
You could also be asked problem solving questions to test your knowledge, skills and professionalism.  This may concern faulty code, spreadsheets and databases, working with clients, and IT challenges in your previous projects.
Industry Knowledge
Next, employers will check that you have completed your research.  Asking you questions on the job and company will help them to see how you will fit with their business.You can expect to be asked a selection of the following questions:
  • Which skills of yours make you qualified for this job position?
  • If hired, what challenges would you expect from this role?
  • Who do you consider as our biggest competitors in this industry?
  • Following the job description, what do you expect your daily tasks to be?
  • How important is it to you to develop professional relationships with business users?
  • How would you describe your production deployment process?
A number of these questions could easily catch you out if you are not prepared.  Therefore, we strongly advise thorough research into the job vacancy, company, industry and even their competitors.  After all, in-depth research can help you to plan more original answers better suited to you.
Technical Ability
The following questions are all designed to test you on your skills and knowledge as an IT professional.  Your interviewer will be determining your compatibility for the job role and company based on your answers.  Therefore, it will be especially useful if you also prepare examples of past work to link to your answers.  This will demonstrate experience, understanding and great potential.
  • How do you guarantee quality in your deliverables?
  • What experience do you have with Eclipse and Visual Studio?
  • What percentage of your working hours do you spend on unit testing?
  • Are you able to define what a transaction log is and how they should be used?
  • What is the term “honey pot” used for in network security?
  • Can you compare the similarities and differences between SOAP and REST web services?
  • With the original code you develop, how do you reuse and how much are you able to reuse?
  • What would you consider to be the most essential metrics for database performance and how do you monitor them?
Questions for Your Interviewer
Showing interest by preparing questions to ask can make a great impression on employers.  Therefore, preparing questions for your interviewer is also key.  Possible questions you could ask are:
  • What is the company’s greatest achievement to date?
  • What size is your IT team currently?
  • What are your biggest challenges as an IT company?
  • What development process do you have in place?
Applying for IT Jobs
As recruitment specialists, the Certes team are the matchmakers of the IT industry, pairing motivated applicants with compatible employers.  To browse job vacancies in your area and secure an IT job interview, click here.

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