Interview Tips That Will Give You Confidence and Help You Land a Dev Job

Interviewing for developer jobs, especially early in your career, can be daunting. How do you convince someone to hire you when you have limited experience? What if they ask you something you don‘t know? How can you come across as confident and capable?

While there‘s no magic formula, thorough preparation is the foundation of a successful interview. When you‘ve put in the work ahead of time, you‘ll feel more self-assured and be better equipped to handle whatever questions come your way.

It Takes Persistence

First, it‘s important to understand that landing a job is often a numbers game. According to data from Interview Kickstart, software engineering roles have an interview to offer rate of about 20%. That means it takes an average of 5 interviews to get 1 job offer.

Don‘t get discouraged if you don‘t get an offer from your first few interviews. Like coding, interviewing is a skill that improves with practice. With persistence and the right approach, you will find the right opportunity.

Here are some key steps to help you prepare:

1. Build Your Online Presence

In today‘s digital world, having a strong online presence is crucial, especially for developers. Many hiring managers will look you up online before inviting you to interview.

Make sure you have:

• A professional, up-to-date LinkedIn profile
• A GitHub account with your best projects and code samples
• A personal website or portfolio showcasing your work
• Consistent, professional social media profiles

Your online presence is an opportunity to make a great first impression and showcase your skills, passion, and personality. It can also help you connect with other professionals in your field and uncover job opportunities.

2. Research the Company and Role

Before your interview, spend several hours learning everything you can about the company and the specific position you‘re applying for. Review their website, blog, social media, and any news articles or press releases. Try to get a sense of their mission, values, products, challenges, and company culture.

The more context you have, the better you‘ll be able to tailor your responses and explain why you‘re a great fit for the role and company. You‘ll also be ready with thoughtful questions of your own, demonstrating your interest and initiative.

For example, imagine you discover the company recently launched a new mobile app and expanded their engineering team. In the interview, you could say something like:

"I saw you launched version 2.0 of your mobile app last month and have been rapidly growing the team. That really excited me because I‘m very interested in mobile development and would love the opportunity to work on a product with a large user base. Can you tell me more about your plans for the mobile team and product moving forward?"

A response like this shows you‘ve done your homework and are already thinking about how you could contribute and add value.

3. Practice Common Questions

While you can‘t predict every question you‘ll be asked, you can practice your responses to some of the most common ones. According to CoderPad, some of the most common software engineering interview questions include:

• Tell me about yourself / walk me through your resume
• What are your strengths and weaknesses?
• Why are you interested in this role/company?
• Tell me about a challenging project you worked on
• What‘s your favorite programming language and why?
• Describe a time you had a conflict with a co-worker and how you resolved it
• Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Many companies will also give you a technical assessment or coding challenge. This could be a take-home exercise or a live coding session during the interview. According to Dice, some of the most common formats are:

• Whiteboard coding (44%)
• Remote coding via laptop (32%)
• Take-home coding assignment (29%)
• Pair programming (21%)
• No technical assessment (13%)

Make sure to carefully review the instructions and requirements for any assessments. Practice solving common algorithm and data structure problems on sites like LeetCode, HackerRank, and CodinGame. If possible, complete the assignments in the primary programming language used by the team you‘re interviewing with.

Here is a table summarizing some of the most common types of technical interview questions according to Interview Kickstart:

Question Type	Percent of Questions
Data Structures & Algorithms	70-80%
System Design	10-15%
Behavioral	10-15%
Trivia/Misc	1-5%

Practice your answers to both technical and behavioral questions out loud, ideally with a friend or family member who can give you feedback. Treat it like a real interview and have them ask follow-up questions. Sites like Pramp and interviewing.io also offer free mock interview practice with other engineers.

Keep refining your responses until you can deliver them smoothly and concisely. The goal isn‘t to robotically memorize scripts, but rather to have a solid outline in mind for the key points you want to convey. When you already have a framework to work from, you‘ll feel more relaxed and articulate in the actual interview.

4. Be Ready to Go In-Depth on Your Experience

Be prepared to talk in detail about the most relevant and substantial projects on your resume. Before the interview, review the code you wrote and refresh yourself on the technologies and tools you used.

Think about how you can tell a compelling story about your work:

• What was the goal of the project?
• What was your specific role and contribution?
• What challenges did you encounter and how did you overcome them?
• What was the end result and impact?
• What did you learn in the process?

Wherever possible, quantify your achievements with hard numbers. For instance:
"I led the development of a new feature for our e-commerce site that increased conversions by 15% and revenue by $250,000 per month."

Remember, the interviewer isn‘t just assessing your technical skills, but also how well you collaborate, communicate, and solve problems.

5. Ask Thoughtful Questions

At some point, your interviewer will likely ask if you have any questions for them. Having smart, specific questions prepared shows you‘re truly interested in the opportunity.

Some things you could ask about:

• The current projects and priorities of the team
• The company‘s technology stack and tools
• Opportunities for learning and professional development
• What they like about working there
• Challenges the team or company is facing
• Next steps in the interview process

An interview is a two-way street. You‘re evaluating them as much as they‘re evaluating you. Ask questions that will help you determine if the role and company are the right fit.

6. Approach Salary Negotiation with Confidence

Negotiating salary can be uncomfortable, but it‘s a crucial skill that can have a huge impact on your lifetime earnings. According to Glassdoor, the average American could earn $7,528 more per year if they negotiated their salary.

Some tips:

• Research salary benchmarks for your role and location on sites like Glassdoor, PayScale, and Levels.fyi
• Don‘t bring up salary until you have an offer
• Let the employer share a number first, then counter with your researched range
• Emphasize the value you‘ll bring to the company
• Consider the entire package – salary, bonus, equity, benefits
• Be willing to walk away if the offer doesn‘t meet your needs

Remember, negotiating shows that you know your worth and are confident in your skills. Most employers expect some back-and-forth.

7. Send a Thank You Note

Within 24 hours after the interview, send a thank you note to each person who interviewed you. It can be a short email reiterating your interest in the position and thanking them for their time.

Not only is this a common courtesy, it also gives you another opportunity to make a positive impression and keep yourself top of mind. You can briefly reinforce why you‘re excited about the role and why you‘d be a great addition to the team.

8. Cultivate Resilience

Rejection is a normal part of the job search process, but it can still be discouraging. It‘s important to maintain a growth mindset and not take rejections personally.

Some strategies:

• Focus on your growth. Every interview is an opportunity to learn and improve.
• Remember your worth is not defined by a single company‘s decision.
• Acknowledge your feelings, but don‘t dwell on the negatives. Shift your energy to the next opportunity.
• Seek feedback when possible and identify areas to work on.
• Celebrate your progress. Landing an interview is an achievement, even if you don‘t get the offer.
• Lean on your support system. Talk to mentors, friends, family when you need encouragement.

With each interview, you‘re developing valuable skills that will serve you throughout your career – communication, problem-solving, relationship building. Trust that as long as you keep putting in the work, the right opportunity will come.

You‘ve Got This

Confidence in job interviews ultimately comes from believing in yourself and putting in the preparation to back it up. When you invest time in building your skills, showcasing your work, researching the company, practicing your talking points, and developing resilience, you set yourself up for success.

Stay focused on your goals and just keep learning and trying. With persistence and the right approach, you will land the dev job you‘ve been dreaming of.