7 Tips to prepare for your coding interview 

Whether you’re a seasoned professional looking for your next role or just starting your career journey, interviews can be daunting. But don’t worry. They’re your chance to highlight your problem-solving and logical thinking that are valuable skills for tech roles. 

According to a McKinsey report, 87% of organisations admit they have a skills gap or will have one in the next few years. This goes to show that there are plenty of opportunities out there! 

Here are seven tips to help you ace your next tech interview — whether you’re aiming for a developer role, data role, or tech-adjacent position.

1. Get to know the company

Research the company you’ve applied to.  

Companies typically design their interview questions around actual challenges with their products and services. When answering questions, try to relate your skills and experience to the company’s current technical challenges or new initiatives.   

What to do:  

• Identify their primary programming languages and practise using them  

• Review company press releases, blogs, LinkedIn content 

• Understand their current challenges and research any recent product or service launches

FDM Recruitment and Assessment Manager, UK and EMEA, Yana Stateva, says

“Ask questions! Make sure you are prepared to ask the interviewer questions. An interview is a two-way process, by enquiring more about the role and the company you will get a better sense if you are the right person for the role.”

2. Strengthen your technical skills

Recent findings show 65% of hiring managers consider hiring candidates with relevant skills even if they’re lacking in work experience. 

Understanding computer science fundamentals, including data structures and algorithms, is an advantage in a technical interview. Spend extra time studying the areas that you’re less familiar with, as the questions that come up in the interview won’t necessarily correspond to what you’ve put on your resumé.

What to do  

• Review relevant high-level concepts (cloud technologies, APIs, HTTP protocols) based on the role you’re applying for  

• Frontend developers can brush up on JavaScript and CSS knowledge  

• Backend engineers can focus on database architecture and system design  

When it comes to coding, FDM Skills Lab Coach, Nikola Ignjatovic believes prioritising readability and consistency is key. Meaningful names should be used to clearly indicate the purpose of variables and functions. Consistent formatting is also key, with indentation, spacing, and coding styles (like lowerCamelCase or snake_case) helping to make code easier to read and understand.  

Comments and documentation should be added to explain complex sections of code, with clear documentation being especially important for larger projects or when collaborating with others.

3. Develop a structured framework for answers   

Having a practical framework for approaching coding and interview questions can help tackle coding problems systematically without getting sidetracked by minor details or running out of time. You need a process that clearly shows your interviewer that you have the right technical knowledge and can break the problem down.  

The STAR method is a great interview technique that allows you to tell a story by giving details about the Situation, Task, Action, and Result. 

It’s an effective way to convey a story that is concise and easy to understand and highlights the problem and resolution.  

It can be a really useful way to structure and audit your responses to questions both in and out of an interview. In fact, hiring managers encourage applicants to use the STAR technique! When used correctly, it makes you sound confident and professional, so you can sell yourself as a worthy candidate.  

4. Practise relevant coding problems

Try to find problems that are relevant to the role and the company. For instance, software engineers are more likely to be asked to complete a concrete task, such as solving an algorithm or debugging a piece of code. Engineering managers will be asked higher-level questions, focusing on the big picture and how it fits the larger company strategy.  

Nikolas suggests “Before writing any code, clearly understand the problem you are trying to solve and plan your solution. Begin by drafting the solution as comments, outlining step-by-step instructions that describe what needs to be done. Then, implement and test the solution step-by-step to show how it’s done.” 

Nikola also advises mastering version control like Git to track changes to your codebase. Aswell as making small, frequent commits to save your work regularly and easily revert to previous versions if needed.

5. Prepare for behavioural questions 

While AI tools can be helpful during preparation, try avoiding becoming overly dependent on them. Interviewers want to see your authentic problem-solving abilities and thought processes. Over-reliance on AI assistance can hinder your ability to think independently during interviews and may not prepare you for the collaborative, real-time problem-solving expected in the role. For more guidance on balancing AI assistance with personal skill development, check out our AI job application tips.   

Technical rounds will commonly begin with a few behavioural questions before you jump into the coding problem. The more concise and clear your answers are to these questions, the more time you save for coding.    

So, prepare your answers to common icebreaker questions, for example: “Tell me about yourself.” Be ready to talk about a couple of projects that you’ve done in the past and rehearse your answer until you’ve got a concise one to two-minute reply that focuses on your impact.  

6. Conduct mock Interviews

Many candidates receive rejections, or lower level offers because they lack interview experience, which represents their actual abilities poorly.   

The only way to get better at talking through your answer, explaining your thought process, applying feedback, and dialoguing with your interviewer is to practice interviewing.    

What to do:  

• Start with friends or family for basic practice  

• Document all feedback and create specific improvement action items  

• Address mistakes during practice to minimise errors in actual interviews  

Yana believes mock interviews are a great opportunity to make sure you’re giving your interviewer enough information and hitting all the talking points you plan to make with enough context, without giving unnecessary details that take away from your answer. Doing mock interviews helps you come up with a structure that works best for you when thinking about the examples you are giving and letting your experience shine through.

 7. Warm up before your interview

Just before beginning your interview, solve a coding problem independently. For virtual interviews, set up equipment early and dedicate 30-45 minutes to practising. For onsite interviews, leave enough time to get to the office and practise beforehand.  

What to do:  

• Ensure a stable internet connection with backup options for virtual interviews  

• Test all equipment and software beforehand  

• Create a distraction-free environment  

Summary  

These seven strategies represent more than interview preparation—they’re your foundation for success. 

Interviewers aren’t just evaluating your ability to write code; they’re assessing potential to drive innovation, lead teams, and contribute to their organisation’s mission.   

At FDM, we believe that the university you attend should not decide your career prospects. We are committed to helping people from various backgrounds, giving them the tools they need to kick-start their careers. Applicants from all degree backgrounds and universities are welcome.  

Interested in launching your career with FDM? Explore our opportunities and apply today.