Confessions from a Big Tech Hiring Manager: Tips for Software Engineering Interviews

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Insights & advice from a hiring manager at Uber & Skyscanner. Books to prepare for the interview at Big Tech (Google, Facebook, Amazon, Uber, Stripe, Doordash & similar ones):
Note that none of the below links are affiliate links or sponsored. See my ethics statement on the lack of such links: blog.pragmaticengineer.com/et...
- Cracking the Coding Interview www.amazon.com/dp/0984782850
- Grokking Algorithms www.amazon.com/dp/1617292230
- Systems Design Interview: an Insider's Guide: www.amazon.com/dp/B08CMF2CQF. Also, see my longer review: blog.pragmaticengineer.com/sy...
- My more detailed writeup on preparing for the coding and systems design interview: blog.pragmaticengineer.com/pr...
Connect with me on other platforms:
- Newsletter on software engineering: newsletter.pragmaticengineer....
- Twitter: / gergelyorosz
- LinkedIn: / gergelyorosz
Books I've written (and am writing):
- Software engineering resumes: thetechresume.com/
- Building Mobile Apps at Scale: mobileatscale.com/
- The Software Engineer's Guidebook: www.engguidebook.com/
- All books: blog.pragmaticengineer.com/bo...
00:00 - Intro
00:25 - 1. Recruiter experience is not (always) indicative of the working experience
02:31 - 2. The recruiter is on your side
04:55 - 3. Preparation advice for Big Tech interviews
08:00 - 4. Mindset before, during and after the interview
11:53 - 5. Be fully present
16:23 - 6. Interviews are a two-way street
17:31 - 7. The interview experience can represent what a tough day at work is like
18:48 - 8. It's not time wasted: it's experience gained

[@suhassreenivas1878]

The content is gold! Thank you for this! 20 minutes of great advice which could only be previously got by carefully filtering reddit, twitter, blog posts not easily found through google. The part about which questions to ask recruiters, mindset and the fully present advice is F-ing great, but more importantly actionable. I really hope the youtube algo picks this video up. You didn't say it but I hit that bell icon lol.

[@ahmadjainuri7382]

Kinaibk biu

[@JJ-rz6km]

true

[@shahriarmim4696]

I took the golden advice ! "Take Interview as a learning opportunity do not stress over the outcome"

[@mauricewalshe8339]

Id also suggest interviewing at jobs you dont really want as practice find the low quality ones on indeed

[@illiamondok4496]

"Don’t think about the outcome, instead be willing to learn. Be curious" - this is brilliant. Helped me a lot to decrease a pre interview stress

[@hijinks21]

As someone that has done 100s of interviews. The key thing I want to see from someone that doesn't know something is asking questions to learn about it. I'll take a learner any day on my team

[@providencept]

Hey hijinks, what’s your biggest pain point as a director/manager? Why do you need headcount?

[@DevJonathanRamos]

I got rejected by the hiring team of a company because I asked for the opinion of the architect interviewer even when I explained possible solutions. I didn’t even got stuck.

[@Nem_FFXIV]

His mindset about "not looking at the outcome, but going there to learn/improve" is a lifelong rewarding mindset in many aspects of life. The best of the best don't necessarily become the best of the best by saying I need to be the best today. They say i need to be better than I was yesterday, every day.

[@AKALeviMA]

This mindset of being curious and taking each interview as a learning opportunity is so true. When I did my interview loop with Uber I had zero expectations apart from learning and having fun during those interviews. It was my first ever big tech and I just wanted to learn. I ended up getting an offer and I firmly believe that it was because I didn't fuss about passing and only concentrated on the learning opportunity I was having.

[@mrgergelyorosz]

Great story and congrats on the offer! Too bad I'm no longer there, seems you joined right around when I left. Obviously being able to come up with sensible solutions to interview questions are a baseline. But after that, mindset and attitude are huge: especially when building out a new team, that (as far as I'm aware) Uber is doing right now in Brazil. You really want energetic and curious people with a "can do" mindset at that point. Over the years, I've went to leaning towards hiring people who solved the problem without issues to those who solved it - even if not perfect - but also show positive personality traits that they'll need to thrive in these larger places.

