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Prepare for entry-level tech interviews
Interviews
Checklist
- Identify the five most likely technical questions for your role
- Write and rehearse complete answers to each
- Prepare four STAR format behavioural stories
- Test camera, mic, and screenshare if video interview
- Reread the job description the night before
- Prepare two specific questions for the panel
- Research the company: product, customers, recent news
- Send a follow-up email within 24 hours
Failing an interview is almost always a preparation failure, not an ability failure. Structured preparation removes the surprises.
The three buckets
### Bucket 1: Technical baseline (role-specific) Every technical role has a small set of fundamentals that appear in almost every interview. For data analysts it is SQL: joins, aggregations, window functions. For cloud engineers it is networking, IaC, and container basics. For QA engineers it is test case design and a browser automation framework. Identify the five most likely technical questions for your target role. Write out complete answers. Practice saying them aloud, not just writing them.
### Bucket 2: Behavioural stories (STAR format) Prepare four stories in STAR format (Situation, Task, Action, Result) covering: a time you learnt something quickly, a time you made a mistake and corrected it, a time you worked through a disagreement, and a time you delivered under pressure. These stories work across every role. Have them memorised so you can adapt them to any behavioural question.
### Bucket 3: Logistics Test your setup (camera, mic, internet, screenshare) 24 hours before a video call. Read the job description again the night before. Prepare two questions for the panel that show you have thought about the role (not "what is the culture like?" but "how does the team measure quality in this area?"). Know the company: what they do, who their customers are, and one recent initiative or piece of news.
Common mistakes in interviews
Answering "I don't know" immediately without attempting to reason through the problem. Talking for more than two minutes without pausing to check in. Not asking clarifying questions before answering a technical problem. Apologising excessively for nerves. Not preparing questions for the panel.
After the interview
Send a brief follow-up email within 24 hours thanking the panel and referencing one specific thing from the conversation. Not everyone does this; it demonstrates both manners and attention to detail.