A Random Day as an Interviewer

Yesterday I had to attend a career fair as an interviewer, representing my company. I only got to know about it the day before yesterday 😅. It was actually a really nice experience, and I just wanted to note it down along with some of my thoughts about people, the industry, and expectations.

First thing, a lot of students are looking for internships. It was a huge crowd. I had some idea that many people have shifted into the IT industry, but I never thought it would be this much from a single batch. It’s almost 2000 students in one batch. When you think about the numbers, this year alone there are at least more than 10k people looking for internships.

So the hard truth is, there aren’t enough jobs for that much of a crowd. That’s the first thing.

Second thing, you still have a chance.
Out of those people I've interviewed, 3 out of 4 didn’t even know there’s something called a design pattern. Even half of them didn’t know data structures beyond an array. I mean, they knew some names since it was in their modules (some didn’t even know the names 😅). Even when asking about OOP, they were counting on their fingers to remember what they missed.

This could be because it’s their first interview. I totally understand that. But for most of them, it wasn’t just nervousness… they just didn’t know.

Not everyone was like that though, there were a few really smart, bright minds too. So if you can get into that “brilliant” space, you’re already ahead of most of the race.

I don’t know about others, but most of my questions were built around “why”, not “how.”
Like:

• Why did you choose React?
• Why did you make this decision here?
• Why a linked list instead of an array?
• Why Singleton?
• Why REST APIs instead of something else?

Personally, I think why is more important than how. The how usually comes after the why. But most of them didn’t have an answer for why. They only knew how.

Also, in interviews I only expect the basics like OOP, SOLID, data structures and algorithms, and a simple idea about design patterns. The rest is about the person's creativity, confidence, and enthusiasm.

I think if you have these 😊 not perfectly, but at least some understanding of the basics + good qualities in how you present yourself you can be a really strong candidate.

And man… please do things by yourself. Don’t just rely on what lectures teach you. If you’re a government university student in Sri Lanka, this might hit harder. Some faculties have very few lecturers, and some of them only have a degree and don’t even have proper industry experience. Also, no proper syllabus in some places.

So if you’re just going to rely on that… good luck 😅
Do your own homework, guys.

No one is going to give you everything on a plate. You need to put in the work yourself. Learn, go through YouTube, ask GPT. Not just how, ask why.

So this is for you,

if you’re a hard worker, you still have the opportunity. But if you’re looking for an easy path… I have some doubts about that.

And lastly, I had a few questions about “vibe coding” when I had doubts about some candidates.

Man… if vibe coding is enough, why would we hire you? We can just hire a business analyst or someone else with a higher salary to do both. If you’re just blindly prompting GPT, that doesn’t make you an engineer.

Use AI tools to improve efficiency and creativity. But the decisions should be yours. Or at least, you should have enough knowledge to review those decisions. Not just code. its decisions.
Like:

• Should we separate this into a different component?
• Which design pattern should we use, and why?

You can discuss with GPT or any AI tool, but to validate things, you need your own knowledge.

Finally this is actually a good time if you have passion and are willing to work hard. You still have a chance in this industry.

Just try to learn beyond what lectures teach you. I’m not saying lectures are useless they also doing a great job inside their space. But you definitely need to do extra work.

All The Best kiddos