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CSCI 110

Mock Interview

Mock interviews are essentially “fake interviews” meant to practice for real interviews in a no consequence environment. There are lots of resources available to you as CS students including mock interviews with Google volunteers, mock interviews with Karat, lots of practice problems, and lots of opportunities.

What are real interviews like? Advice and Tips/Tricks?

Watch this video talk given by Marc Cohen (a Googler) at Howard last year.

What will the mock interviews be like?

The goal of the interviews is to simulate what real technical interviews may be like with various companies, so you can better understand what to expect. The goal of these interviews specifically is not to teach you brand new content (e.g. a question requires a data structure but you’ve never heard of it before), so please tell your mock interviewer if they are asking you something you haven’t learned yet.

Your interviewer will come prepared with a question (or maybe a few, depending on question difficulty). Don’t be afraid to ask clarifying questions - the interview should feel more like a conversation and less like an interrogation. If something is confusing, talk through it with your interviewer and they can help push you in the right direction.

Afterwards, your interviewer will provide you with feedback as well as tips on how to improve your interviewing skills.

What are some good resources to help you prepare?

Mock Interviews with CSCI110 Google TAs

Use the button below to sign up for a mock interview slot (or just career chat) with one of the Google TAs. Click on one of the empty appointment slots and click save to book it. You may book as many interviews as you’d like for the remainder of the semester. Please watch this video talk on how to interview before your mock interview to get the most out of the mock interview experience.

When booking an appointment please include in the appointment description the following information:

  • What are you looking for? (ex: mock interview, career advice, just to chat, etc.)
  • What year are you? (ex: Freshman, Senior, etc.)
  • If looking for a mock interview what level of question would you like? (Google STEP, Google SWE intern, Google SWE full-time)

Schedule a Mock Interview

If after one mock interview you want further experience, consider spending 2-3 weeks working on practice problems and then schedule a second session with a different interviewer.

Mock Interviews with Karat

The Brilliant Black Minds program from Karat offers students access to 4 free practice interviews with their expert engineers as well as supplemental programming such as workshops and office hours. The program is open this semester to any HBCU computer science student. Read more about it here.

Sign up for Mock Interviews with Karat

Career Info

Here’s a playlist of Google career talks given last year, which cover UX Design, Data Analyst, Product Management roles, and more.

Internship Opportunities for Freshmen/Sophomores

There are a lot of opportunities for technology internships designed specifically for freshmen! Even if you don’t have much programming experience, you should definitely apply. You also shouldn’t limit yourself to freshman programs because you are eligible to apply for most internships open to undergraduates.

You can also reach out to Darian Ubogagu, the Google recruiter for Fisk, for help with creating a resume or reviewing the resume that you’ve created. Her email is darianep@google.com.