Imagine the moment in a technical interview when a tricky question casts a sudden hush, and every rehearsed answer fades, leaving one to navigate the silence with poise.
This shared experience is where candidates for roles in software engineering, IT and data science are tested not only on their technical knowledge but also on their problem-solving agility and communicative clarity.
Handling such situations effectively is crucial for success in these fields. But technical interviews are unpredictable — and nerve-wracking — by nature, and successfully crossing the finish line of this tightrope walk is a challenge for even experienced professionals.
These interviews are more than gateways to new career opportunities — they’re a proving ground for those who will shape the future of technology. With the right mindset and preparation, one can transform this challenging experience into a triumphant entry into their next professional chapter.
As candidates prepare for technical interviews and aim to increase their chances of success, Built In asked team leaders at CarGurus and MobilityWare to share what candidates can expect during the interview process — and how to pass with flying colors.
CarGurus moves the car shopping experience online, offering an all-in-one platform that guides customers from selling to financing and delivery.
What do technical interviews look like at CarGurus? What is the primary objective of the hiring manager?
Interviews for technical roles at CarGurus have several steps. Though details vary by position, they are likely to include a combination of coding, whiteboarding, system design and discussion. Collectively, they help our team confirm that you have the qualities, skills, and experiences to be successful in the role. They also allow you to meet prospective team members and ask questions to help you assess if the opportunity is the right next step, given your interests and goals. We want you to be as excited about CarGurus as we are about you.
You’ll kick things off with a phone screen with a technical recruiter who’ll have worked closely with the hiring manager to understand the position’s needs and the qualities and skills they believe will help someone succeed in the role. From there, we’ll do a video call and interactive coding session administered by an engineer on the team through coderpad.io. If you continue with the process, you’ll have four more one-on-one discussions with the hiring manager and key team members to go into more depth on your background, skill set, goals and questions. These may include additional coding assessments to gauge your abilities and learn more about you.
What are a few questions you might ask during a technical interview? What resources could a prospective jobseeker use to prepare?
In our technical interviews, we try to simulate real problems that you might encounter in your work at CarGurus. The exact questions vary depending on the role and objectives, but behind all of them is our desire to find solutions that put our customers first. So, as you think through possible solutions, put yourself in the users’ shoes. What would they want or need from this particular feature of the site? How can it be scalable and — even better — add incremental value?
"As you think through possible solutions, put yourself in the users’ shoes.”
To prepare for these types of questions, I suggest that candidates try to understand CarGurus ahead of the discussion, particularly who our end users are and what we are trying to help them achieve. Think about what feedback you might have on the site, as this may come up when we talk.
What is your number one tip for a jobseeker looking to ace the technical interview? How can they stand out from the pack?
We place a premium on curiosity at CarGurus. We want to hire people who ask questions that help us unlock new opportunities and solutions. Being curious is also the cornerstone of having a growth mindset. We expect that you’ll be open to new concepts, perspectives and experiences in order to learn from them.
To stand out in a CarGurus interview, discuss and demonstrate your curiosity and growth mindset. As you reference past experiences in our discussion and offer up your solutions to problems we present, be sure to share your thinking along the way and what you learned from doing so. Reflections like these are key to our ability to drive innovation as we continue to build the first end-to-end transaction-enabled automotive marketplace.
MobilityWare is one of the leading publishers of mobile card and puzzle games. With popular titles like Solitaire, FreeCell, and MONOPOLY Solitaire, the company’s games have garnered over 600 million downloads.
What do technical interviews look like at MobilityWare? What is the primary objective of the hiring manager?
Our technical interviews are tailored to each individual by including a series of questions about the candidate’s experience as presented on their resume and common questions that apply to the specific position. There will often be a few rounds of interviews from different departments, which may include a panel of two to three people each.
Our goal is to learn as much as we can about a candidate to have confidence in their fit for the position. The interview process is designed to see if the prospective new hire has the aptitude for the position and the attitude necessary to be a valued team member.
What are a few questions you might ask during a technical interview? What resources could a prospective jobseeker use to prepare?
A few examples of questions I have asked candidates during previous interviews at MobilityWare:
- Relative to your work experience, share a story about a time you were asked to complete a project that was outside of your expertise. How did you communicate the expectations of the project? How did you become familiar with the subject to complete the work?
- Design Problem: Given the explanation of our CI/CD system at various iterations, share your thoughts on the pros and cons of the solution. What are some solutions you would propose to improve on some of the weaknesses? Consider any layers of the stack, such as hardware demands, network throughput, cost, demand of maintenance and so on.
In terms of what resources a potential hire could familiarize themselves with in preparation for a technical interview at MobilityWare, I recommend the following:
- Know your resume well and be able to defend and elaborate on any part of it.
- Come prepared with your own personal highlight reel of stories to showcase your abilities.
- Research principles of the SDLC.
“We want to see how a candidate demonstrates initiative, learns new skills, tackles challenges head-on and communicates clearly, efficiently and effectively.”
What is your number one tip for a jobseeker looking to ace the technical interview? How can they stand out from the pack?
When we’re interviewing candidates for a position, we’re not only evaluating how their technical skills would apply to the role but also less tangible aspects, such as their ability to communicate effectively and acclimate to our company culture. We also want someone who can demonstrate the ability to grow as the team grows. The technology we’re using today is very different from just five years ago, so we need someone who can demonstrate both a willingness to learn and a track record of proactively seeking opportunities to add to their skill set.
To put it succinctly, we want to see how a candidate demonstrates initiative, learns new skills, tackles challenges head-on and communicates clearly, efficiently and effectively.
