The presentation from our Houston Meetup on September 25, where guests could learn interview tips, resume do's and don'ts, and how to ace your future technical interviews.

3. Creating an
impactful resume

4. Do’s Don’ts
• Spell check
• Keep it balanced
and aesthetically
pleasing
• Ensure consistent
formatting
throughout
• Bullet points
aligned
• Same
font/font size
used
throughout
• List current skills
• Make it too wordy
• Waste valuable real estate
on skills that aren’t
relevant to the position
• Make lists of every
technology that you’ve
ever heard of under ‘Skills’

6. Map the Location the
night before
Keep in mind if the interview
is downtown you need extra
time for parking
If the interview is in a high-
rise building, often times you
have to go through security
or have someone escort you
to the correct floor
Pick out your
outfit and have
it laid out the
night before
Less stress in
the morning!
Print out a few
copies of your
resume
Bring them in a
portfolio or folder
to have ready in
case they introduce
you to someone you
weren’t anticipating
meeting.
Be Personable with
everyone you
encounter at the
office
Employers will often
consult everyone who
spoke with you to
find out if you are a
cultural fit in the
office

7. The Interview
The STAR method is a structured manner of responding to a behavioral-based interview
question by discussing the specific situation, task, action, and result of the situation you are
describing.
Situation: Describe the situation that you were in or the task that you needed to accomplish.
You must describe a specific event or situation, not a generalized description of what you have
done in the past. Be sure to give enough detail for the interviewer to understand. This situation
can be from a previous job, from a volunteer experience, or any relevant event.
Task: What goal were you working toward?
Action: Describe the actions you took to address the situation with an appropriate amount of
detail and keep the focus on YOU. What specific steps did you take and what was your
particular contribution? Be careful that you don’t describe what the team or group did when
talking about a project, but what you actually did. Use the word “I,” not “we” when describing
actions.
Result: Describe the outcome of your actions and don’t be shy about taking credit for your
behavior. What happened? How did the event end? What did you accomplish? What did you
learn? Make sure your answer contains multiple positive results.

10. In as much as this interview may be called a code or
whiteboard test, interviewers are looking for the
following:
1. It is not so much a test of your coding skills but
a test of your problem-solving skills.
2. They want to know how you think on the spot
3. How you collaborate with colleagues (Business
Analyst, Dev Team, QA).
4. How you troubleshoot when you hit a roadblock
5. If there’s a bug in your code or it doesn’t pass
quality-assurance testing, how do you make
changes?
6. They are assessing whether you ask for feedback
during the interview process or prefer to keep it
all in your head until the end. So if you are
stuck, ask questions.
7. They are watching your reaction under pressure
during the interview. If you have trouble making a
decision, process it out loud.

11. 1. Buy a white board or get a large pieces of paper with
some markers and practice.
2. Research about the company and what type of business
they do.
3. Have a list of practice questions in line with the
company’s business
4. Stimulate a mock interview session with experienced
friends and technical interviewers to evaluate your
strengths and weaknesses so you can properly prepare
for the real thing. Practice makes perfect.
5. Watch, listen and ask question while someone else demo
a whiteboard interview.
6. Practice thinking out loud. Interviewers want to know
what you are thinking and how you approach challenging
questions
7. Practice your speaking and presentation skills
8. Get some sleep and set your alarm the night before the
interview.
9. Plan to arrive 30 minutes before the interview in order
to give you some time to do a last-minute prep before
you begin the interview.
Preparing for Technical whiteboard interview