Key takeaways
- Coding bootcamps can provide accessible and dependable pathways to careers in the tech industry.
- As part of the coding bootcamp admissions process, applicants may be required to undergo a coding bootcamp interview.
- This article offers tips to help prepare future students to successfully answer coding bootcamp interview questions and increase their chances of entering a coding career.
Congratulations! You’ve decided to take the next step toward a career in the tech industry. Coding bootcamps offer a plethora of advantages to aspiring programmers, web developers, and other key players in the tech space. Once you’ve decided you want to attend a coding bootcamp, your application process might include an interview with the bootcamp staff. How can you make sure you’re armed with the knowledge and skills you need to ace this interview and become a bootcamp student?
Recently, coding bootcamps have become popular for people who want to learn how to code with the hopes of breaking into the tech industry. Most coding bootcamps are intense training programs designed to teach skills like data science, full-stack web development, UX/UI design, and programming languages like PHP, JavaScript, Ruby on Rails, Python, and more. Coding bootcamps can range from 12-24 weeks of training. In this competitive environment, you can develop your coding skills to give you an edge in the ever-growing field of tech.
The ease and convenience of coding bootcamps have contributed to the rise in their popularity. Bootcamps offer a flexible approach to learning how to code by allowing students flexibility and autonomy to take control of their professional futures. One benefit of attending a coding bootcamp is that you don’t need a college degree or employer sponsorship to apply and enroll. This makes it a viable option for anyone who may have just lost their job or wants to pursue an alternative career path.
However, to get accepted by a coding bootcamp, you’ll need to undergo an interview, or a series of interviews, as part of the application. The coding bootcamp interview process is your chance to show the admissions team that you’re not only capable of completing the bootcamp courses but also have the work ethic and commitment to complete the coding bootcamp.
Answering tech interview questions is quite different from traditional job interview questions. The purpose of this interview is to identify future students who are passionate about coding and have a desire to create innovative solutions for the future. For someone who hasn’t been through it before, the bootcamp interview can be a daunting experience, but this article is here to help.
Below, we share some of the possible coding bootcamp interview questions you may encounter and tips on how to answer them. We’ll also run through common coding interview mistakes and how to avoid them.
Understanding the coding bootcamp interview process
As you devise a strategy to tackle coding bootcamp interview questions, you first need to understand how the interview process works. The coding bootcamp interview process is meant to evaluate the individual in two major ways: technical capabilities and the ability to fit in with the bootcamp’s culture and learning style.
In other words, coding bootcamp interview questions are often a two-part process:
1. Tell us about yourself and why you want to attend this school.
2. Solve a given coding problem.
The first question is meant to get to know you and learn more about your background and interests to decide whether you and the program would be a good fit for each other. The second is intended to determine your level of skill and knowledge, and inform the instructors of how much time and how many resources you may need in order to succeed in the bootcamp.
Common coding bootcamp interview questions to expect
In a coding interview, you may encounter a variety of challenging questions. If you’re not prepared for these types of questions, your coding bootcamp interview might not go the way you want.
Coding bootcamp interview questions are designed to identify how much you know about the basics of coding and whether you can think quickly on your feet. Questions are often associated with the candidate’s coding experience and their technical skills. It’s important to prepare answers for these questions in advance so you can be ready when an interviewer asks them.
For the sake of clarity, we’re dividing these questions into two main categories: technical questions and non-technical questions.
Technical questions
Technical interview questions are used to ascertain your skills for the specific role you are applying for. The bootcamp you’re hoping to attend might assume you’re already familiar with basic coding skills, so your technical interview may include questions about your existing coding knowledge, such as programming languages and concepts.
While some of these questions might be based on your previous coding experience, others might be rooted in your basic understanding of programming logic, data structures, and algorithms.
The following are examples of common questions that may be asked during a coding bootcamp interview.
- What web development languages do you know? How would you go about solving a given problem in this language?
- What was the last language you learned? Why did you pick this language? How long did it take you to learn it?
