Preparing for interviews isn’t easy. There is a variety of topics to refresh and the amount of unknowns is infinite. However, there are a few resources and steps that can make the process a lot easier.
- Go over the projects / programs you’ve worked on
Make sure you are prepared to discuss the details of architecture, system design as well as the design of your programs, including their roadmaps. What were some of the challenges both technical and non-technical such as the team dynamics. What was the role you played in resolving those technical challenges, political issues, dependencies, team conflicts, etc? Use star method: Situation, Task, Action, Result. Use “I” to emphasize the role you’ve played, instead of “we” which shows your level of ownership wasn’t as high. What was your contribution to the design? Leadership alignment? Communication? Overcoming technical and or interpersonal challenges? Be prepared to describe above points in a lot of detail. Be prepared to discuss both successes and failures and be able to explain what could have been done differently.
2. Read System Design Interview book by Alex Xu
This book is exceptional in helping you understand the system design concepts to prepare you for the technical part of the interview. The volume 2 is already available as well. If it is as good as the first volume, then it is absolutely worth your time and money.
There are also some excellent youtube videos that go over a number of possible scenarios. Here is the one I’ve done that go over major aspects of system design.
3. Read Essential Scrum: A Practical Guide to the Most Popular Agile Process book
This is without a doubt one of the best books on Agile ever written. It contains amazing amount of practical detail, explained perfectly. It illustrates challenging concepts in a form that is very easy to digest. Must read for your interview prep.
4. Take an amazing comprehensive course Ace The Technical Program Management Interview! by a phenomenal teacher and an exceptional TPM practitioner Mario Gerard.
Mario created a pure gold for anyone preparing for a TPM interview. This is an absolute must for your TPM interview prep.