This is a very good question from our Discord community. This person is concerned about COVID-19 and other health-related issues, and was asking whether wearing a mask to an interview would have a negative effect on getting a job with a compay, if that company does not require employees to wear masks. -- This episode came from a live-stream event. Drop by any time and ask questions, or message me privately to ask questions anonymously. https://techinterview.guide/streaming Check out all of...

Another anonymous question from our Discord community asked how to "safely" answer a common behavioral question about why you left your previous job. Answering this in a "safe" way comes down to deflecting from the reasons you left and focusing more on why you're a great fit for this job at this company. Focus on the value you bring, not on negative reasons for leaving the last job -- even if they deserve it! -- This episode came from a live-stream event. Drop by any time and ask questions,...

A question from our live Twitch chat asked about getting back into the tech industry after an extended break of 4 years. Their worry is that some of their skills are no longer current, and they would have some learning curve to "get up to speed" on things at any new job. I offer up some advice on how to discuss this at an interview, if it even comes up. -- This episode came from a live-stream event. Drop by any time and ask questions, or message me privately to ask questions anonymously....

Anonymous question from our Discord community about having 5 years of work experience, but recognizing that they're not good at data structure and algorithm questions. They are seeking advice on how best to prepare for FAANG interviews. -- This episode came from a live-stream event. Drop by any time and ask questions, or message me privately to ask questions anonymously. https://techinterview.guide/streaming Check out all of my free content at https://techinterview.guide and the full...

A fantastic question from Twitch chat about advbancement paths as a developer, and whether there is more growth opportunity if they switch to a management track. I draw a lot of parallels between the two tracks. -- This episode came from a live-stream event. Drop by any time and ask questions, or message me privately to ask questions anonymously. https://techinterview.guide/streaming Check out all of my free content at https://techinterview.guide and the full archive of videos on YouTube,...

Leetcode is NOT the only thing to study for interview prep, and people need to stop reading lists that demand that you know "these 1,000 study topics/skills/technologies to be a REAL developer". Stop gaslighting/gatekeeping people! Go apply for the job. -- This episode came from a live-stream event. Drop by any time and ask questions, or message me privately to ask questions anonymously. https://techinterview.guide/streaming Check out all of my free content at https://techinterview.guide...

The tech industry, historically, has always been a good career move, and coming from another career brings a lot of additional value to companies. You will need to demonstrate your skill, and it may be harder that usual to get that first job in tech, but it IS possible. -- This episode came from a live-stream event. Drop by any time and ask questions, or message me privately to ask questions anonymously. https://techinterview.guide/streaming Check out all of my free content at...

We had a great question from Twitch chat tonight asking which skills or technologies a student should be learning to feel prepared to apply for jobs. While there are certainly common tools like Git that will be helpful, it's also important to just GO APPLY FOR THAT JOB. If you wait until you "feel" ready, you'll never be ready. Don't follow advice you read online about "you must know these 1,000,000 things or you're not a developer." -- This episode came from a live-stream event. Drop by any...

A question from Twitch chat about whether I recommend changing jobs in today's economy (in June/July/August 2022, it's a bad economy!) -- This episode came from a live-stream event. Drop by any time and ask questions, or message me privately to ask questions anonymously. https://techinterview.guide/streaming Check out all of my free content at https://techinterview.guide and the full archive of videos on YouTube, https://youtube.com/iandouglas . If you'd like to subscribe to an audio-only...

There are lots of paths in the tech industry and a Twitch user asked how to change to other kinds of roles from their current IT Desktop Support. It comes down to showing your value to a company, but also building up additional skills to combine with your current skillset to provide even more value. -- This episode came from a live-stream event. Drop by any time and ask questions, or message me privately to ask questions anonymously. https://techinterview.guide/streaming Check out all of...

An anonymous question from our Discord community asked how to come up with a catchy "tell me about yourself" answer when they were still a student. This question should summarize the value you bring to the company as an employee, and even students have skills and background that are helpful to a company, even if it's just a fresh perspective. -- This episode came from a live-stream event. Drop by any time and ask questions, or message me privately to ask questions anonymously....

A student dropped by Twitch asking how to start preparing for job interviews while they still have 3 semesters left in school. I talked about how to avoid advice telling you to only grind on leetcode -- yes, that's important but there's SO much more to preparation. -- This episode came from a live-stream event. Drop by any time and ask questions, or message me privately to ask questions anonymously. https://techinterview.guide/streaming Check out all of my free content at...

