What to Expect After the Skills Challenge

Thoughts January 9, 2023 By: Steph Barlow

Recently applied to a job at Iversoft? We'll walk you through what to expect after your skills challenge so you'll know every step of the hiring process.

So you’ve submitted your skills challenge and you’ve received the green light to move forward. Depending on the role you will be meeting with different team members for a more in-depth interview than you previously had with our recruiter. These team members could either be the hiring manager, a coworker or whomever leads the team you will be a part of. At Iversoft we have different interview stages that you will encounter based on the role you’ve applied for - the Technical Interview and the Follow-Up Interview.

Technical Interview

The Technical Interview is more extensive compared to the HR interview and is scheduled for an hour. During this time you will have conversations about multiple technical aspects related to your experience and the role.

We will start the interview by getting to know each other better (we always share the interviewer’s LinkedIn profile before the interview). You are encouraged to speak about yourself, your hobbies, and why you chose to work in the software industry. Then you can share what your motivations for the future are, and what your short-term and long-term goals might be.

We will then transition into talking about your experience in detail, what your everyday work looks like, what methodologies you follow and what challenges you face regularly. The conversation will be more technical, focusing on the technologies, methods and tools you use, which ones you prefer, in which context, and why. Ultimately our goal is to make sure you have the right technical skills fit for the role you are applying for. We do this by discussing your coding challenge or written assessment you submitted in advance and asking situational questions about your relevant previous work experience.

Applying for a development role? The technical interview also includes a small live code review at the end so we can see your collaboration skills in action.

Follow-Up Interviews

For most of our positions, proceeding the technical interview there is a follow-up interview with different team members focusing more on behavioural questions to make sure you have the right soft skills for the role. This could include everything from documentation, testing, client & colleague communication, and how you fit with our company values.

At Iversoft our ideal employee showcases teamwork, collaboration, strong communication, honesty, and a willingness to try new things.

How Can You Prepare?

At this stage of the hiring process, we are trying to see if you share the same passion and if your skills are aligned with our needs. Here are some tips that would help you be a step ahead.

Review the Job Description

Understanding the needs of the employer is crucial. Employers include all of this information in their job descriptions. First, review the responsibilities and requirements. Interview questions are structured around these so your ability to be comfortable speaking about your experience with each requirement is an asset. Missing some of those skills? That’s ok! Think about any potential transferable or related skills you might have or a situation where you had to take on learning a new skill for a project and highlight those instead. Want to stand out even more? Iversoft includes “Nice to Haves” in most job descriptions. These are items that aren’t required for the position but help you to stand out even more as an all-star candidate. Be sure to bring up any to the hiring manager!

An important note - if you have any questions about anything in the job description, bring it up in the interview. We always make sure there is time for questions and we want to ensure you are just as comfortable with us as we are with you!

Be Comfortable Speaking About Your Resume

The hiring manager will be asking questions about your previous roles to get an understanding of the team structures you have worked in and what environments you have experience with. Speaking about yourself - that sounds easy, right? However, these are often questions that you might not have prepared for, which is why you need to make sure that you know your resume well and are able to speak to the details related to experiences you have had.

Research the Company

The fact that you are reading this article means you are on the right path! Knowing the company will help you learn about the projects and the kinds of challenges the company undertakes. This will help you get a clearer picture of the challenges you will be facing, and will help you ask good questions about what you can expect from working with us, what type of projects you could be involved in and what kind of challenges you might encounter.

Take a Deep Breath!

We want you to feel comfortable during your interview, so feel free to have coffee, tea, or water at your desk and make sure your interview space is comfortable. It’s good to check in advance that your internet connection is stable, and your camera and microphone are working. There is nothing more stressful than dealing with technical difficulties while you are trying to get into your video call so do all your troubleshooting in advance.

We also want to ensure that you get all of the information you require from us. Feel free to ask any questions about how we work, our policies, our culture - whatever you want! An interview is a two-way street. You need to be comfortable that you have all the information you need to make a decision about your future employment, so don’t hesitate to cover everything.