How do Software Engineering Candidates Prepare for Technical Interviews?
To obtain employment, aspiring software engineers must complete \textit{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.
Mon 23 JunDisplayed time zone: Amsterdam, Berlin, Bern, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna change
10:30 - 12:30 | Employability and Professional CompetenceSoftware Engineering Education at Sirius Chair(s): Guttorm Sindre Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) | ||
10:30 20mTalk | Advancing Software Product Management Education: Insights from an Industry Survey Software Engineering Education Hannah Estes North Carolina State University, Katie Hollowell North Carolina State University, John Cheek North Carolina State University, Shiv Patel North Carolina State University, Hanna Reese North Carolina State University, Kathryn Stolee North Carolina State University | ||
10:50 20mTalk | How do Software Engineering Candidates Prepare for Technical Interviews? Software Engineering Education Brian Bell Virginia Tech, Teresa Thomas Virginia Tech, Sang Won Lee Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Chris Brown Virginia Tech | ||
11:10 20mTalk | Navigating Academic Careers in Software Engineering: An Empirical Study of Faculty and Postdoctoral Roles Software Engineering Education Mohamad Kassab Boston University, USA | ||
11:30 20mTalk | Teamwork Quality in Agile Capstone Courses: Insights from 790 Software Engineering Students Software Engineering Education Camilla Kielland Lund University of Oslo, Idunn Stabell University of Oslo, Viktoria Stray University of Oslo / SINTEF, Yngve Lindsjørn University of Oslo | ||
11:50 20mTalk | Preparing Autistic Students for the AI Workforce Software Engineering Education JiWoong (Joon) Jang Carnegie Mellon University, Ren Butler Carnegie Mellon University, Rory McDaniel Independent, Aidan San University of Virginia, D. Matthew Boyer Clemson University, Somayeh Asadi University of Virginia, Richard Kubina, Jr Penn State University, Taniya Mishra SureStart, Andrew Begel Carnegie Mellon University | ||
12:10 10mTalk | Enhancing Learning and Mitigating AI-Assisted Misconduct: A Case of Using Video Assignments in a High-Enrollment Software Engineering Course Software Engineering Education Andrey Saltan Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology (LUT) | ||
12:20 10mTalk | UML Crisis! An Educational Perspective Software Engineering Education Zheng Li Queen's University Belfast, UK, Aidan McGowan Queen's University Belfast, Yan Liu Concordia University, Wahab Hamou-Lhadj Concordia University, Montreal, Canada | ||
Sirius is located just behind the registration desk.
Facing the registration desk, its entrance is on the right.