[@justinsanity501]

Best advice I ever got on interviews was from my brother who is way more of a "people person" than myself. The best mindset to go into interviews with is to treat it like what it is - a conversation. You are talking to another person, not a robot. Don't just spout your resume and your qualifications, actually engage in a dialogue about what the company is working on, what kind of people they are looking for, what they value in employees etc. Ask them questions that you are genuinely curious about, not ones that you got off the internet. And for technical parts - it is way more important to explain your thought process than it is to get the question right.

[@Garrett_Builds]

I love your thoughts on being present and being conversational. A great way that I have found to practice these is to practice with a live person without any notes. Thanks for the insight!

[@nevinkuser9892]

That was really great advice! I love that you're reminding us to be human and have an authentic conversation. It's amazing how far that can get us. I really appreciate that suggestion. 🙏🏼

[@hahyunlee]

Thank you so much for this video. I have a technical virtual whiteboard session tomorrow and I’ve been stressing and trying to cram practice problems but you saying to shift the mindset as a conversation and a learning opportunity instead of a test to get the solution right is easing my anxiety. Thank you for this helpful video!

[@aikanshpriyam3977]

This is such a great video with some awesome advice. Initially, even I used to go to the interview with the mindset of solving all the questions that were asked to me, but after that changed my approach and tried to make my interview more interactive and make sure my interviewer has a good time while interviewing me. Thanks for the video, Gergely!!

[@jonathanhavens7183]

I'm watching this after recently landing a software engineering position where I'd thought it was one of my worst interviews ever. I was very nervous and even forgot a very basic keyword in PHP but I did talk through the coding challenge, and eventually solved it. Being my first job on a team (I was an independent, self-taught developer for the 3 years prior), I was very straightforward about my weaknesses but also very eager to get a foothold in the industry. While watching this, it now makes quite a bit more sense as to why I ended up receiving an offer. At one point I saw theyd reposted their ad and thought I'd failed it, so I sent the manager an email asking for constructive criticism on how to do better. He informed me I was still very much in the running from there and I received the offer a few days later. I've worked here for about a week and a half now and it's going fantastic. You're advice really helped put things in perspective and I'll always look at tech interviews differently now... thank you👍

[@noahbar-shain4218]

Excellent advice from start to finish! Thanks for taking the time to put together such an organized and helpful video

[@08vipul]

This 20 minutes conversation is the crucks of the interview process. Thanks for sharing

[@seans9096]

I think this is one of the best advices about technical interviews on KZbin.

[@michaeldorsett4946]

Thanks for the absolutely amazing tips, I'm only a junior in college but I definitely agree that the more preparation you have the better off you'll be in the long run!

[@SavageScientist]

Dude in this video i saw the transistion from full day light to night

[@jackypaulcukjati3186]

Nice observations

[@tegaogheneovo5881]

😼

[@pedro.britto]

I was looking at the interview process with the wrong mindset, and it was not being productive. I'm going through a series of interviews at minor tech companies and this has been the most useful resource, by far. Thank you so much for this!

[@dayanandraut5660]

There are lots of guys giving advices on interviews on youtube. You are by far the best in terms of content and presentation. And the way you smile sometimes while talking is awesome. Keep it up. Thank you.

[@Gaurav-S]

Thank you for making this video. This is sage advice and very useful for people who are preparing for these bigtech interviews and I really like your advice of treating each interview as a learning experience and being curious! Thanks a lot.

[@davidkezi6086]

Please talk about your failed interviews, i think hearing about failures is very important

[@mrgergelyorosz]

Thanks! I will - it's on my list.

[@pratikgautam1]

He talks about that @19:00

[@chickenpotthighs9387]

Thank you so so much for your insight!! I love that you prioritize presence and conversation over some behavioral template

[@mangodude-nq6su]

Thank you. It is the kind of perspective I needed right before my interview today

[@factfactory7103]

THIS..this is sooo good...Thank you man, wish there were more people like you

[@bootcamprag]

Good stuff to know. My tech interview was long and rough, but I now see the key takeaways from what you are saying. Thanks.

[@thomasl863]

I agree with the mindset so much. That was my approach as an ARTS major at my university engineering career fair, and I ended up getting two job offers. I think humility, empathy, and curiosity work wonders in the job searching process.

