How do Software Engineering Candidates Prepare for Technical Interviews?

Abstract

To obtain employment, aspiring software engineers must complete technical interviews -- a hiring process which involves candidates writing code while communicating to an audience. However, the complexities of tech interviews are difficult to prepare for and seldom faced in computing curricula. To this end, we seek to understand how candidates prepare for technical interviews, investigating the effects of preparation methods and the role of education. We distributed a survey to candidates (n = 131) actively preparing for technical interviews. Our results suggest candidates rarely train in authentic settings and courses fail to support preparation efforts -- leading to stress and unpreparedness. Based on our findings, we provide implications for stakeholders to enhance tech interview preparation for candidates pursuing software engineering roles.