30 Technical Interview Questions and Tips for Answering

Key takeaways

Technical interview questions may focus on tools you know, processes you have experience with, and hypothetical situations you may encounter.

• A technical interview is usually part of the interview process at a technology company and typically applies to roles in engineering, product, or design.

• A few strategies for preparing for a technical interview include reviewing the job posting, watching tutorials, and researching the company.

• You can use a mock interview to practice talking about your technical skill set.

Discover what you can expect from a technical interview, including sample questions and tips for answering that can help you prepare. If you’re ready to sharpen your professional skills, enroll in the Goodwill® Career Coach and Navigator Professional Certificate, where in as little as two months, you can learn about active listening, interviewing skills, communication, constructive feedback, and more.

What is a technical skills interview?

Technical interviews are an opportunity for a potential employer to learn about your technical knowledge, including the tools you use and the practical skills you possess. They tend to be more targeted than behavioral interview questions, so interviewers can understand the extent of what you know, your ability to solve problems and think critically, and how prepared you are to begin the role should you get an offer.

Most roles require a variety of job skills, usually some combination of workplace skills (soft skills) and technical skills (hard skills). While workplace skills pertain to how you work, technical skills are those you develop in order to complete a particular function, such as knowing a programming language or how to use a content management system.

A technical interview often happens as part of the interview process at a technology company and applies to certain tech-heavy roles, such as those in engineering, product, or design. In such cases, your technical interview may also include an on-site or remote challenge, such as a whiteboard design challenge or a live coding test. But candidates applying for roles in marketing, finance, sales, or outside of the tech industry may also have to complete a technical interview in order to showcase related technical skills. 

Read more: How to Prepare for the Whiteboard Challenge: A Guide for Your UX Interview

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30 technical questions asked in interviews

We’ve compiled an assortment of common interview questions for both tech-heavy and nontech-heavy roles. With either focus, you can expect technical interview questions to span three primary areas: the tools you know, the processes you have experience with, and hypothetical situations that aim to demonstrate your problem-solving skills.

Each company structures its interview process differently. Before your technical interview, ask the recruiter or hiring manager if they can share anything about the types of questions you can anticipate during this portion of the hiring process. You can also return to the job description for clues about the tools, processes, and situations they may ask about.

Technical interview questions for tech-heavy jobs

The questions below vary by role but give you an idea of questions pertaining to engineering, data analysis, product management, and design. 

Questions about tools

Interviewers ask these questions to learn more about which software, programs, and tools you know how to use. 

• What programming languages do you know? 

• What are some limitations of your favorite programming language? 

• What scripting languages do you know? 

• What design software do you know? Which do you prefer? 

• What product management system do you like using? What’s the best one for scalability? 

Questions about processes

Interviewers ask these to learn more about the way you go about your work and how well you’d potentially transition into your new role.

• How do you go about deploying a product? 

• What statistical methods do you prefer using?

• What are the steps involved in a decision tree? 

• How much time do you spend unit testing? 

• What type of user experience (UX) framework do you prefer? 

Situational questions

Interviewers ask these questions to understand how you solve problems and think critically about certain tools and processes.

• How do you determine what an end user needs?

• What’s the largest data set you’ve ever worked with? How would you handle a data set with variables missing 25 percent of its values?

• How do you treat outlier values?

• Tell me how you’d debug an update.

• What would you change about one of your favorite products? 

It's OK if you don't know how to answer a question right away in the technical portion of your interview. Here's what to expect during the technical interview:

Prepare for your interview in a specific tech function

Use the list below to dive deeper into each role. 

• IT interview

• Scrum Master interview

• Back-end developer interview

• UX designer interview

• Data analyst interview 

Technical interview questions for nontech-heavy jobs

The questions below vary by role, but give you an idea of the types of questions you can expect during a technical interview when applying for roles that fall under marketing, finance, sales, and project management. 

Questions about tools

Interviewers ask these questions to learn more about which software, programs, and tools you know in order to complete the tasks you’ll handle. They may also ask about your familiarity with the major tools they use for day-to-day operations.

• What content management systems (CMS) do you know how to use? 

• What’s your experience working with search engine optimization (SEO)? 

• What customer relationship management (CRM) software do you prefer? 

• Tell me about the budgeting software you used in your last role. 

• What tools have you used to manage a remote team? 

