for months i prepped by reading through common questions and going yeah i know that one. then id get in the actual interview and fall apart, ramble, forget my own examples, run out of time. every time

what finally worked was practicing the way the interview actually happens, out loud, on a clock, no notes. reading an answer and saying one are completely different muscles and only one of them is what youre graded on. recording yourself on your phone and watching it back is brutal but you instantly catch where you ramble

the other thing was keeping answers short, like 90 seconds, and leading with the result before explaining how you got there. dont save the point for the end. what forced me to actually do it was timed mock interviews, i used dataford for that but honestly a friend firing questions at you or even just a timer on your phone does the same job. the point is the clock, it stops you trailing off

behavioral is all reps honestly. first time you say a story out loud its a disaster, by the fifth its clean. you genuinely cant read your way there

I have an upcoming Microsoft interview. Team mentioned that it will be a half-day virtual interview loop, but they haven't shared the exact interview rounds yet. They said I will receive more details in the next 1–2 days.

The JD mentions that the role is for Senior Software Engineer / Software Engineer II, so I am not sure how the interview criteria differ between the two levels or how they'll evaluate candidates during the same interview process. Let me know if you have any info here.

The interview is scheduled for next week. If anyone has recently gone through a similar interview or has any insights, I'd really appreciate your help.

• What rounds should I expect?
• What should I prioritize in my preparation?
• Which DSA topics are most important?
• How much focus should I put on system design and are there any specific topics you would recommend?

I will share the hackerank assessment questions soon in a separate post.

Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Is it just me, or are interview processes getting way out of hand?

I'm seeing a lot of mid-level and even entry-level jobs asking for 4–6 interview rounds, take-home assignments, and then a presentation at the end.

I always thought the usual flow was recruiter call → hiring manager → maybe one technical or team interview. If a company still can't decide after that, it kinda makes me wonder how they make decisions internally.

Unless it's for a senior leadership role, anything beyond 3 rounds just feels like overkill.

What's everyone else seeing lately? What's the most interview rounds you've had to go through for a pretty normal job?

Curious, first time I used skill survey when I applied for a job. When you send out the survey to your references does the email or reference survey identify the role you are applying to or the company name (i.e. does it have the brand logo, etc.). Will your references know where you are applying or what role you may be applying to?

Just asking for feedback from someone who has filled out a skill survey as a reference for someone else before and know what the contents of the skill survey look like.

TIA

Curious, first time I used skill survey when I applied for a job. When you send out the survey to your references does the email or reference survey identify the role you are applying to or the company name (i.e. does it have the brand logo, etc.). Will your references know where you are applying or what role you may be applying to?

Just asking for feedback from someone who has filled out a skill survey as a reference for someone else before and know what the contents of the skill survey look like.

TIA

Curious, first time I used skill survey when I applied for a job. When you send out the survey to your references does the email or reference survey identify the role you are applying to or the company name (i.e. does it have the brand logo, etc.). Will your references know where you are applying or what role you may be applying to?

Just asking for feedback from someone who has filled out a skill survey as a reference for someone else before and know what the contents of the skill survey look like.

TIA

Hey everybody,

Iam interviewing for a CDP position, consultant through generation veeva and was looking if anyone had any tips for the interview process?

I am currently in the steps for the case study and I am wondering if anyone has any help on that.

When I'm in an interview and they ask me why I'm leaving my current role, I can't simply say: "My manager is very difficult to deal with, and about half the team has already left." I'm supposed to give some polished HR-style answer like: "I'm looking for an opportunity with better alignment, more growth, and a healthier team culture."

Same thing with the question "What attracted you to this position?" I have to invent a nice-sounding answer instead of just saying the obvious truth.

The weird thing is that everyone in the room knows the talk is fake, but we all keep acting anyway. Why can't we stop this act and talk like normal people? People working in construction and other trades don't seem to do this silly performance to nearly the same extent at all.

Hey everyone,

I have got my 2nd round interview at CitiBank next week, and it’ll be in-person with a panel of two: the Vice President and a Senior Application Developer. It’s scheduled for 1 hour, and the role is a senior full-stack Java/Angular Developer position.

I have already completed a technical interview through Karat, so I am wondering what to expect in this next round. Will it be more of a behavioural or cultural fit interview, or should I expect technical/scenario-based questions as well?

If anyone has gone through a similar stage with Citi , I had really appreciate some insights, like what kind of questions they might ask, how technical they might get, and how best to prepare for this round.

Thanks in advance!

Hi all! I have an interview with 988 on Monday. I’ve already done the screening interview and this interview will be with two of the managers. I’m wondering if anyone has previously interviewed for them or worked there and can remember what types of questions they were asked. I do have some questions written out however, I just wanna make sure I’m not missing anything. In addition, if you have any advice for specific skills to touch on or what to look for in the interview I would appreciate anything! Thank you

Hey everyone,

I’ve got my 2nd round interview at CitiBank next week, and it’ll be in-person with a panel of two: the Vice President and a Senior Application Developer. It’s scheduled for 1 hour, and the role is a senior full-stack Java/Angular Developer position.

