The first thing you need to consider is that interviews should not be something that you go to when you don’t have a job anymore. You should have at least 1-2 interviews every year so that you accurately assess your worth on the job market as a programmer, reduce the anxiety related to interviews, and see what benefits other programmers get in addition to the salary.
1. Be professional
If you need to go to an office, make sure that you are clean, dressed appropriately, you have a neat appearance, show up on time, your telephone is on mute, you pay attention to the questions, you reply with confidence, you maintain normal eye contact and a good posture.
If your interview is online, make sure that Zoom, Microsoft Teams or whatever tool you use for the interview works fine before the interview (test the camera and the microphone). Also, clean the space behind you and do what you can to not get interrupted by other people or loud noises.
2. Show interest in the company
Many companies will ask you questions like: “What do you know what our company?” or “Why do you want to work for our company?”. If you didn’t read about them in advance, even if you manage to answer something short and general, a follow-up question requiring more details will show the interviewer that you are not really interested in their company, you just need a job. This is not a very bad thing, but with the competition that is now in the IT industry, showing interest in the company products, services and talking about how you are aligned with their values can be the small winning difference between you and the other programmers which are just as good as you are.
3. Communicate efficiently
Programmers who have great communications skills are preferred since they have better interactions with their colleagues, managers and they can explain in a way that others can understand their code and their strategy. That is why, during the interview, you need to prepare for questions like: “How do you handle conflict? Can you give me an example of a tense situation in your previous workplaces where you were involved?”
You can be a great programmer, have the most advanced skills, be very efficient at your job, but if you frustrate all the people around you by mumbling when you reply to their every question or not expressing yourself in a clear and concise manner, they will prefer a better communicator.
If you don’t manage to communicate better than the average programmer, then you will have a higher probability to only pass the interviews that are paid below average since the conditions have changed and now companies can find people that have both the technical skills and the interpersonal skills for the job.
4. Present your experience
When the interviewers ask about your experience, they already have you C.V., so they are actually asking about the details that are not there, but might be relevant to the job that you want. In order to avoid talking about details that are not relevant, make sure that you pay attention to the job description and highlight the requirements and skills that are mentioned in the job description such as: how much time you have spent at each job working with a particular technology or tool, what is your level of knowledge for the programming languages that they require, what was your contribution to the projects that you were a part of.
5. Make sure your foundation is solid
Some programmers can have a lot of working experience, they learned as they practiced and don’t know the theory behind their everyday coding. Having a solid foundation, building on the basics gives you the structured thinking that the companies want. That is why it’s important to read about the basic principles behind your skills, to know how to explain in a clear manner specific terms and programming concepts and to be able to see the bigger picture and where your skills fit it.
Conclusion
Going to interviews even when you are happy with your job will not only give you the chance to find an even better job, but will also help you determine what is the difference between your current salary and your value as a programmer in the current job market. Then, when you will go and ask for a raise you will know exactly how much to ask. Moreover, if you manage to get an offer after the interview, you can use it during negotiations as leverage to get exactly the amount you asked for.