Prepare for developer interviews
What each stage tests, how to answer behavioural questions, and a system design framework.
4 November 2026
A common interview process
Stages vary by company, so ask the recruiter what to expect.
1.Recruiter call
Fit, visa, notice period, salary.
2.Technical screen
Live coding or a take-home.
3.Deep dive
Coding, and system design for senior roles.
4.Behavioural
How you work with people.
5.Offer
Package and start date.
System design: a framework for the whiteboard
1.Requirements
Clarify users, scale and limits.
2.API and data
Define endpoints and a data model.
3.High-level design
Draw the main components.
4.Deep dive
Pick the hardest part and go deep.
5.Trade-offs
Failures, cost, and what you would change.
Behavioural answers: STAR
SituationTaskActionResult
Our release kept failing (S). I had to make it reliable (T). I added canary deploys and alerts (A). Rollbacks became rare (R).
In the coding round
Avoid
- Coding in silence straight away
- Hiding when you are stuck
- Stopping once the code runs
Do this
- Restate the problem and ask questions first
- Say what you are thinking and ask for a hint
- Test edge cases and discuss complexity
Prepare before the day
- 5 stories: a success, a failure, a conflict, a deadline and a technical decision
- A clear explanation of your best project
- Practice problems on the common patterns
- 3 real questions about the team
- Camera, audio and coding tool tested