Congratulations! You got this interview request but feel as though you aren’t qualified for the position and don’t know what’s expected of you. Stop right there.

Never feel under qualified. Especially after you were chosen for an interview. Not all jobs, specifically internships, expect you to know the ins and outs of the industry, but your transferable skills and experience thus far made them think you’re qualified enough for the role.

 Now that that’s out, you may be expecting technical questions on this interview that you’re not really sure how to prepare for. Fear not, we’re going to go through some tips on how to ace this!

 1) Talking out loud

 You should be talking to yourself while figuring out the question. This gives the interviewer an opportunity to see how you think, so even if you’re wrong or not fully on par, they have an idea of how you approached the question. Believe it or not, this can say a lot about who you are as a candidate and how you think your way through these questions. If you’re interviewing for a CS role, some things you can say are:

 “Let’s get a rough version of this working first and then make it better” or “Let’s make sure the setup works first” or “I’ll do it like this for now, and if we have time, I’ll come back and do it”

2) Studying the field in depth

The more you know, the better. A simple Google search of the job role and what they do can further your learning about what they do on a day-to-day basis. From here, you can learn more about how people in this role apply technical skills and can better prepare yourself for a question that may be similar. This shows that you have a detailed idea of the job, even if you don’t get the answer right.

 3) Taking your time

Just because the interviewer is waiting for your answer to the question, that shouldn’t make you feel pressured to give an answer; especially when you know that taking an extra couple of minutes can yield a better answer. If they don’t tell you how much time you have to answer the question, ask them to get an idea, and if you need more time, don’t be afraid to take it.

 Overall, simply researching the position you’re applying for can give you an idea of what the technical questions will be like, and saying what you know, even if it's not correct, can say a lot more than you think.