The Tech-Talk Balance - What Technical Interviewers Expect from Technical Candidates

Aug 30, 2026

Software engineer candidates often answer technical questions yet underperform in interviews because a gap exists between what candidates believe interviewers assess and what interviewers actually use as evaluation criteria. To identify interviewer-valued signals, mock technical interviews were conducted with candidates, and interviewer evaluations were collected from nine software companies. Grounded theory analysis of 70 evaluations compared criteria such as walkthrough problem solving, linking past experience to problem solving, and engaging in dialogue beyond writing code. The results outline cross-company expectations and highlight that criteria may vary.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages6

Reading Time15 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Methodology

Recruitment

Mock Interviews and Evaluation

Data Collection and Analysis

Findings

Interview Criteria Across Companies

How Interviewers Interpret Criteria

Implications for Candidates

The Tech-Talk Balance: What Technical Interviewers Expect from Technical Candidates Denae Ford, Titus Barik, Leslie Rand-Pickett, Chris Parnin North Carolina State University, USA fdford3, tbarik, lcrandpi, [cjparnin](cjparning@ncsu.edu)[g](cjparning@ncsu.edu)[@ncsu.edu](cjparning@ncsu.edu) Abstract—Software engineer job candidates are not succeeding at technical interviews. Although candidates are able to answer technical questions, there is a mismatch of what candidates think interviewers assess versus what criteria is used in practice. This mismatch in expectations can cost candidates a job opportunity. To determine what criteria interviewers value, we conducted mock technical interviews with software engineer candidates ata university and collected evaluations from interviewers. We analyzed 70 interview evaluations from 9 software companies. Using a grounded theory approach, we compared interviewer interpretations of criteria including: performing a problem solving walkthrough, applying previous experience to problem solving, and the ability to engaging in conversation beyond writing code. From these ﬁndings, we provide implications on what candidates can expect to be evaluated on during technical interviews across companies, which can sometimes vary signiﬁcantly. Keywords-career; interpersonal skills; technical interview; software engineer I. INTRODUCTION Janelle stayed up all night alone studying tree algorithms for her interview from the Cracking the Coding Interview book [1] . However, when she was asked to solve a Binary Search Tree (BST) algorithm, even though she knew exactly what to do, her conﬁdence sank when she had to solve the problem on a whiteboard in front of her interviewer. She found out her interviewer did not just want her to know about CS Fundamentals, but was interested in her ability to communicate her problem solving skills and relate them to past experiences where she solved related problems. Suddenly, it occured to Janelle, that she was not nearly as prepared for the interview as she thought she was. In efforts to prepare candidates for interviews, some have provided different types of resources such as blogs [2], [3] and created companies [4], [5] centered around preparing candidates for technical interviews. Unfortunately, no scientiﬁc approach has collected expectations for software engineering interviews. The aforementioned resources consider nontechnical skills, but fail to compare how those technical skills and interpersonal factors are rated in technical interviews across companies. So the question remains: What should software engineers expect in a technical interview? To investigate this concern and gain a better understanding we asked the following research questions: RQ1 Are there company differences in interview criteria? RQ2 How do interviewers interpret criteria for software engineer job candidates? In this paper, we gathered interviewer feedback in order to understand the expectations of interviewers and clarify how candidates should prepare for a technical interview. We collected data from 70 mock interviews with interviewers from 9 software companies. In this work, we ﬁnd that technical interviewers are interested in interpersonal skills [6] of software engineering job candidates. We analyzed interviewer expectations from their reviews and outlined how candidates can prepare for future technical interviews beyond being technically sound. The contributions of this paper are: 1) Surprisingly, technical interviewers place an emphasis on interpersonal skills and effective communication in the interview. Interviewers wanted to hire a person, not just a candidate who can solve problems. 2) According to interviewers, candidates are prepared technically, but encounter challenges translating their technical knowledge. Interviewers identiﬁed that candidates were not able make connections between previous work experiences. 3) It is important that candidates com

FAQs

Why do some software engineer candidates struggle in technical interviews despite knowing the material?

Because interview success depends on evaluation criteria that may differ from what candidates expect. Interviewers focus on communication and how candidates apply and explain knowledge, not only on solving technical problems.

What data and approach were used to study interviewer expectations?

The study used mock technical interviews and collected interviewer evaluations from nine software companies, totaling 70 evaluations. A grounded theory approach was applied to analyze interviewer interpretations of relevant criteria.

What interview criteria did interviewers value most during the technical interview?

Interviewers emphasized interpersonal skills and effective communication. They also looked for candidates who can connect past experiences to problem solving and who can discuss beyond writing code.

Aug 30, 2026

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