Interview preparation roadmap · Technology
Secure coding, web and cloud security, and system design, often with a coding round.
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- 01Interview foundations
- 02Coding
- 03Foundations
- 04Security core
- 05Role-specific
- 06Company & final prep
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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)
01.3Behavioral & 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)
02Coding
Many security engineer loops include coding.
02.1Programming fundamentals
One language you know well: syntax, memory, complexity.
What this covers
- One language deeply — C++, Java or Python: syntax, standard library, quirks.
- Time & space complexity — Big-O of loops, recursion and common operations.
- Recursion — Base cases, the call stack, when it overflows.
- Memory basics — Stack vs heap, references vs values, garbage collection.
- Strings & arrays — Immutability, copying and slicing costs in your language.
- Debugging — Reading errors, dry runs, using a debugger.
What to practise
- Solve 10 easy problems without an IDE's help
- Explain the complexity of each solution aloud
Common questions
- What is the time complexity of your solution?
- What happens in memory when you call a function?
- Difference between an array and a linked list?
Free resources
- Harvard CS50x — The best first CS course there is (Free)
- HackerRank — Where many campus tests actually run (Free)
- GeeksforGeeks — Company-wise questions and theory (Free plan)
Free courses
- CS50's Introduction to Programming with Python (CS50P) 2022 — Harvard University (Free video)
- MIT 6.100L Introduction to CS and Programming using Python, Fall 2022 — Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Free video)
- Programming in Modern C++ — IIT Kharagpur (Free course)
02.2Data structures & algorithms
The core problem-solving topics commonly assessed in software interviews.
What this covers
- Arrays & hashing — Frequency maps, prefix sums, duplicates.
- Two pointers & sliding window — Pairs, subarrays and substrings in O(n).
- Stacks & queues — Brackets, monotonic stacks, BFS queues.
- Linked lists — Reversal, cycle detection, merging.
- Trees & BST — Traversals, height, LCA, validation.
- Graphs — BFS, DFS, topological sort, shortest paths.
- Binary search — On sorted arrays and on the answer.
- Dynamic programming — 1D and 2D DP, from climbing stairs to knapsack.
What to practise
- Follow one list end to end, not five
- Say the brute force first, then improve it
- One timed problem a day
Common questions
- What is the difference between BFS and DFS?
- How does a hash map handle collisions?
- Find the first non-repeating character in a string.
Free resources
- NeetCode 150 — A curated ordered list instead of 3000 random problems (Free)
- Striver's A2Z DSA sheet — India's most-followed DSA sheet (Free)
- LeetCode — The default interview practice set (Free plan)
- GeeksforGeeks — Company-wise questions and theory (Free plan)
Free courses
- Data Structures and Algorithms Design — IIT Kanpur (Free course)
- MIT 6.006 Introduction to Algorithms, Spring 2020 — Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Free video)
- Neetcode 150 Course - All Coding Interview Questions Solved — freeCodeCamp (Free video)
03Foundations
Systems and networks.
03.1Computer networks
The OSI/TCP-IP layers and what happens when you open a URL.
What this covers
- OSI & TCP/IP models — What each layer does.
- TCP vs UDP — Reliability, handshakes, use cases.
- IP addressing — IPv4, subnets, private vs public.
- DNS — How a name becomes an address.
- HTTP & HTTPS — Methods, status codes, TLS basics.
- Type a URL, press Enter — The full journey, start to finish.
What to practise
- Explain "type a URL and press Enter" in 2 minutes
- Draw the TCP three-way handshake from memory
Common questions
- TCP vs UDP?
- What happens when you type google.com?
- What is DNS?
Free resources
- GeeksforGeeks — Company-wise questions and theory (Free plan)
- Beej's Guide to Network Programming — Plain-English networking and sockets, free online (Free)
Free courses
- Computer Networks and Internet Protocol — IIT Kharagpur (Free course)
- Computer Networks — IIT Madras (Free course)
03.2Operating systems
Processes, threads, scheduling, memory and deadlocks.
What this covers
- Processes & threads — Differences and context switching.
- CPU scheduling — FCFS, SJF, round robin, priority.
