Technical Interview 101: Calming your Nerves

Is your technical interview coming up? Despite having confidence in your skillsets, do you still feel insecure, inadequate, and anxious? Do you even worry that you are suffering imposter syndrome? Believe us, you are not alone.

We all understand that job interviews in general are making people anxious. According to a study by JDP, a whopping 93% of job candidates have experienced anxiety related to job interviews. Other studies tell us that the anxiety created by interviews could interfere job candidates’ performance in various ways. Anxious job candidates are not only rated more harshly than their less anxious counterparts, they are also less likely to be invited to second interviews and less likely to receive job offers. 

If, however, attending a general interview is creating a few butterflies in your stomach, a technical interview makes you feel like having thousands of them in your stomach. Technical interviews are particularly anxiety-inducing. A study from North Carolina State University and Microsoft finds that technical interviews used in hiring software engineering positions are unnecessarily stressful to a point that they are only capable of testing the candidates’ ability to cope with performance anxiety instead of their technical competence. (Some of the audience are not software engineers (less than half I reckon), maybe more general words like “tech skills” or others?)

What makes people anxious in a job interview? 41% of job candidates state that they are anxious because they worry that they might ‘not [be] able to answer a difficult question’, 20% state that they worry they would be ‘looking nervous’, and 16% worry they are ‘not coming off as intended’. Yes, you could be making yourself more nervous merely by trying to look calm. 

So, what can you do to calm your nerves?

   •     Focus on the interview preparation

Anxiety is not entirely bad sometimes. The adrenaline rush it gives motivates you to put in more energy into your preparation. Bear in mind that you are being invited to an interview because your skillset is being sought after. Focus on the skillset you possess and prepare to explain the fundamentals as well as the higher-level principles of the instruments you use — be it coding languages, data structures, algorithms, or system design, depending on the job you are interviewing. How you approach a technical problem could be based on your own experience. Be ready to talk about your technical tasks, challenges, and contributions in your current and previous roles.

   •     Speak to your recruiters

The more details you can gather about the interview process, the less anxious you will become. Recruiters will be able to tell you about the interview process, such as interview duration, how many rounds of interviews in total, types of tests given, virtual or face-to-face, take-home or white-board, and so on. It is probably not the first time for a recruiter to refer candidates to this company and sometimes they may even have insider information as to what kinds of questions were being asked.

   •     Try a role play

Simulating the actual interview setting and have someone to practice the interview with you in a form of role play will ease your nerves. Ask for help from a family member, a colleague, an English-speaker, a recruiter or experienced career counsellor, a mentor in the tech industry if you have one. Through the practice you will become more aware of how well you acquit yourself and will benefit from the constructive feedbacks you received.

   •     Look after your mind and body

Unless you are a fresh graduate, chances are that you have to balance your job hunt while working full-time. Carving out time to prepare for your applications and interviews could quickly drain your physical and mental energy. Activities that other people find effective in keeping their interview anxiety at bay includes, listening to music to relax (64%), visualisation (41%), positive self-talk (29%), meditation (23%) and exercise (23%). Pick one of these and try it out yourself!  

We have a specialised team helping you to get your dream job in the tech industry. Come speak to us for a free consultation.