[@SwapperTheFirst]

The most useful of all interview preparations summaries I've found. I'd say, that the scope of audience is targeted for is bigger - not only for SEs, it can be used by Technical Product Managers, Technical Project Managers, Solution Architects. I like the down-to-earth, smart yet humble delivery of advice.

[@MaximBordyug.]

Being positive, prepared, and using powerful language can definitely set you apart in an interview.

[@SuperMatsumoto23]

I am very glad that I found this video, thank you for making it! I am currently preparing for my tech interviews, and as a junior developer I haven't got many of those yet so the process stresses me out a lot. I am a switcher, so I have years of experience in interviews with recruiters and HR-managers, and I do tend to forget that the tech interviewers are also first and foremost people, and I do have communication skills that could contribute to my passing the tech interviews as well. Your video really gave me a little bit more confidence in myself and I think that this would help me feel a bit calmer during the interviews. So... thank you!! ♥

[@SleepyLink1]

I'm a junior this year and I've been trying to land my first internship. Thank you so much for providing all these helpful resources!

[@SkarTisu]

Lots of really interesting insights here! Thanks for sharing this info from your side of the desk. This will be helpful in upcoming interviews for me.

[@stevenmccarther5836]

Have been coding for over 20 years , been in plenty of interviews , too bad their was not a KZbin back in the day with a video of this caliber. This guy is "spot on" and I will be taking his advice as I plan for my next interview

[@kevinsangabriel2669]

there*

[@winterheat]

20 years experience... so if you talk to a hiring manager who is 28... then you also may be out of luck... he doesn't mind about the "age", he only cares about "culture fit"...

[@stevenmccarther5836]

@@winterheat you bring up a good point . " The powers that be" eliminate you because you "don't fit in" with the culture without giving you the opportunity . People with experience bring more to the table and a good programmer , no matter what their age realizes that learning never stops no matter what the source . Age discrimination is live and well and its a shame because their is a lot of untapped potential in people who will never be given the chance

[@winterheat]

@@stevenmccarther5836 like I was just discussing it: if the hiring manager is 28 year old, he is not going to want somebody who has 15 more years of experience than him, because then the worker seems more senior than him.

[@stevenmccarther5836]

@@winterheat forgive me winterheat2 , your reply puzzles me , is the "more senior than him" show insecurity regarding my Team Leader than possibly increased output by the team as a whole ? Would not my Team Lead want to find out what I can bring to the table besides " years in the profession " ? Could it be that maybe that person with the experience just wants to come in and do his job and his possible productivity not be viewed as " Power move ? " I agree with you that times in IT have changed over the years but I thought that thought process went out with the " Lincoln Administration " , you would be surprised , most people just want to come , do their job , mind what little business they have and call it a day , have a good evening

[@p0werinside]

A link to this video was shared in a chat window which was screencast from another streamer's youtube video. I am glad that I took the effort to type it into the address bar. The advice in this video is gold!

[@mandarine1007]

My word! I do love your advice. It showed me how I am so focused on the outcome rather than enjoying the ride. Aware and Present

[@antonbohomol380]

Thanks for the video, great tips on being present and going with the flow - loved the one about asking interviewer questions right-away instead of waiting for it til the end!

[@mrgergelyorosz]

It can be tricky to do, as you’re focused on the interview. It’s a small thing but I as a hiring manager, I always register it, as so few candidates do so. It also makes for a better conversation!

[@ykns7]

Yes being curious and fully present makes for a relaxed and positive candidate. Its a great frame of mind to tackle these interviews. I am trying for a position at Amazon and this is the approachI plan to take. Thanks for the book suggestions, I have ordered them.

[@SuperCapello1]

Got in?

[@tesrules]

This is an awesome vid and great advice, I particularly resonate with the learning mindset you talked about, from my experience even though I'm dumb as hell when it comes to technical challenges a lot of people see this learning mindset and find it highly desirable and might even look over some of your other shortcomings!

[@vimalneha]

One of the best guidance I have ever seen! Thanks. Felt compelled to subscribe :-) Gave me some of the best advice as I am going to be Interviewed at amazon.