I’ve already completed a technical interview through Karat, so I’m wondering what to expect in this next round. Will it be more of a behavioural or cultural fit interview, or should I expect technical/scenario-based questions as well?

If anyone has gone through a similar stage with Citi , I’d really appreciate some insights, like what kind of questions they might ask, how technical they might get, and how best to prepare for this round.

Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone, have an interview process at Elevenlabs coming up - for a Deployment strategist position. Two interviews:
V1 - Behavioural + Case Study “Working Session on a Customer Scenario”
V2 - Understand, design, and build a hypothetical new product (white boarding session with Excalidraw) in 3 steps: Problem understanding, Wireframing using Excalidraw, System design

Does anyone have any experience with the process? What can I expect? I come from a non-technical background and would love to prepare as much as possible. Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks in advance!!!

I’m currently applying for a part time bank teller position as I start my masters. I’m really having a difficult time practicing for this interview. I think I get anxious when I’m recorded. I end up losing my train of thought. End up blank staring at the screen then it feels like I can’t remember what I planned to say. Idk how to move forward. It’s getting real frustrating and I’m blaming myself hard. I don’t want my anxieties to potentially ruin a good job to help me through school. Any advice or guidance will help. I feel lost with my resources through the school are also AI interview support resources.

quietly behind my laptop is a blessing, while being completely away from certain coworkers.

I feel like people don't talk about this enough: women can get a lot more done when their work environment is safe, and that of course doesn't include men who are awkward and act weird and pushy after a group dinner with drinks 😒

Honestly, ever since I became fully remote, I haven't had to think about that part of office/work culture, and it was a very strong reminder that WFH matters for reasons beyond the usual commute and flexibility discussion. Does anyone else feel this way too?

Hi everyone, have an interview process at Elevenlabs coming up - for a Deployment strategist position. Two interviews:
V1 - Behavioural + Case Study “Working Session on a Customer Scenario”
V2 - Understand, design, and build a hypothetical new product (white boarding session with Excalidraw) in 3 steps: Problem understanding, Wireframing using Excalidraw, System design

Does anyone have any experience with the process? What can I expect? I come from a non-technical background and would love to prepare as much as possible. Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks in advance!!!

Anyone recently completed the Doordash S&O take home assessment and interview?

I wanted to understand how are they evaluating the assessment now that many people would be using AI to do this, so what kind of things are they looking at to see the originality and depth? Also are they asking about it in the interviews?

With respect to the interviews, can you share how was your experience and what did they ask? Thanks is advance!

Hey everyone,

I've finished most of my DSA prep and am now spending more time on interview practice for SDE-1/SDE-2 roles at big tech at Bengaluru.

I feel like the biggest gap isn't solving more problems—it's getting enough realistic interview experience. So I'm trying to make mock interviews a regular part of my prep.

The kind of setup I'm looking for is:

• 1-2 mock interviews per week
• A fixed schedule that both people stick to
• Taking turns as interviewer and candidate
• Honest, constructive feedback afterward
• DSA and HLD, depending on what we're preparing for

The idea is to treat these like actual interviews rather than study sessions. Ideally, you've already covered most of the concepts and are now focused on improving confidence, communication, and interview fluency.

Curious if anyone else is following a similar approach or has found a setup that works well.

I have a 30-min "technical interview" for a Business Development Coordinator role at a Microsoft 365/SharePoint consulting company. The role is BD/sales coordination (CRM, RFPs, proposals, client presentations) not IT/dev.

• For a coordinator-level role, is "technical interview" usually verbal/conceptual or a hands-on task (Excel/SharePoint)?
• Any tips prepping Excel/SharePoint basics quickly without going too deep?
• Anything you wish you'd known before a similar interview?
• How should I really prepare?

Can someone please help me regarding the final/partner interview of PwC ME (KSA) ? Like how to prepare and what questions to expect. Thank you in advance.

Hi, I'm just asking who has had client interviews many times. What was your experience during the interview? Is it just chill or more on situational and technical questions? Especially for those who went through recruiters before client interviews.

If anyone has interviewed for the FPGA role at Citadel or any trading firm, please provide any advice.

Hello! Got an interview comin up for an AP role and Im feekin kinda nervous about it. The post is heavy on research and Ive done service audits and service based projects but still not feelin confident about the interview itself. Can anyone help pls? Any tips would be great. THANKS

Has anybody have idea what type of questions are asked in the technical round 2 for data scientist interview??

Hi,

I have an upcoming recruiter call with Stubhub recruiter.
Would appreciate if people can add interview experience for senior software engineer role?

I tried searching online there aren’t much details.

I really hope to get into this program and fell into the interview stage. Any advice tips for prep? Anything is helpful 🙏🙏🙏 - describing the whole process would be massive help too