Interview preparation roadmap · Business
Running several related projects: planning across teams, risks, dependencies, metrics and communication.
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- 01Interview foundations
- 02Program fundamentals
- 03Data & decisions
- 04Technical context
- 05Practice
- 06Behavioral & HR
- 07Company & final prep
01Interview foundations
What every interviewer sees first.
01.1Resume
A one-page resume you can defend line by line.
What this covers
- One-page format — Reverse-chronological, clean fonts, no photos or tables that confuse parsers.
- Project bullets — Action + what you built + a number (users, speed, accuracy).
- Skills section — Only skills you can answer questions on for two minutes.
- ATS readability — Export a text-based PDF and check it with a parser.
- Working links — GitHub, LinkedIn and a live project link that open.
- Tailoring — Reorder bullets to match the job description.
What to practise
- Run your PDF through a parser test
- Rewrite each bullet as action + result
- Remove any skill you can't explain for 2 minutes
Common questions
- Walk me through your resume.
- Which project here are you most proud of, and why?
- Why is this skill on your resume?
Free resources
- OpenResume — Free ATS-friendly resume builder and parser test (Free)
- Jake's Resume (Overleaf) — The LaTeX resume template most SDE freshers use (Free)
- Resume Worded — Resume and LinkedIn scoring (Free plan)
- Jobscan — Match your resume against a job description (Free plan)
Free courses
- Professional Resume Writing — Alison (Free course)
- Resume, Networking, and Interview Skills — Fullbridge (Free to audit)
01.2Tell me about yourself
A 60–90 second answer: present, past, why this role.
What this covers
- Present — Who you are now: degree, year, focus.
- Past — One or two proof points: a project, internship or result.
- Future — Why this role and this company next.
- Length — 60–90 seconds; stop before you list everything.
- Delivery — Calm pace and eye contact, not a memorised script.
What to practise
- Write it, then say it out loud 5 times
- Record yourself and cut anything over 90 seconds
Common questions
- Tell me about yourself.
- Why should we hire you?
- Where do you see yourself in a few years?
Free resources
- Google Interview Warmup — Free spoken mock interview that prints your transcript (Free)
- BBC Learning English — Structured free English lessons and podcasts (Free)
Free courses
- English@Work: Basic Job Interview Skills — The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Free to audit)
- Job Interview Preparation For Tech Professionals — University of Cape Town (Free to audit)
01.3LinkedIn & online presence
A profile that matches your resume and shows your work.
What this covers
- Headline — Role you want plus your strongest skill.
- About section — Three lines: what you do, proof, what you want next.
- Featured work — Projects, GitHub, portfolio or writing links.
- Consistency — Dates and titles match your resume.
- Clean public footprint — Check what a search of your name shows.
What to practise
- Rewrite your headline and About section
- Ask one senior for a review of your profile
Free resources
- LinkedIn — Job alerts and, more importantly, referrals (Free)
- OpenResume — Free ATS-friendly resume builder and parser test (Free)
Free courses
- Building a Professional LinkedIn Profile - 2022 — Alison (Free course)
- Create Your Resume, Cover Letter, and LinkedIn Profile — Aptly (Free to audit)
02Program fundamentals
The main rounds.
02.1Project management
Planning, tracking and delivering projects on time.
What this covers
- Scope & planning — Work breakdown, estimates, milestones.
- Scheduling — Dependencies, critical path, buffers.
- Risk & issues — Risk registers and mitigation.
- Agile & waterfall — When each fits; Scrum basics.
- Tracking & reporting — Status, RAG reports, dashboards.
- Tools — Jira, Trello, MS Project or sheets.
What to practise
- Plan a small project with a timeline and risk list
- Run a mock sprint planning with friends
Common questions
- How do you handle a project that is running late?
- Difference between agile and waterfall?
- How do you manage scope creep?
Free resources
- Atlassian Agile Coach — Agile, Scrum and Kanban explained (Free)
- The Scrum Guide — The official, free definition of Scrum (Free)
- Microsoft Learn — Free training for Azure, Python, data and AI (Free)
Free courses
- Project Management : Planning, Execution, Evaluation And Control — IIT Kharagpur (Free course)
- Software Project Management — IIT Kharagpur (Free course)
- Project management for managers — IIT Roorkee (Free course)
02.2Stakeholders & leadership
Influencing without authority and handling disagreement.
What this covers
- Mapping stakeholders — Who cares, who decides, who is affected.
- Communication — Regular updates and no surprises.
- Disagreement — Data, empathy, escalation as a last step.
- Leading teams — Setting goals, feedback, recognition.
- Stories — Prepare two real examples.