[@parikhkunj]

There are many good points you suggested that will be really helpful for an interview. I will share with all my colleagues. Thank you!

[@MultiZoozoo]

Extremely good content. Must watch before every interview.

[@chintaldholakia6990]

Pure gold content!! Loved it. Thank you for sharing ❤️

[@fartzy]

Wow this is much better than I expected it would be. I am planning on watching this every morning.

[@sazik4608]

Super insightful! Thank you for posting this!

[@1anre]

This was a well rounded advice of soft skills to succeed in Tech role interviews & even as you progress higher in your tech interview.

[@tanveersingh4217]

The best advice so far and motivation too. Thank you!!

[@devanshmaurya9928]

Thanks for the video. It came to me before an interview and I applied the advice mentioned here and ended up getting an offer that was better than my expectations 😀

[@jrhager84]

Wow - This was very intelligently-presented, and is worth its weight in gold. Thank you for your insights!

[@user-dc7oj3el7o]

Hi! Thank you for your video=) The perspective about having a conversation and being curious was really helpful to me.

[@lkeeble]

This is the best interview advice I have seen so far.

[@MinhNguyen-mp5vn]

I wish I watch this video before my interview with Wepay. I got the same "tell me a bit about your back ground and what make you excited for this role" question. I just recited the piece I had prepared and we didn't have a full conversation. I got rejected. I learned a Great Lesson. Thanks Gergely for sharing the tips with us.

[@erin1220]

This was a great video. Although I'm nowhere near ready for any interview, this was all very useful information. Not only did you get a like and subscribe, but also a save the video to reference it later. Thank you very much! Can't wait to see the rest of your videos.

[@BrunoJuliao7]

Thank you for the tips. Pure gold!

[@harshiag]

wow!! Such an amazing content! Wondering what took me so long to come across this. This one video was enough for me to hit the subscribe button! Kudos to you Gergely!

[@sajedehahmadi3436]

I love this video. I have my very first technical interview tmrw for an entry level developer role. I was extremely anxious until I watched this video, you made such great points. thank you so much.

[@alext5497]

I just use multiply (at least 5) nested for loops in all my code. It's super advanced stuff. They are always amazed.

[@gibsonhan1323]

Duuuude I read your blogs. Great to see you on youtube

[@user-fp4dr1ne7z]

Thanks, I’ve been interviewing for a month and a half and was preparing every night, and was putting so much pressure on myself to do my best, but I failed horribly. I found myself so nervous in every interview and eventually it was really stressful and daunting. I think you’re absolutely right when you said take each interview as an opportunity to learn and go in with a curious mindset. Thanks I really needed to hear this.

[@CknSalad]

I am in the same boat as you are in. I get severe interview performance anxiety and often am quick to blame myself for not enough preparation or I didn't try hard or do well enough...so I deserve to not land this job role. It's really difficult though when you do know that you do have something to offer, but can't quite seem to display it when it counts on the actual interviews. I'm just not very good at verbalizing my thoughts while Im coding / whiteboarding stuff.

[@user-fp4dr1ne7z]

@@CknSalad yeah, I totally understand. I encourage you to stay positive and remember to know you have a lot to offer something to a team, and the right person will see that. Hang in there :)

[@badsanta7356]

@@user-fp4dr1ne7z how's it going? Tell me some good news

[@jenkurtz412]

I love this, thank you! As a Technical Recruiter that truly takes pride in their craft, I care about my candidates and genuinely want them (and you, the hiring manager) to succeed! That comes from the right people with the right skills to be in the right culture with the right people. I love your take on the hiring manager's role in interviewing and with the goal of helping technical people with their interview. I recognize technical professionals are insanely smart, and they know so much about their field that I could ever know first-hand. However, as a people-facing professional, I know there's so much I can offer candidates to set them up for success, but we do not want to offend anyone or assume that as a professional they have all of these bases covered. I took so much away from this video on how I can best prepare the candidates I represent. Thank you! I thoroughly enjoyed this!

