
Ask HN: What to say on an interview for a Junior position? - soneca
Hey HN, I&#x27;m learning to code (web, JS, React) for the last 6 months and now I am looking for my first job as a software developer. I&#x27;m 37 yo, my professional background is mostly in marketing.<p>I have 3 interviews tomorrow and 1 more Wednesday (and a few more to come I expect).<p>All tech interview advice out there talks about algorithms and whiteboards, but from what I saw in my first two interviews, they are not this kind of interview. Maybe it was chance, but I have the impression that these algorithm questions are more common to senior positions. Mostly so far saw my code through my portfolio or asking me to build them challenges.<p>So, what do you think senior developers expect to get from a junior developer they are hiring?<p>I understand that this changes a lot from place to place, but of my 4 interviews, one is for a local, fairly big e-commerce (I live in São Paulo, Brazil); one is for the local office of an international, but small startup; one is remote for a British small startup; and one is remote for a german funded startup. So a diversity of opinions is good too.<p>Thanks!
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camhenlin
I think that, for junior positions, I am more interested in hearing about
passion for the craft of software development, and for someone who is excited
to learn new things. To exhibit that, I'd expect one to be able to talk about
new technologies they've been working with, things that they enjoy about said
tech, and projects that they've been working on to help them learn and grow.

For interviewing for the remote jobs specifically, as an interviewer I
recommend the following: Do everything you can to be in the most quiet
environment possible. Do everything that you can to have the best internet
connection possible. Got roommates? Ask them to not be home. Have a couple
pandora streams going around the house for ambience? Shut them off, they're a
waste of bandwidth. Next, you may be asked to share your screen at some point.
Clear everything remotely offensive or even noteworthy. Don't have a model
posing on a sports car as your background image, don't have a bunch of links
to porn sites or torrent sites or whatever in your favorites bar on your
browser, and no hugely cluttered messes of files with crazy file names, etc.
Last, kill all the distractions: shut off your phone, smart watch, and kill
all of the background IM notifications on your computer.

Good luck!

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scmoore
I've interviewed a handful of people for junior positions, so take this with a
grain of salt. I usually look for:

* Basic coding ability -- maybe a couple simple whiteboard questions, or walk through some code

* Able to learn things -- talking about past projects, interesting things they've learned, ask them to explain their past work to me (doesn't have to be tech)

* Able to ask decent questions -- Unfortunately I don't have a good standard for this, but generally I like candidates that can form a straightforward question about the role, the company, the tech stack, really anything.

Basically for a junior position, I am not looking for someone who will deliver
a lot of value on day 1. Instead I am looking for someone who is curious,
learns quickly, and can learn the necessary skills to deliver value later. A
quick learner will be great in a year, a slow learner or someone who doesn't
care to learn will not.

Good luck!

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soneca
Thanks, very helpful!

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byoung2
_All tech interview advice out there talks about algorithms and whiteboards_

Even senior positions I've applied for don't ask these questions all the time.
I've gotten them maybe 25% of the time overall, with the majority at hip
startups (e.g Whisper), not big companies (e.g. Clearchannel, CAA).

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1ba9115454
It's best if you can to get them talking about what they are looking for.
Sometimes people have agendas they want to fill.

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olivercreashe
Say: hello, good to meet you <shake hand>. My name is <your name> and I am
applying for a junior position.

Then look at them in the eyes and let them speak in return.

And so on and so forth.

Good luck!