What to practise
- Write two STAR stories about influencing someone
- Practise giving feedback in a role-play
Common questions
- Tell me about a time you influenced someone without authority.
- How do you handle a difficult stakeholder?
Free resources
- Atlassian Agile Coach — Agile, Scrum and Kanban explained (Free)
- Tech Interview Handbook — Free guide to coding and behavioral interviews (Free)
Free courses
- Team Leadership and Team Management — Great Learning (Free course)
- Leadership Skills for Beginners — Great Learning (Free course)
- Project Communications, Stakeholders & Leadership — SkillUp EdTech LLC (Free to audit)
02.3Product execution
Shipping: specs, working with engineering and handling problems.
What this covers
- Writing specs — Problem, goals, scope, success metrics.
- Agile delivery — Sprints, standups, backlogs.
- Working with engineering & design — Trade-offs and clear decisions.
- Launches — Rollouts, risks, communication.
- When things go wrong — Delays, bugs, scope changes.
What to practise
- Write a one-page spec for a small feature
- Describe a launch plan with risks
Common questions
- A launch is slipping by two weeks. What do you do?
- How do you write a good product spec?
Free resources
- Atlassian Agile Coach — Agile, Scrum and Kanban explained (Free)
- The Scrum Guide — The official, free definition of Scrum (Free)
- Exponent — Product, data and engineering interview questions and guides (Free plan)
Free courses
- Agile Product Management — Great Learning (Free course)
- Diploma in Product Management: Agile, Analytics, and AI — Alison (Free course)
- Build product roadmaps — Microsoft (Free course)
03Data & decisions
Measuring progress.
03.1Business metrics
KPIs, funnels and retention: the language of analytics interviews.
What this covers
- KPIs — Revenue, conversion, active users, churn.
- Funnels — Step-by-step conversion and drop-offs.
- Retention & cohorts — Who comes back and when.
- Unit economics — CAC, LTV, margins.
- North-star metrics — One metric that reflects value delivered.
What to practise
- Define 5 KPIs for an app you use
- Build a cohort retention table from sample data
Common questions
- What metrics would you track for a food delivery app?
- Daily active users dropped 10%. What do you check?
Free resources
- Exponent — Product, data and engineering interview questions and guides (Free plan)
- StrataScratch — Real SQL and Python data interview questions (Free plan)
- Mode SQL tutorial — SQL for analysis, from basics to window functions (Free)
Free courses
- Mastering 11 Essential Business KPIs — Alison (Free course)
- Top Five KPIs for Small Businesses — Alison (Free course)
03.2Excel for analysis
The spreadsheet skills many analyst roles test live.
What this covers
- Formulas — IF, SUMIFS, COUNTIFS, text and date functions.
- Lookups — XLOOKUP, INDEX-MATCH, VLOOKUP limits.
- Pivot tables — Summaries, filters, calculated fields.
- Charts — Choosing the right chart, clean formatting.
- Cleaning data — Duplicates, text to columns, trimming.
- Speed — Shortcuts and tidy layouts.
What to practise
- Analyse a public dataset with pivots and charts
- Rebuild one report using XLOOKUP and SUMIFS
Common questions
- How does VLOOKUP differ from XLOOKUP?
- How would you find duplicates in a column?
Free resources
- Excel Easy — Free Excel tutorial from basics to pivot tables (Free)
- Excel help and learning — Microsoft's own Excel training videos (Free)
- Khan Academy — Maths and science from scratch (Free)
Free courses
- Excel for Beginners — Great Learning (Free course)
- Excel for Intermediate Level — Great Learning (Free course)
- VLOOKUP in Excel — Great Learning (Free course)
03.3Prioritisation & roadmaps
Choosing what to build next and defending the choice.
What this covers
- Frameworks — RICE, impact vs effort, MoSCoW, and their limits.
- Trade-offs — Short-term wins vs long-term bets.
- Roadmaps — Themes and outcomes rather than feature lists.
- Saying no — Explaining decisions to stakeholders.
- Data and judgment — When numbers are missing.
What to practise
- Prioritise a backlog of 10 ideas and explain it
- Turn a feature list into an outcome roadmap
Common questions
- You have three features and capacity for one. How do you choose?
- How do you handle a stakeholder whose request you deprioritised?
Free resources
- Atlassian Agile Coach — Agile, Scrum and Kanban explained (Free)
- Exponent — Product, data and engineering interview questions and guides (Free plan)
Free courses
- Build product roadmaps — Microsoft (Free course)
- The Productization of a Vision: Linking Operations to Strategy — The University of Maryland, College Park (Free to audit)
04Technical context
For technical program roles.
04.1System design basics
More common for experienced roles; some fresher rounds touch it.
What this covers
- Client–server basics — Requests, APIs, stateless servers.