- What is the difference between binary and hexadecimal?
- What is the difference between a variable and a constant?
- What are the best ways to debug programs?
- How does memory management work?
- Can you explain what you know about data structures with arrays?
In most cases, you’ll undergo a technical coding challenge at the end of your interview. An example of this is the onsite whiteboard coding interview. During a whiteboard coding interview, you’ll work with an interviewer on a problem, and they’ll watch how you solve it. This will test your coding abilities in real time.
If you don’t have coding experience, you may wonder how to answer these questions. Most coding bootcamps have introductory courses for novices, so you can arm yourself with the necessary knowledge by taking a few online courses before applying to a coding bootcamp. This will help you gain an understanding of basic coding concepts and become familiar with your specified programming languages.
If you’ve been studying for a while, then all you need to do is review the basics and practice solving programming problems before the technical interview.
Non-technical questions
The purpose of non-technical questions is to gauge a candidate’s personality and soft skills to determine their fit for the bootcamp.
Common non-technical questions might include the following:
- Tell us about yourself and your professional background.
- What type of projects have you worked on?
- What would you say are your strengths and weaknesses?
- How do you deal with stress and frustration when programming?
- How do you navigate working in a team environment?
- Tell us about a time when you’ve worked independently with minimal supervision.
When answering common questions like these, it’s best to get straight to the point and avoid long answers. Try to remain confident, yet humble. When appropriate, don’t forget to talk about your relevant experiences and projects.
In the next section, we’ll be looking at common coding bootcamp interview mistakes and how to ensure you don’t make them.
Common coding bootcamp interview mistakes and how to avoid them
Coding bootcamp applicants often make mistakes that might cost them their spot in the program. Here are some of the common mistakes applicants make during coding bootcamp interviews.
- Inadequate responses to basic coding questions. An applicant might not be able to answer basic questions about coding. This is a red flag to interviewers that they may not be ready to commit to the rigorous coursework that comes with a coding bootcamp.
If an applicant has no prior programming experience, they may lack knowledge of how programming works and will take longer than expected to catch up to their peers. - Misinterpreting the questions. The inability to interpret a question and answer in a clear and thoughtful way might indicate that the applicant has poor comprehension of basic concepts.
- Giving up too quickly. What’s worse than answering a question ineffectively is not answering it at all. Interviewers want to see that you can reply to difficult questions with confidence and think on the spot.
- Dispassionate responses. Coding bootcamp staff want to accept students who are passionate not only about coding but also about their professional futures. They want to produce graduates who are likely to succeed because it makes their institution appear more desirable to incoming students.
How to ace your coding bootcamp interviews
Interviewing for a coding bootcamp can be overwhelming. There’s a lot of pressure to perform well, and it’s not always easy to know what is expected of you. To ensure you show up to your interview in your best form and increase the chance of nailing your interview, here are a few helpful tips.
- Do some pre-interview research. It’s important to research the coding bootcamp you want to attend so that you can explain why you want to attend if they ask. Doing this pre-work also allows you to come up with your own questions to ask the interviewer, which can show you’re interested.
- Practice difficult coding questions. Before your coding bootcamp interview, practice working through difficult coding problems so you arrive at your interview confident in your abilities. Coming prepared is key to impressing your interviewer.
- Carry out a mock interview. A mock interview is a simulation of a real interview. During a mock interview, you get to practice answering coding bootcamp interview questions as well as completing difficult coding problems that you may face.
One of the best ways to do this is to set up a mock interview with someone who knows the industry well. This will give you an idea of possible questions you may be asked and learn what the bootcamp is looking for from potential candidates. - Take care of other pre-interview logistics. Coding bootcamp interviews can be done in person or through video conferencing software such as Zoom or Google Meet. No matter the means, make sure you’re on time, dressed professionally, and well-rested!
You’re ready to nail this interview
With the above knowledge, tips, and strategies, you can take the necessary steps to prepare for your coding bootcamp interview experience and increase your chances of securing a spot in your most desired bootcamp. Good luck!
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