6 Technical Interview Mistakes You Need To Avoid
What recruiters want you to know!
For many of us, giving interviews can be a nerve-wracking experience. You can make a few mistakes and you miss out on an opportunity that can either make or break your career. While taking hundreds of interviews, I noticed candidates making common mistakes. Today I highlight a few mistakes you can avoid and get your next job.
1. Unstructured answers.
It is difficult to assume all the questions the interviewer may ask. Therefore, take into account all the skills and experience expected from the candidate mentioned in the job description and start preparing accordingly. I have noticed most times candidates have the experience and worked in a similar job role but don’t know how to show it.
Candidates get rejected, when either they don’t give the precise answer or they go around with their answers, without providing clarity the interviewer is looking for. This makes the candidate appear as if either candidate is bluffing or he has not handled those responsibilities well.
A structured way of answering questions will provide the interviewer the evidence that the candidate is confident, experienced, accountable.
I highlighted a few techniques of answering questions-
STAR technique: Situation, Task, Action, and Result
One of the best ways of answering behavioral or situation related questions. “Describe a time when…” and “Share an example of a situation where….” what the interviewer is looking for is a concrete and precise answer which you can present using the STAR technique. Many companies prefer answers from candidates using the STAR technique.
STAR stands for:
- Situation. What was the situation or challenge you faced?
- Task. What tasks you had to complete?
- Action. What actions did you take in that situation?
- Results. What were the results or outcomes of those efforts?
“Tell me about a time when you had to be very strategic to meet all of your top priority?”
Your Response (Situation): “When I was working in XYZ company, my company wanted to shift their focus on email marketing and increase their email subscribers list in one quarter”
Your Response (Task): “I took up the responsibilities and set my target to increase our email list by at least 50% in just one quarter”
Your Response (Action): “First I worked with the rest of the marketing team and planned to host a series of Webinar that required an email address to register, second, I also started by adding updated content to our old Blog posts, which funneled more interested users into our mailing list”
Your Response (Result): “Consequently of those additions to our email strategy, I could increase our subscriber list from 15,000 subscribers to 30,000 subscribers in three months.”
YES or NO questions
You should never respond to a direct question with only a Yes or No! These sorts of questions normally check the level of engagement during the interview and earnest of the candidate. By responding to the question with a simple Yes/No, you are doing injustice to yourself. Enhance your answer with details, if suitable use statistics, results, outcomes you have achieved. Don’t make the interviewer come up with several follow-up questions, your answer should encompass details shortly and concisely.
2. Not having a valid reason for the job change.
“Why are you looking for a job change?”
This is the most important question and will come up again and again during all stages of the interview. The interviewer wants to know your reasons and as a candidate; you need to know your Why’s well. You need to have an exact reason to change your job. The interviewer needs to trust your credibility and reasons. It happens only when you provide a valid reason, be it with your current or previously held jobs.
Candidate during the initial HR screening round: “I don’t have any specific reason to look for a job change. It’s been two years in my current firm. If an excellent opportunity comes, I will see.”
There are 90% chances, recruiters won’t process his profile for the technical rounds because they don’t trust him. Even if they consider, they might prefer other candidate’s profiles over yours. When a recruiter shares your profile, we vouch for the candidate’s commitment during the entire process. It is one of the key factors, candidates need to keep in mind, which plays a significant role until the last stage of the interview process.
Candidate reason during the last round of interviews: “I am changing my current job because I am looking for a role where I can take up more responsibilities and exhibit my leadership qualities. Unfortunately, my current company cannot provide me that opportunity and I cannot see my growth to a team leader role in my current company. So I need to change my job”
The interviewer (the VP of Engineering department) rejected the candidate based on this reason.
“I had a detailed discussion with him. He wants to work as a team lead, but the role he is interviewing for is the same role he has in his current company. It will be a high risk to hire him. It will dissatisfy him in this role and will start looking for another job shortly”
Bonus Tip: While answering this question, you can also highlight the actionable steps you took and mention how it didn’t work out for you. This leaves an impression on the interviewer and will exhibit your problem-solving skills.
