A job interview

1. A job interview

2.

1. Tell me about yourself
2. What are you working on right now?
3. Can you walk me through your experience?
Simple sentences over complex ones!
I worked here, then here…
I build X type of systems and solve Y
problems
1. Who I am
2. Core tech expertise; Type of systems I
build
4. (Key strength)
5. What I'm looking for
I’m a …. with around …. years of experience.
I mainly work with ….
Recently, I’ve been focusing on ….. , which includes….
•“I’ve worked on distributed systems such as…”
•“My experience includes high-load platforms and real-time
systems…”
“One of my key strengths is…”
•“Right now I’m looking for…”
•“I’m particularly interested in …. and solving complex backend
problems.

3. The Project

1. Can you describe the GTA V multiplayer project you worked on?
2. What was your role?
3. Did you own any part of the system end-to-end?
STAR:
Situation
Task
Action
Result
I was responsible for…
I was in charge of…
My role included + V+ing
To manage, to ensure, to build, to maintain

4. Problem-solving

Tell me about a challenging problem you solved
What are common issues in real-time multiplayer systems?
STAR:
Situation
Task
Action
Result
We had an issue where…
My responsibility was to…
I decided to…
As a result…

5. Architecture

Can you explain your system architecture?
How does your backend communicate with the game server?
1. What the system is
2. Architecture
3. Key challenges
4. Your decisions
5. Result
Generalized statement, then details!
At a high level, the system consists of…
The main idea is…
We use …. to handle…
“It’s built using an …”
“One of the main challenges was…”
“To solve this, I implemented…”
“This allowed us to…”

6. How did you handle high load?

Problem → Approach → Tools → Result
1. “We experienced high load during…”
2. “To handle this, we introduced…”
3. “I optimized…”
4. “We used caching / queues / pagination…”

7. Technologies

1. Why did you choose NATS instead of other messaging systems?
2. What are the trade-offs?
•“We used NATS for inter-service communication…”
•“We implemented request-response and pub/sub…”
•“We handled failures by…”

8. Debugging/Incident

Tell me about a production issue you handled.
How did you monitor your system in production?
What tools did you use to debug issues?
Problem → Approach → Tools → Result
•“The issue was hard to reproduce because…”
•“I investigated …
•“Eventually, I identified that…”

9. How do you design APIs?

1. “I usually start with domain modeling…”
2. “Then I design endpoints based on…”
3. “I try to keep APIs consistent and predictable…”

10. Teamwork

•“We had different opinions on…”
•“I explained my reasoning…”
•“We aligned on…”
Have you ever disagreed with a teammate?
To get along with…
To have good rapport with…
To respect others while maintaining professionalism
To focus on the issue instead of personal clashes
To come to an agreement
To merge our approaches
More efficient/effective

11.

Key Strategies for Your Answer:
1. Focus on Resolution: The interviewer wants to know how you handle conflict, not
to hear you complain about a co-worker.
2. Be Proactive: Describe how you initiated a conversation to resolve the issue
directly and professionally.
3. Show Empathy: Demonstrate that you understood the other person's perspective,
even if you disagreed.
4. Keep it Mild: Choose an example about differing approaches to a project, not a
personal dispute

12. Strengths/Weaknesses

ownership
deep problem solving
system thinking
1.
“One of my strengths is diving deep into
problems…”
2. “I’m good at working with complex
systems…
1. What are your strengths?
2. What is your biggest weakness?
3. Tell me about a mistake you made.
4. What would you improve in your last project?
5. How do you handle pressure or deadlines?
•“One thing I’m working on is…”
•“Sometimes I tend to… but I’m improving it by…”

13.

Ownership in IT is a mindset and practice where individuals take full responsibility for a
system, product, or feature from end to end, acting as if they are the "CEO" of that domain. It
involves ensuring technical quality, proactively solving problems, and being accountable for
successes and failures rather than just doing assigned tasks.
Key Aspects of Ownership in IT:
•Mindset and Responsibility: It is the opposite of entitlement, where individuals proactively
address problems instead of saying "that's not my job".
•Accountability: Ownership means being responsible for the outcome, including
maintenance, testing, and supporting a product or service even after it's deployed.
•Proactive Action: Owners don't wait for instructions; they anticipate needs, identify issues,
and take action to ensure success, such as maintaining documentation and addressing user
needs.
•Types of Ownership:
•Feature/Product Ownership: Controlling and managing a specific process, software
component, or feature to ensure it works as intended.
•System/Asset Ownership: Designated authority for information security, classification,
access controls, and compliance for specific technical systems.
•Key Behaviors: This includes bringing up problems, asking hard questions, and not playing
the "blame game"

14. The weakness should be your advantages!

1. State a genuine weakness
2. Explain the actions you are taking to improve
3. Share the positive results of your improvement.
I focus too much on the details / Perfectionism
Shows a commitment to quality but awareness of efficiency.
I am uncomfortable with public speaking
I have trouble saying 'no' / Overcommitting
Shows you are dedicated, but need better boundaries .

15. Missed deadlines

• “We underestimated…”
• “I reprioritized tasks…”
• “We delivered the core functionality…”

16. Why do you want this job?

1. “I’m interested in this role because…”
2. “I like that you’re working on…”
3. “It matches my experience with…”

17. Future / Motivation

Why do you want to work in an international company?
What do you think you’ll be doing 5 years from now?

18.

“What was difficult about it?”
Healthcare system
“What were the main challenges in the healthcare project?”
“How did you handle sensitive data?”
HR platform
“Can you describe the assessment system?”
“How did you design the evaluation logic?”
⚙ 3. Industrial project (очень сильный опыт!)
Это вообще золото для интервью.
Общие
“Can you describe the X-ray scanning system?”
Низкоуровневое взаимодействие
“You worked with TCP/UDP and RS-232 — what was challenging about that?”
“How did you ensure reliability?”
Работа с железом
“How was working with hardware different from backend development?”
“Did you have to debug physical devices?”
Ошибки и стабильность
“How did you handle unstable connections?”
“What kind of failures did you encounter?”