- Load balancing — Spreading traffic across servers.
- Caching — What to cache, where, and invalidation.
- Databases at scale — SQL vs NoSQL, replication, sharding.
- Queues — Async work and decoupling.
- Classic problems — URL shortener, chat, news feed.
What to practise
- Design a URL shortener on paper
- Explain trade-offs, not just boxes
Common questions
- Design a URL shortener.
- How would you scale a read-heavy app?
Free resources
- System Design Primer — Open-source guide to designing large systems (Free)
- GeeksforGeeks — Company-wise questions and theory (Free plan)
Free courses
- System Design Concepts Course and Interview Prep — freeCodeCamp (Free video)
04.2How the web works
HTTP, browsers and the request lifecycle that web interviews build on.
What this covers
- HTTP basics — Methods, status codes, headers.
- Cookies, sessions & tokens — How login state is kept.
- Caching — Browser cache, CDN and cache headers.
- CORS — Why browsers block cross-origin calls and how servers allow them.
- REST vs GraphQL — Trade-offs at a basic level.
- From URL to page — DNS, TCP/TLS, request, render.
What to practise
- Inspect one site's network tab and explain each request
- Explain "type a URL and press Enter" in 3 minutes
Common questions
- What happens when you type a URL?
- What is CORS?
- Difference between cookies and local storage?
Free resources
- MDN Web Docs — The reference for HTML, CSS and JavaScript (Free)
- Full Stack Open — University of Helsinki's React/Node course (Free)
- GeeksforGeeks — Company-wise questions and theory (Free plan)
Free courses
- Programming & Web Development Crash Courses — Traversy Media (Free video)
- Sigma Web Development Course - Web Development Tutorials in Hindi 🗿 — CodeWithHarry (Free video)
- Web Development Course — Apna College (Free video)
05Practice
Rehearse it out loud.
05.1Mock interviews
At least two full practice interviews before the real one.
What this covers
- Realistic setting — Same format, time limit and dress as the real round.
- Common questions first — Introduction, motivation, experience, weaknesses.
- Feedback — Ask what was unclear or too long.
- Recording — Watch yourself once; fix fillers and pace.
- Role questions — Add 3–5 questions specific to your field.
What to practise
- Do two mock interviews with a friend or senior
- Use a spoken practice tool and read the transcript
Common questions
- Tell me about yourself.
- Why this role?
Free resources
- Google Interview Warmup — Free spoken mock interview that prints your transcript (Free)
- Pramp / Exponent peer mocks — Free peer-to-peer mock interviews (Free plan)
- Tech Interview Handbook — Free guide to coding and behavioral interviews (Free)
Free courses
- Software Engineering Job Interview – Full Mock Interview — freeCodeCamp (Free video)
06Behavioral & HR
How you work with people.
06.1Behavioral & STAR
Stories about teamwork, conflict and failure, told with STAR.
What this covers
- STAR structure — Situation, task, action, result. Spend most of the time on action.
- Story bank — 6–8 real stories you can reuse across questions.
- Teamwork & conflict — Disagreeing respectfully and what you changed.
- Failure & weakness — A real one, what you learned, what you do now.
- Ownership — Times you took initiative without being asked.
- Common HR questions — Why us, why you, strengths, relocation.
What to practise
- Write 6 stories in STAR form
- Map each story to 2–3 common questions
- Practise one story with a friend
Common questions
- Tell me about a time you failed.
- Describe a conflict in a team and what you did.
- What is your biggest weakness?
Free resources
- Tech Interview Handbook — Free guide to coding and behavioral interviews (Free)
- Google Interview Warmup — Free spoken mock interview that prints your transcript (Free)
- Pramp / Exponent peer mocks — Free peer-to-peer mock interviews (Free plan)
Free courses
- Master Behavioral Interviews (for Software Engineers) — freeCodeCamp (Free video)
- Behavioral Interview Practice for Computer Science Students — CodeSignal (Free to audit)
- Soft Skills For Tech Professionals — University of Cape Town (Free to audit)
06.2Strengths & weaknesses
Honest strengths with proof, and a real weakness you are working on.
What this covers
- Strengths with proof — Pick 2–3 and back each with one short example.
- A real weakness — Not a disguised strength; something you are actively improving.
- What you are doing about it — The habit, course or system that shows progress.
- Fit to the role — Strengths that matter for this job, not any job.
What to practise
- Write three strengths with one example each
- Practise the weakness answer until it sounds calm, not rehearsed
Common questions
- What are your greatest strengths?
- What is your biggest weakness?
- How would your friends or teammates describe you?