3. Not asking sincere questions.
Knowledge is having the right answer. Intelligence is asking the right questions.
Asking the right questions is the skill that both the interviewer and interviewee must-have. Many hiring managers assess their candidates on their competency of asking questions. Once a Hiring manager asked the candidate twice: “Do you have questions for us?” The candidate didn’t ask questions.
The final feedback from the Technical team was: “We are looking for someone who would be inquisitive to learn, interested in knowing more about the project and can contribute. But with Ms. XYZ, she didn’t seem so interested in knowing about the team or the projects. We won’t be going ahead with his candidature.”
It might be difficult to comprehend questions immediately. Therefore, you can prepare a few questions in advance based on your research on the company.
How to ask questions:
- Ask questions related to the growth prospects of the role.
This can help you stand out among other candidates as it will portray you as a candidate who is stable and would like to grow within the Organisation.
- Ask questions based on the description given by the interviewer.
In the initial few minutes of the interview, the interviewer gives a brief introduction about the company, team, and Job’s roles and responsibilities. Listens to the introduction carefully and ask questions related to it. During the discussion, make a note of important points or doubts you have and ask the questions.
- Ask questions about the procedures/strategies followed in the interviewer’s company.
For example- If the interviewer asks “Which programming language do you prefer to work with Python or C++?”
You can follow up on the same question with the interviewer asking them which programming language do they extensively work with. This will show your level of interest in understanding the processes followed in your prospective company.
- Avoid asking HR related questions in Technical interview.
Avoid asking questions, which you can ask HR in the last HR discussion. Such as questions related to Bonus, leave allotment, or Probation.
There is nothing wrong with asking these questions, but sometimes the interviewer either might do not know about it or would sometimes like to keep the discussion Technical oriented.
- Ask for the feedback or the next steps.
This can be the last question you can ask. There is no shame in asking for feedback from the interviewer. Please do this only when you can take constructive criticism well otherwise ask when will you be hearing from them.
4. To be unprepared for the interview.
You can prepare for the interview based on the highlighted skills and experience mentioned in the job description. You should speak to the recruiter and understand the entire process, including the total number of technical and HR rounds of interviews, length of the interview, and responsible interviewer. You can do the following-
- Practice common technical and behavioral questions in advance-
You can look for company-specific interview questions and tips available online. You should also prepare other common technical and behavioral questions with the help of websites like Leetcode, Geeksforgeeks, Ambitionbox, Reddit, Hackerrank, Codewars, and Quora.
- Ask the recruiter for tips-
Most of the time, recruiters know exactly what the hiring manager is looking for in a candidate and can help you in understanding it. You can also ask for technical topics the interviewer can ask. Before every interview, I have helped many candidates in understanding the general expectations and technical skills the hiring manager is looking for, and that has resulted in a better selection ratio.
- Research about the employer- Not knowing about the company you are interviewing for is a sure shot way to a rejection.
Visit the company’s website, blogs, and social media accounts to understand their market and be thorough with pointers. Such as what makes the company unique, their achievements, what makes you want to join the company?
- Try mock interviews-
Try doing a mock interview with someone to check your body language and voice modulation. Practice the most common questions and make notes of your mistake.
- Check the commute time in advance -
There is nothing positive about a candidate late for the interview. If it happens inform the concerned interviewer with a valid reason. But at all costs try to reach early at least 10 minutes before the interview time.
- Carry requested documents with you-
Carry hard copy of resume, and application documents requested by the recruiter with you. Simultaneously, be thorough in your resume.
- Dress appropriately for the occasion-
Research about the company’s work culture and dress culturally appropriate either in smart casual or formal attire according to the role you are applying for.
5. Not feeling confident — It’s an opportunity to grow your network.
I know it is obvious. But sometimes the obvious mistakes are the ones that cost us. Interviewers understand the fear of being judged by some unknown stranger. They understand it is a stressful situation, but interviewers prefer candidates who show confidence, are easy to communicate, and can take over the role. Instead of taking Stress and feeling judged by the interviewer. Take it as an opportunity to meet unknown people and make connections along the way.