My advice about how to research companies when you're looking for a safe, stable job when the economy is bad. Right now in July 2022 the economy is not great, tech companies are on hiring freezes or doing layoffs. How do you find companies who are going to make it through this time? -- This episode came from a live-stream event. Drop by any time and ask questions, or message me privately to ask questions anonymously. https://techinterview.guide/streaming Check out all of my free content at...

A Twitch chat question was asking questions about how to find recent interview prepmaterial. I gave some thoughts and then waited for some follow-up while discussing a possible summer vacation, then I got back on the topic. :) -- This episode came from a live-stream event. Drop by any time and ask questions, or message me privately to ask questions anonymously. https://techinterview.guide/streaming Check out all of my free content at https://techinterview.guide and the full archive of...

Another great question from our Discord community about how to break out of the cycle of making the same mistakes in interviews that shake their confidence. -- This episode came from a live-stream event. Drop by any time and ask questions, or message me privately to ask questions anonymously. https://techinterview.guide/streaming Check out all of my free content at https://techinterview.guide and the full archive of videos on YouTube, https://youtube.com/iandouglas . If you'd like to...

A fantastic question from Twitch chat today about how to juggle ALLLLL of the things that a candidate is expected to prepare for interviewing: studying algorithms, data structures, building projects, researching companies, preparing customized resumes and cover letters. How in the world do you do ALL of that? -- This episode came from a live-stream event. Drop by any time and ask questions, or message me privately to ask questions anonymously. https://techinterview.guide/streaming Check...

An anonymous question from Discord asked how to discuss leaving a toxic job during an interview. -- This episode came from a live-stream event. Drop by any time and ask questions, or message me privately to ask questions anonymously. https://techinterview.guide/streaming Check out all of my free content at https://techinterview.guide and the full archive of videos on YouTube, https://youtube.com/iandouglas . If you'd like to subscribe to an audio-only podcast, check out...

Another anonymous question from Discord, asking if, all other things being equal between two candidates, is it beneficial in some way to have references to call, versus not having references to call. One consideration here is WHEN the references would be called, and what they're going to say about you. Most references will only verify your employment from a start date to an end date and little else, depending on the company policies. Some people will over-share information. -- This episode...

Anonymous question from our discord server asking whether two equally-qualified candidates have an advantage over the other if one is already an employee of the company, and the other is external. There are lots of things to consider from a hiring manager's perspective on what our team needs and what the business needs. Certainly, hiring someone who already knows the company is a big plus, but sometimes teams need fresh perspective. -- This episode came from a live-stream event. Drop by any...

A new grad doesn't feel respected in their role, and was curious if they should leave the job and if that would look bad on their resume. I address several things in the answer about communication with their manager to be an effective teammate, because this definitely sounds like something the manager needs to intervene with. If you change your job instead of addressing the problem, you open yourself to more questions later about why you left that job and trying to discuss why it wasn't a...

A user in chat today said that they've taken on more responsibilities at work and wanted to know how to talk to their manager about more compensation. They had started applying for other jobs because that felt less awkward than talking to their current manager. Here are my thoughts about effective communication. -- This episode came from a live-stream event. Drop by any time and ask questions, or message me privately to ask questions anonymously. https://techinterview.guide/streaming Check...

A user in chat currently gets 5 weeks of vacation and wants to make sure any future job gives at least 4 weeks of vacation time. They asked how to negotiate for this without sounding bad. I share some thoughts on the kinds of things which might be more negotiable, but also how to talk to your manager about working something out where you work a little extra and get extra time off that doesn't actually track as vacation time. We also discuss "unlimited" vacation time as well. -- This episode...

Another great question in chat today asking how interviewers grade and rate candidates during the interview process. It breaks down to several stages, and several facets of how you look at your skill and background to see whether it fits into the team. Some have actual scorecards, some are more subjective. -- This episode came from a live-stream event. Drop by any time and ask questions, or message me privately to ask questions anonymously. https://techinterview.guide/streaming Check out...

Ageism is a problem in the tech industry. Some companies will prioritize younger workers who have more energy, fewer ties like family or other commitments which can distract you from your work. I spend some time answering this question talking about how you need to advocate for the direction of your own career, and figuring out what kinds of things you need to learn to continue growing in that direction. -- This episode came from a live-stream event. Drop by any time and ask questions, or...

From our Discord community, we answered a question about what it meant when a recruiter called asking to schedule a one-hour interview so the company could "evaluate their skill". What does this wording even mean, and how should they best prepare for this kind of interview. Here are my thoughts. -- This episode came from a live-stream event. Drop by any time and ask questions, or message me privately to ask questions anonymously. https://techinterview.guide/streaming Check out all of my...