Free resources
- Google Interview Warmup — Free spoken mock interview that prints your transcript (Free)
- Indeed career guide: interviewing — Articles on common interview questions and answers (Free)
- Tech Interview Handbook — Free guide to coding and behavioral interviews (Free)
Free courses
- Software Engineering Job Interview – Full Mock Interview — freeCodeCamp (Free video)
- A Complete Job Interview Skills Guide — Alison (Free course)
- English@Work: Advanced Job Interview Skills — The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Free to audit)
06.3Common HR questions
The questions almost every HR round asks, answered honestly and briefly.
What this covers
- Why this company — Specific reasons from your research, not praise.
- Why should we hire you — Match two needs of the role to your proof.
- Gaps and changes — Explain gaps, backlogs or a branch change without excuses.
- Relocation, shifts, bonds — Know your real answer before the interview.
- Career goals — A realistic next step, connected to this role.
- Notice period and joining — Facts you should have ready.
What to practise
- Write short answers to ten common HR questions
- Say them aloud to a friend and cut anything over a minute
Common questions
- Why do you want to join us?
- Where do you see yourself in five years?
- Are you open to relocation?
- Why did you choose your branch or degree?
Free resources
- Indeed career guide: interviewing — Articles on common interview questions and answers (Free)
- Google Interview Warmup — Free spoken mock interview that prints your transcript (Free)
- AmbitionBox interviews — Interview experiences and company reviews from Indian candidates (Free)
Free courses
- Software Engineering Job Interview – Full Mock Interview — freeCodeCamp (Free video)
- A Complete Job Interview Skills Guide — Alison (Free course)
- Interview Preparation Skills for Accountants — Alison (Free course)
07Company & final prep
The last 48 hours.
07.1Company research
The product, the role, the job description and recent news.
What this covers
- The business — What it sells and to whom.
- The role — What the job description really asks for.
- Recent news — Launches, results, announcements.
- Interview format — The rounds, if the company shares them.
- Your fit — Three reasons, matched to the job description.
What to practise
- Write 3 reasons you want this role
- Match 3 JD lines to your experience
Common questions
- Why do you want to work here?
- What do you know about our product?
Free resources
- GeeksforGeeks — Company-wise questions and theory (Free plan)
- Tech Interview Handbook — Free guide to coding and behavioral interviews (Free)
07.2Questions to ask
Two or three good questions for the end of the interview.
What this covers
- About the team — How work is planned and reviewed.
- About growth — Mentoring, learning, the first 90 days.
- About the product — What is hard right now.
- What to avoid — Questions a quick search answers.
What to practise
- Write 5 questions, keep the best 3
- Prepare one question about the team's own product
Common questions
- Do you have any questions for us?
Free resources
- Tech Interview Handbook — Free guide to coding and behavioral interviews (Free)
07.3Salary & offer basics
How to read an offer, answer salary questions and compare offers.
What this covers
- CTC vs in-hand — CTC includes PF, bonuses and benefits; in-hand is what you receive monthly.
- Fixed vs variable — Variable pay and joining bonuses may have conditions.
- Bonds and clawbacks — Read the service agreement before you sign.
- Answering "expected salary" — Give a researched range or ask for theirs first.
- Comparing offers — Role, learning, location and in-hand pay, not only CTC.
What to practise
- Look up salary ranges for the role and city
- Calculate in-hand pay for one sample offer
Common questions
- What are your salary expectations?
- Do you have any other offers?
Free resources
- Levels.fyi — Salary data shared by employees, mostly tech roles (Free)
- AmbitionBox interviews — Interview experiences and company reviews from Indian candidates (Free)
- Glassdoor interview questions — Interview questions and reviews shared by candidates (Free plan)
07.4Final checklist
Logistics, documents, setup and a calm night before.
What this covers
- Logistics — Time, timezone, link or address.
- Documents — Resume copies, ID, certificates if asked.
- Tech check — Camera, mic, internet, charger.
- Night before — Sleep, light revision, no new topics.
What to practise
- Do a 5-minute tech check the day before
- Lay out documents and clothes the night before
Free resources
- Google Interview Warmup — Free spoken mock interview that prints your transcript (Free)
07.5Job & interview safety
Spot fake offers, payment requests and fake interview links.
What this covers
- Payment requests — Real employers don't charge for jobs or training.
- Email domains — Check it matches the company's own site.
- OTPs & logins — Never share them with anyone.
- Fake interview links — Care with unknown chat apps and downloads.
- Reporting — The 1930 helpline and cybercrime.gov.in.
What to practise
- Check one recent offer against these rules
- Confirm the opening is listed on the company's own careers page
Free resources
- National Cyber Crime Portal — Report online fraud and job scams (Free)
- Have I Been Pwned — Check if your email appears in a data breach (Free)