This is a presentation I delivered as part of the Rock the Technical Interview workshop at the University of Waterloo for Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering and other students. It covers 20 quick tips on having a successful technical interview, especially for a role as a Coop student.

1. 20 Tips from a Startup to
Rock the Technical Interview
Tishan Mills
Co-CEO & Founder, QuickTapSurvey

2. Overview
• A little about me and QuickTapSurvey
• 20 Interview Tips
• The Basics
• Soft Skills
• Technical Stuff

3. About Me
• Grew up in Scarborough (Toronto)
• Started at UW in 1997
• Completed
• BMath ’02 (Computer Science)
• MASc ’04 (Computer Engineering)

4. Before QuickTapSurvey
• Coop Terms
• Ontario Hydro Nuclear (Big
Company)
• Telepresence Systems
(Startup)
• Bell Mobility (R&D)
• Nuance (Menlo Park)
• Microsoft (Redmond)
• Full-Time
• IBM CAS
• Sapient (Tech Consulting)
• IBM (Emerging Tech &
Consulting)
• RBC Dexia (Solution
Architecture)
• RBC (Enterprise
Architecture)

5. QuickTapSurvey
• Founded in 2010
• Bootstrapped & profitable
• No debt

6. What is QuickTapSurvey
• Allows businesses to gather data from a
target audience face to face using mobile
devices
• Customizable software-as-a-service (SaaS)
subscription product

14. In The Past …
• Paper surveys are unreliable,
messy and require a lot of time to
input data
• Web surveys/forms require an
internet connection
• Custom solutions are expensive
and not as robust

15. No Internet
Required
Flexible
Design
Quick and Easy
Setup
Why QuickTapSurvey?

16. 2. Get the App:
Check out your survey on the
QuickTapSurvey app on your
tablet or mobile device.
1. Create your survey:
Surveys are simple to build
with our comprehensive list of
question types!
4. View your data &
take action!
See your results in one
centralized location.
Download in XLS or CSV for
further analysis.
3. Collect data:
Collect responses on a mobile
device - with or without an
Internet connection!
How It Works

17. 90,000+ Users in 100+ Countries

18. Some Customers

19. Who is QuickTapSurvey

20. UW Connection
• Co-Founders are UW alumni
• Ravin Shah & Tishan Mills
• 3 UW customers
• Marketing & Undergrad Recruitment, Research, Human
Resources
• Hiring coops since 2013
• Coops do the same work as full-timers

21. Interview Assessments
• Communication Skills
• Culture Fit
• Ability to Learn
• Interest in the Role
• Technical Knowledge
• Relevant Experience
• Problem Solving Ability

22. 1. Know the Hiring Company
• Google is your friend
• Know the company
• Know the product
• Download / use product

23. 2. Know the Role
• Read the job posting
• Understand the skills required
• Know the product tech stack

24. 3. Dress Code
• Most startups work in a casual setting
• Suit is not required
• Clean + neat = good
• Ask if you are unsure

25. 4. Be Punctual
• Show up early
• Let interviewer know if you will be late

26. 5. Don’t Lie
• You will be caught lying
• Be confident in your ability to learn
• Focus on what you do know

27. 6. Be Enthusiastic
• Always be positive and motivated
• Let interviewer know you want the job

28. 7. Don’t Make Salary a Sticking Point
• If asked, provide a range
• Leave salary discussions for the offer stage
• Be clear on your career goals beyond money

29. 8. Demo Your Work
• Ask for opportunity to demo If time allows
• Demo your own work
• Make sure its not proprietary

30. 9. Take Initiative
• Where you lack experience
• Do your own projects
• Learn the tech on your own

31. 10. Use LinkedIn
• Make sure you have a profile
• Build a network, get recommendations, etc
• We actively recruit on LinkedIn
• Research the interviewer if possible

32. 11. Review Your Past Experience
• Brush up on skills listed on your resume
• Be ready to speak to past experience

33. 12. Know Language Basics
• Known the basics of the language required
for the role
• E.g. Objective C / Swift
• protocol, delegate, category, block
• view controller, NIB
• IBOutlet, property, strong/weak references

34. 13. Source Code Versioning
• Know Git
• How to handle conflicts

35. 14. Coding Test
• To assess:
• Ability to understand requirements
• Coding style
• Problem solving ability

36. 15. Design & Architecture Questions
• Ask questions to clearly define the problem
• Interviewer may be assessing approach and
problem solving ability
• Talk through the problem

37. 16. Networking
• Restful APIs
• Network connections
• SSL/TLS
• Message construction / parsing

38. 17. Databases
• SQL
• Data layer abstractions
• Object relational mappings

39. 18. Design Patterns
• MVC, MVP, Singleton, Factory, Delegation,
Observer, Subscriber, etc

40. 19. Common Data Structures
• Hashmap, Hashtable, Queues, Lists, Sets,
Dictionaries, etc
• Understand pros/cons
• Understand performance / memory

41. 20. Bring Questions
• Prepare meaningful questions
• Some great questions:
• What will I be doing on a day-to-day basis?
• Where do you see the company in 2 years?

42. Summary
• More important than what you know is what
you can learn
• Be confident, positive and honest
• Focus on your strengths
• Learn on your own to build experience

43. We are Hiring for Spring 2017!
• Web Engineer
• iOS Engineer
• Automation Engineer
• QA Analyst
• Customer Success

44. Questions
Twitter: @tishanm
LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/tishanmills
Jobs: careers@quicktapsurvey.com
Web: www.quicktapsurvey.com