Questions about processes

Interviewers ask these to learn more about the way you go about your work and how well you’d potentially transition into your new role and onto your new team.

• Are you familiar with Agile? When have you used it in the past? 

• How do you ensure a new design meets a company’s brand guidelines? 

• How do you prioritize competing deadlines in a project? 

• How do you handle constructive feedback at each iterative stage?

• How do you ensure the validity of your quarterly projections? 

Situational questions

Interviewers ask these to understand how you solve problems and think critically about your work.

• What’s the biggest budget you’ve managed thus far?

• What is a marketing campaign that’s really caught your eye? Why? 

• How would you describe a project plan? 

• What’s your experience with risk management? 

• How do you determine your audience so you can identify the best tone to take?

Learn more about common questions to expect for marketing roles and project management roles.

How to answer technical interview questions

Answering technical interview questions should go beyond simply discussing what you know. There are ways you can frame your responses that better showcase the depth of your knowledge as well as your other abilities. Use the tips below to get started. 

Talk about your thought process.

Whether you face questions about the tools you’ve used, the processes you’ve followed, or the potential situations you could find yourself in, go one step further and discuss your thought process when explaining your answer. Doing so can be a valuable chance to showcase your critical faculties and help interviewers learn more about you personally. 

What programming languages do you know?

I took time to research whether I should learn Python or R first. I knew that I would end up learning both, especially since I’m interested in moving into statistical analysis at some point. But at the start, Python seemed like the better language to help me get started because it’s so popular. I enjoyed having access to more resources while I learned it. 

Highlight related programs or tools.

You shouldn’t bend the truth if you don’t know how to use a tool, but where possible, use it as an opportunity to call attention to a related or similar program you do know. 

What design software do you know how to use? 

Many of my design friends use Figma, so I’m familiar with it, but I’ve used Sketch in most of my previous roles. Even though they are different, I have every confidence I’d be able to pivot to Figma once I get started, thanks to their overlapping features, especially when it comes to real-time collaboration.

Be proactive. 

It can be scary when you don’t know the answer to a question, but don’t let a knowledge gap stop you. Ask clarifying questions and use your answer as a chance to show off your approach to particular challenges by explaining what you’d do to get up to speed. 

What content management systems do you know how to use? 

I taught myself how to use the social media management programs Hootsuite and Buffer, which will give me a strong foundation as I transition into content management and learn your CMS. Do you offer any in-house training sessions as part of your onboarding? I would plan on taking advantage of those resources. Or if that’s unavailable, I would focus a portion of my first two to three weeks on becoming comfortable with WordPress and how this team uses it. 

How to prepare for a technical interview 

It’s important to prepare for a technical interview because of the specific knowledge you’ll need to demonstrate. Use the tips below to help you. 

Review the job posting. 

Each job posting lists “required” and “recommended” skills; these can often help you understand the tools and skills you’ll need. If the job posting is still available, take time to review it and make a list of the tools, programs, and skills detailed in the description. Note what you know, so you can highlight it during your interview. 

Practice with a mock technical interview. 

If you know your technical interview will include a task or test, spend time practicing in advance. Beyond that, you should spend time practicing how you talk about your technical skill set, the ways you’ve used various tools in the past, and the successes you’ve experienced because of them. If you’ve had challenges, bring those up as well so you can discuss how you overcame them. 

Watch tutorials. 

The longer you are in the workforce, the more technical skills you will acquire. But you can also develop your technical skills on your own time. Take training or tutorials to help you learn important software or processes you can include on your resume or bring up during a technical interview. 

Research the company. 

As with any interview, it’s important to spend time researching the company so you understand its business, its industry, and as much as possible, how it works. For example, if they’re remote, you’ll likely be expected to have some understanding of remote work tools, like Zoom and Slack.

Prepare questions.

You should always come prepared to each interview stage expecting to ask at least two or three questions at the end. With the technical interview, you can ask more about the company’s tools, the kinds of training they offer new employees, and anything else related to the technical skills portion of the work. 

Keep up with tips and trends about the interview process

Subscribe to our Career Chat newsletter on LinkedIn for industry insights, skill-building tips, and networking opportunities. Then, explore our free resources for developing your interview skills:

• Watch on YouTube: How to Answer Final Interview Questions Like a Pro

• Get prepared: Job interviews: How to Confidently Prepare

• Practice: How to Answer Interview Questions with the STAR Method

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