[@abhishekpatra7954]

''A HUMAN PRAYING GOD EVERYDAY FOR A EASY, HASSLE-FREE LIFE AND NOT ACTUALLY GETTING IT AND THE ACTUAL FCUK IS NOT GOD BUT THE REAL OBSTACLES ARE BEING PUT ON OUR LIVES BY PEOPLE LIKE YOU FROM BIG FIRMS AND WHEN THEY GO THEIR HOMES GETTING A 6 FIGURE PAYCHECK AND STILL COMPLAINING ABOUT LIFE ABOUT THEIR RELATIONSHIPS ON INSTAGRAM.WELL YOU PEOPLE DESERVE IT.ITS KARMA''------------ this fcuking sentence is really an Understatement

[@user-ss1xc9ck6z]

My days! This is all I will ever listen to The mindset is one that confirmed it for me Sending this video to my network

[@peterritchie7382]

If you're fresh out of college and put projects you worked on in your resume, you need to know those inside and out. If you can't talk about something you 'worked on' in depth it's a huge red flag. Get rid of 'we' from your vocab and replace with 'I' but you need to be able to back it up. Also you gotta know the basics inside and out, any of your introduction classes textbooks you should be able to open up to random page and solve whatever problem is on it. It's the difference between getting the job direct out of college (and having options) or looking for years and eventually just taking what you can get.

[@Koderfacts]

100% Agree to this, if everyone focused on this, job hunts would be a lot easier

[@marcos223ful]

You didn't have to preach like that.

[@smitpatel1358]

Wow, that is an on the spot advice!

[@ducksoop.x]

@@marcos223ful Sorry that OP is telling you what you NEED to hear not what you WANT to hear.

[@willrobinson4280]

20 years ago, the advice was the opposite. It was about team and "we". "I" came off as arrogant and people questioned whether you truly pulled it off on your own. Today, it's all about "I", "I", "I". I agree with your points. Times have changed. The irony is that individual contributor roles are largely gone. Every project or substantial body of work, including sales, requires a team.

[@pearsonkevin4699]

You sir are a treasure. I've met too many arrogant seniors/managers/etc that focus so much on "intelligence" and less on the other important skills of engineering. I've worked with brilliant people (math majors, etc) and while they're mental quickness and clever-solutions are impressive, they were not ideal teammates and ultimately caused more trouble on the team/organization than necessary.

[@estifanosbireda1892]

Yeah, my biggest take from this video is to be positive. I have a final interview the coming Wednesday and watching this video has helped me to be calm. Thanks!

[@memehyu]

This was so helpful thank you for sharing all of those tips!!

[@jugalkumarseth7675]

Hands down. Best guide for interview. Thanks a ton.

[@abdullahshahid9051]

I used to have a lot of interview anxiety and stress. Always thought of them as something daunting and more like an interrogation. I came across this video last year when I was doing a lot of internship interviews. The biggest takeaway and something that impacted me the most in this video is the mindset change. Treat it like a learning opportunity and a conversation. I think all of my interviews went much better after that, and I genuinely enjoyed them too. I thought of them as a conversation, a chance to learn from these talented people. I am currently undergoing through my 16 month internship and by chance I came across the book: The Software Engineer's Guidebook which happen to have released around a month ago. I purchased a copy and started reading some of it, I got a bit curious and followed the pragmatic engineer newsletter. Randomly, I decided to open up the author's KZbin channel and this is what I see! You are a great person and you are helping me once again with all the valuable advice in the book!

[@zoalerix]

Guys! This stuff is gold! I realized I was doing a lot of the stuff in this video because I studied interpersonal skills for years. I got FAANG and other offers left and right after graduating. It's a rare and valuable skill.

[@user-oy4kf5wr8l]

Please do more videos about hiring, thank you buddy! amazing video!

[@semperfiArs]

This is gold. Thanks a lot for this video. Subscribed and hope you get more subscribers

[@ehsanshahrian1379]

simply the best interview tips i have heard. thanks

[@AnthonyHernandez-tb4cu]

Thank you!! This provides a lot of clarity!

[@DwikiIkhwan]

I can proudly say that this video open my mind and make me more confident in interviews. I just had one this week and the days before it happened, I found this channel and watched it. The idea of "Interviews are a two-way street" and the "Mindset before, during and after the interview" are really good. I asked some questions to the interviewer, they seemed happy about it, and before the interview happens, as you said, I set my mind where this interview is just a mock interview, or to practice myself in interviews. During the interview, I relaxed and try to do my best without considering the result, Lastly, after the interview, back to thinking that this is just a mock interview and I've done my best, not to regret anything. And now, I'm a software engineer at a company called Unit4. Thanks a lot Pragmatic Engineer, keep it up!