One of the feedback from technical interviewers —
“It didn’t go too well. We are looking for somebody who can handle pressure, deadlines, and may handle managerial responsibilities. It doesn’t look like Mr. XYZ will handle responsibilities and pressure well. It won’t be a right fitment for the team”
For me, it came as a complete shock. The candidate who was working in a similar role and was so convincing on the calls. How is this possible?
He later explained. He feels more confident in talking on calls than face to face. He couldn’t reply to a few questions completely because he got nervous even though he knew answers and have faced similar customer-oriented circumstances.
It happens to many of us So, try to practice face-to-face interviews with a buddy, practice situational questions in advance, have pointers ready, use the STAR technique, and try to eliminate the fear.
6. Making salary negotiation a war.
Salary negotiation is tricky and the candidate should do negotiation at the end stage, not in the initial stages of the interview. It should be a collaborative process between the candidate and the company.
Some points to keep in mind are-
Do the research and set realistic salary expectations.
Many job postings include the salary range they can offer, and the offers generated are in the specified salary range. If not, you can know about the salary by researching websites like
Be realistic about your salary expectations. During the negotiation stage, don’t surprise the recruiter or negotiator by raising the salary expectation bar extremely higher than the market standards.
Understand the difference between asking and demanding a higher salary.
The goal is to negotiate politely than rather seem to be too demanding during negotiation. Everybody would love to have a higher salary package, but you do not want to seem like a demanding person.
You can use the following phrases-
- “Is that number flexible at all?”
- “I would be more comfortable if…”
- “Is there any possibility of negotiating this offer?”
- “I did some research. ”
- “Do you mind if I take a few hours or a day to consider your offer?”
Don’t be completely money-centric.
I want you to have a higher salary package, but I cannot stress enough on how important it is to not only look from a salary perspective. But also think holistically of considering the role, responsibilities, the company’s brand value, commute time, perks, flexibility, growth opportunity, and how this shapes a career path.
Speak up about the unfairness.
If in case the salary offered to you is unfair to what they communicated to you in the initial rounds of the interview at any stage: Speak up about it to the responsible recruiter. If the negotiations don’t match up with your prospects, be ready to walk away.
My husband received a job offer from a company, but they did not include the relocation cost for moving to a different city. He spoke to HR about his concerns and the cost that will incur. Later on, he received a revised offer inclusive relocation cost.
Be fair to the recruiters.
Engage in negotiation as a collaboration, but not as an ultimatum. Many times candidates use ultimatum techniques and it doesn’t work at all. It can cause some sore feelings. You should be pleasant to the HR extending the offer because they are the ones who pitch your needs and get approvals for revising the offer.
Also, take note that that the recruiter extending the offer can be different and way more experienced compared to the first point of contact agency recruiter. Most times, Technical leads also handle salary negotiations and you don’t want to start with the wrong foot. Be polite and clear about your needs and expectations.
Understanding companies have Costs allocated for each level and position.
Most of the companies have the salary bracket for each job role. This determines how much an employee will earn fixated to the job role. When the company has the budget of offering a higher package of salary they do, but companies also have salary constraints. If it does not match with your earning expectation, freely communicate the issue to the negotiator and try to find a middle ground. Be prepared to hear no for your demands, not every negotiation will go as per your expectations.
Conclusion
“Every time I thought I was being rejected from something good, I was being re-directed to something good “
- Dr. Steve Maraboli
The interview process is exhausting, exhilarating, and stressful. Rejections are an enormous part of it. It feels wretched to be denied of an opportunity, you so desperately wanted and have invested time, efforts. In case you don’t clear the interview to consider this thought: Maybe it was not a suitable role for your career and life, and perhaps, you land a better job which will lead your career to new heights. All the best for your future interviews and I hope you find the right job for you.