- Synchronisation — Race conditions, mutexes, semaphores.
- Deadlocks — The four conditions, prevention, avoidance.
- Memory management — Paging, segmentation, virtual memory.
- Page replacement — FIFO, LRU, optimal.
What to practise
- Draw the process state diagram from memory
- Explain a deadlock with a real example
Common questions
- Process vs thread?
- What are the four conditions for deadlock?
- What is virtual memory?
Free resources
- OSTEP (Operating Systems: Three Easy Pieces) — Free operating systems book, chapter by chapter (Free)
- GeeksforGeeks — Company-wise questions and theory (Free plan)
Free courses
- Introduction to Operating Systems — IIT Madras (Free course)
- Operating Systems Course for Beginners — freeCodeCamp (Free video)
- Operating System Fundamentals — IIT Kharagpur (Free course)
03.3Linux & the command line
Everyday commands, permissions and processes.
What this covers
- Navigation & files — ls, cd, find, grep, less.
- Permissions — chmod, chown, users and groups.
- Processes — ps, top, kill, background jobs.
- Networking tools — curl, ping, ss, dig.
- Shell scripting — Variables, loops, pipes, exit codes.
- Logs & services — journalctl, systemctl, tail -f.
What to practise
- Solve the first 15 levels of a command-line wargame
- Write a script that backs up a folder daily
Common questions
- How do you find which process uses a port?
- What does chmod 755 mean?
Free resources
- OverTheWire: Bandit — Command-line security games, level by level (Free)
- Professor Messer — Free networking and IT support video courses (Free)
- MIT OpenCourseWare — Real MIT course material, free (Free)
Free courses
- Command Line Hacking – Over The Wire Bandit Walkthrough (CTF Wargame) — freeCodeCamp (Free video)
- Linux for Absolute Beginners — Alison (Free course)
- Linux Basics: The Command Line Interface — Dartmouth College (Free to audit)
04Security core
Finding and fixing weaknesses.
04.1Security fundamentals
Core security concepts every security interview starts with.
What this covers
- CIA triad — Confidentiality, integrity, availability.
- Authentication & access — MFA, least privilege, access control.
- Cryptography basics — Hashing vs encryption, TLS, keys.
- Common attacks — Phishing, malware, brute force, MITM.
- Network security — Firewalls, IDS/IPS, segmentation.
- Frameworks — A basic idea of risk, policy and compliance.
What to practise
- Complete a beginner path on a hands-on lab platform
- Explain how HTTPS protects a login
Common questions
- Difference between hashing and encryption?
- What is a man-in-the-middle attack?
- How would you secure a new laptop for an employee?
Free resources
- TryHackMe — Hands-on security labs in the browser (Free plan)
- OWASP Top 10 — The standard list of web application risks (Free)
- Professor Messer — Free networking and IT support video courses (Free)
- OverTheWire: Bandit — Command-line security games, level by level (Free)
Free courses
- Diploma in Cyber Security — Alison (Free course)
- Network Security — Great Learning (Free course)
- AI in Cybersecurity: Vulnerability, Intelligence, Security, and Ethics — Alison (Free course)
04.2Web application security
The web vulnerabilities interviews ask about, and how to fix them.
What this covers
- Injection — SQL injection and parameterised queries.
- XSS — Stored, reflected, DOM; output encoding.
- CSRF & SSRF — How they work and defences.
- Broken access control — IDOR and authorisation checks.
- Auth & sessions — Secure cookies, password storage.
- Security testing — Scanning, manual testing, reporting.
What to practise
- Solve ten web security labs
- Write a short report for one vulnerability you found in a lab
Common questions
- How do you prevent SQL injection?
- What is XSS?
- Explain the OWASP Top 10.
Free resources
- PortSwigger Web Security Academy — Free web security lessons and labs (Free)
- OWASP Top 10 — The standard list of web application risks (Free)
- TryHackMe — Hands-on security labs in the browser (Free plan)
Free courses
- Web Security Fundamentals — KU Leuven (Free to audit)
- Application Security for Developers — IBM (Free to audit)
- OWASP Top 10 & Common Attack Vectors with Java (1-5) — CodeSignal (Free to audit)
04.3Cloud fundamentals
Compute, storage, networking and identity on one major cloud.
