I am a machine learning engineer and this is my interview checklist. It helps me to feel calm and confident before an interview. And it is curated with the intent of covering every single detail so I know for sure that I have done my absolute best to get prepared.
You can expect to find in here logistic tips, bathroom schedules, makeup tutorials, and technical cheat sheet.
I will keep updating this document and please comment to let me know if you have any other tips/rituals that I should adopt.
Global TODO
Company
- Follow them on LinkedIn, Twitter, Angellist, anywhere they have a public prescence
- Create weekly Google Alert to stay informed on their news
- If they offer a product, sign up and give it a try. If they have an app, download it and play with it for a few minutes.
Interviewer
- Learn the recruiter/interviewer’s name beforehand. It’s okay to ask for the correct pronunciation over email.
- Check their LinkedIn and note down how long they have been with the company and maybe one other company they have worked for. It’s good if you can find anything in common but it’s NOT necessary.
Mindset
- Never forget all interviews are a mutual selection process.
- They want this to work out as much as you do. Imagine having to post the same job description again on another platform, screen 50 more resumes, make 20 more calls and leave 15 voicemails. The later stage you are in the interview, the more they root for you and hope you are the one.
- Try your best to sound excited and curious. Fake it if you have to. You never know where an opportunity will go. And even if it never worked out, you can still build a professional connection.
- Try your best to be polite and grateful, even the other company is not treating you with the respect you deserve. Hold yourself with a higher standard. Talk to a career coach or mental health professional if you are feeling stressed or mistreated.
Recruiter Call
Previous day
- Print out job description
- Print out resume
- Highlight keywords in the job description and how your resume matches them. Prepare the stories you will tell to demonstrate how your value matches theirs.
- Write down and print out your answers to: “Tell me about yourself” / “Why are you leaving your current company” / “What’s your compensation expectation” or any question you were frequently asked, and practice speaking them out loud.
- Charge your headphone if needed (I recommend wireless so you have less clutter on your desk during interviews)
- Decide where you will take the call (most important: quiet, discrete, good internet connection, decent lighting & background). Taking an interview at home is usually a safe choice but they do not need to see the inside mess of your closet.
15 min Prior
- Use the bathroom
- Take pen and notebook/iPad notes/empty file on your laptop for note taking
- Remember to ask for the timeline and when can you expect to hear back from them, so you know when to follow up if they didn’t write back.
Technical Phone Interview
Do everything in the recruiter call plus:
1 Day prior
- Decide what you will wear for the interview (usually a plain T-shirt is fine but do wear proper pants even if they can’t see it over video)
1 Hour prior
- Check your attire
- Check eyebrows, lipstick, and eyeliner for looking sharp and confident (my current fav: Shu Uemura hard formula STONE GRAY 05, Fenty Beauty Flyliner Longwear Liquid Eyeliner, NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil WALKYRIE)
- Check you have all the stuff printed out
- Check your laptop is charged with good internet connection
- Check your headphone is charged
- Go over your answers to frequently asked questions
15 min checkpoint
- Use the bathroom
- Grab water, coffee, tea, energy drink, etc
- Go to a quiet room
- Pen and notebook/iPad notes/empty file on your laptop for note taking
- Put on headphone for best sound quality
Research interview resources
- Glassdoor interview section
- Acing the AI interview
- Review questions you were asked before
Research the company
- Glassdoor review section. Take it with a grain of salt though. People who had a good day at work are less likely to go on Glassdoor and write a review. If you do find some consistent pattern or concern, reach out to former employees and ask if they are willing to help you understand more about what’s going on.
- their mission statement
- funding rounds if it’s a startup
- number of employees, different office locations
- which team is hiring and what role they play in the company
- what press coverage
Research the interviewer
- do they have a blog
- have they spoken at a conference? Watch the recording if there is one.
Think About Questions to Ask
Ask yourself, if they give me an offer right now, will I take it? Do I have any concerns? What questions can I ask them/which aspect of the office should I observe to address this concern?
For example, if you are concerned about their D&I initiatives, ask if you can speak with women engineers during your onsite. When you are in the office, observe the gender ratio, and pay attention to if female employees are mostly in personnel roles or engineering or management.
Of if you are concerned about their team morale, observe how people interact with each other and if they have lunch together. Ask during interviews what are the most common reasons for engineers to leave the team.
Onsite
Before the trip
- check location beforehand, decide on your transportation method and when you should leave so you can reach 15 min prior the interview
- ask for the dress code (usually jeans + plain T-shirt is fine for tech companies). Never wear anything new especially shoes. Pick comfortable clothes.
- Prepare questions for each interviewer. You can ask the same question to multiple people to get an idea of the full picture of something, e.g. “How responsive are people on Slack after 5 pm and on weekends?”.
- Prepare a portfolio folder, with your printed documents and resume, and notes about the company, interviewers, and questions you have for them
15 min prior
- take some mints
During the Interview
- let your answers be specific but not long
- let yourself be honest but never negative
- Never lie, but also don’t say things you know they won’t want to hear. For example, “where do you see yourself in 5 years?” “I want to travel the world hosting a podcast about true crime.”
- Remember it’s okay to pause and ask for some time to think about a question before answering.
- Maintain eye contact. I know it’s uncomfortable but it shows you are confident.
- Never say “If that makes sense”, “I guess ”
- Repeat to self: “They need me. I can solve their problems. I am value.”
After Interview
- Send customized thank you note within 24 hours.
- Write down the questions asked. Create your own interview book. Some existing machine learning interview question repositories: Data Science Interview Questions & Detailed Answers by Jonathan DAHAN, Cracking the Machine Learning Interview by Subhrajit Roy, Data Science Cheatsheet Github Repository by Asif Bhat.
About the author
I am a machine learning engineer and I write about productivity and self-development besides tech tutorials. I like doodling and calligraphy. You can find me on LinkedIn.