[@mrgergelyorosz]

Wow, congratulations! Glad the video gave encouragement: but it was you who nailed the interview. Best of luck at the new place!

[@Aspiiire]

I am at minute 3 and I have benefit a lot, Thank you so much for your time and your advice really appreciated

[@theyruinedyoutubeagain]

Oh god, the point about candidates ignoring your question during the behavioural interview is so accurate. Whenever I ask something like sharing a bit about their background they just spit a bunch of useless details about their current role.

[@MerciBro]

Thanks for this. I was especially inspired by the books you shared.

[@korsar25]

it's gold! great tips, thanks for sharing!

[@cameronamini4425]

So helpful, thanks Gergely !

[@gaapa1997]

Hey, Thank you a lot for your video, It really help, especially the 'soft skils' tips

[@PandaHouse21]

I no joke got a text message from a recruiter in the middle of me watching this video for a Software QE internship position. This is gonna be a great learning experience!😀

[@codeworld4172]

Thank you for making this video, I'm getting a lot out of it.

[@mojjammil]

I’ve been doing really well in behavioural interviews but getting stuck at later technical steps. I don’t have CS degree and working as SWE for roughly 3 years at a large enough corporation but aiming at FAANG seems require strict data structure and algorithm prep. Great video though. Love your content on LinkedIn and Twitter.

[@cemen777]

Excellent tips. Thanks a lot. Liked and subscribed. Most recruiters I worked with were useless, rude, careless, no follow up.

[@uttareshwarshinde3144]

Thank you for sharing your valuable experience with us. It is really helpful. Specially - be curious and ask questions back to recruiter and have conversation with him & not monologue .

[@BUCKTHEWORD14]

Thanks for uploading this, great content.

[@WaseefAkhtar]

Thank you for doing this! Definitely very insightful! Also, it'd be great to hear about some of your failed interviews in another video.

[@mrgergelyorosz]

Thanks Waseef! I'll be covering some of those as well.

[@eugiellimpin]

Yeah I’d also be interested in that

[@tytusgierycz5563]

Great talk this ideas are like a gold for me right now:)

[@bogdanvalentin94]

thank you for all those top tips! had an interview some days ago, a tech-interview and i did try talking to them and to say them "i'm passionate about this and i really wanna learn more", the response was *silence* and the basic structure of this interview was question question *i answer* they literally say nothing and then go to the next one, i think imma drop them even tho it's a really big and nice company

[@al8-.W]

I think I needed to hear the "be fully present" one. Hopefully it makes my next interview more interesting for both parties involved.

[@heller166]

Thanks for the tips. Very insightful. I definitely struggle with the mindset aspect of this process haha

[@kushalupreti509]

This was so good and insightful. Thank you

[@sujithsurendran7686]

Subscribed to your channel to learn from an Engineering manager's perspective. Thank you.

[@iamrichb8626]

Thank you I ordered the 3 books! :)

[@Codeaholic1]

Active listening techniques are so important in the interview. Also being curious, open to new ideas, and always seeking to learn more does not mean being overly self deprecating or passive.

[@bereketlibanos3520]

Thank you so much. This is eye opener.

[@hainguyenx]

Great advice. I am having facebook interview coming up. I am not expecting to ace it but I am expecting to learn and get better. I didn't apply but recruiter reached out to me, therefore I am not that fully prepared. I still have a month to review I learned in school 10 years ago. Thanks.

[@mehmetkaya4330]

So valuable insights!! Great! Thank you very much!

[@justinbentleybse]

Great video, thanks for that!

[@josemaria666]

Than you for sharing valuable information, the day became night on the window.

[@Samastano]

This was indeed some good insight, thank you for this video! ✌✌

[@nitinbhandari4024]

That was such a great piece of advice, couldn't have asked for more. Loved the mindset section and allowed me to think about such an important aspect of learning from interviews rather than focusing on clearing the interviews.

[@tonyb5536]

This is just solid life advice in general. Nice video 👍