What this covers
- Compute — VMs, containers, serverless.
- Storage & databases — Object, block, managed databases.
- Networking — VPCs, subnets, load balancers, DNS.
- Identity & access — Users, roles, least privilege.
- Cost & regions — Pricing basics, availability zones.
- Shared responsibility — What the provider secures and what you do.
What to practise
- Deploy a small app using free-tier services
- Draw your app's cloud architecture
Common questions
- What is a VPC?
- Difference between horizontal and vertical scaling?
- How would you make an app highly available?
Free resources
- AWS Skill Builder — AWS's own training, many courses free (Free plan)
- Microsoft Learn — Free training for Azure, Python, data and AI (Free)
- Google Cloud Skills Boost — Labs and paths for GCP and AI (Free plan)
Free courses
- Virtual Cloud Computing — Great Learning (Free course)
- Introduction to Cloud Infrastructure: Describe cloud concepts — Microsoft (Free course)
- Cloud Computing Architecture — Great Learning (Free course)
04.4Security operations (SOC)
Monitoring, detecting and responding to threats.
What this covers
- Logs & SIEM — Collecting and searching security events.
- Detection — Indicators of compromise, alerts, triage.
- Incident response — Contain, eradicate, recover, learn.
- Threat intelligence — Using known attacker patterns.
- Vulnerability management — Scanning and prioritising fixes.
What to practise
- Investigate a sample alert in a SOC lab
- Write an incident timeline from sample logs
Common questions
- How would you respond to a phishing report?
- What is a false positive?
Free resources
- TryHackMe — Hands-on security labs in the browser (Free plan)
- Professor Messer — Free networking and IT support video courses (Free)
Free courses
- AZ-500: Manage security operations — Microsoft (Free to audit)
- Azure Security Operations Foundation — Microsoft (Free to audit)
- Preparing For Security Operations Analyst Interviews and Assignments — Microsoft (Free to audit)
05Role-specific
Design and projects.
05.1Projects & resume defense
Explaining what you built, why, and what you would change.
What this covers
- The problem — What it solves and for whom.
- Your role — Exactly what you built yourself.
- Architecture — A simple diagram: frontend, backend, database.
- Hardest bug — What broke and how you found it.
- Trade-offs — Why this stack; what you would change now.
- Scale questions — What happens with 10x the users.
What to practise
- Prepare a 2-minute walkthrough per project
- Be ready to draw its architecture
Common questions
- What was the hardest part of this project?
- Why did you choose this tech stack?
- How would it handle 10x more users?
Free resources
- Tech Interview Handbook — Free guide to coding and behavioral interviews (Free)
- Pramp / Exponent peer mocks — Free peer-to-peer mock interviews (Free plan)
Free courses
- Software Engineering Concepts — MIT OpenCourseWare (Free course)
- Build community-driven software projects on GitHub — Microsoft (Free course)
05.2System 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)
05.3Technical mock interviews
At least two full coding mocks before the real one.
What this covers
- Thinking aloud — Narrate your approach before and while coding.
- Clarifying questions — Confirm inputs, scale and edge cases first.
- Handling hints — Take them gracefully and adapt.
- "I don't know" — Say what you do know and how you would find out.
- Review the recording — Fillers, pace, unclear explanations.
What to practise
- Do two peer mock interviews
- Record one spoken mock and listen back
Common questions
- Walk me through your approach before you code.
- How would you test this?
Free resources
- Pramp / Exponent peer mocks — Free peer-to-peer mock interviews (Free plan)
- Google Interview Warmup — Free spoken mock interview that prints your transcript (Free)
- Tech Interview Handbook — Free guide to coding and behavioral interviews (Free)
Free courses
- Software Engineering Job Interview – Full Mock Interview — freeCodeCamp (Free video)
06Company & final prep
The last 48 hours.
06.1Company 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)
06.2Questions 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)
06.3Final 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)
06.4Job & 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)