The Github Coding Interview

What do you think you’re in for during GitHub’s coding interview? GitHub is a company that understands what it wants and how to get it. GitHub works differently because of its remote work environment, a bold decision that has proven effective in recent years.

As a potential candidate, you must demonstrate real-world skills, the ability to work autonomously but remain disciplined and up-to-date with collaborative projects, and a knack for technical problem-solving.

So, how should you face GitHub interview questions and put your best foot forward?

Here’s what you need to prepare for:

GitHub Interview Process—What does it look like?

GitHub looks for candidates who fit well with its remote work environment, so its requirements may slightly differ from those of other companies. However, the need for innovative tech professionals who have the potential to push boundaries remains a focus.

Once shortlisted, the first step will be the screening interview. You will be asked general questions about your work experience, why you’ve reached out to GitHub, and questions about the role you’re applying for.

You will also be asked:

Whether you have had experience working remotely before or not.
What are your preferred management styles?
How well you can handle an asynchronous communication system.

As GitHub is largely remote, you will be expected to communicate and collaborate effectively despite differences in individual schedules and time zones.

In the next stage, you will be handed a take-home assignment that will be very similar to the kind of tasks you will be expected to do on the job. This task will be divided into two sections:

Coding task: Involves implementing solutions to a problem, like building a feature or solving a coding problem.
Coding review: You will be given a piece of code to preview, and you will have to provide feedback and suggestions for improvement.

You will have 3-5 hours to complete both tasks, and it is up to you which tools and resources to use. Multiple engineers and developers will evaluate your submission to maintain fairness and consistency.

Once you’ve passed the take-home assignment stage, the next challenge is the collaboration session called the pairing exercise. You will be paired with developers and engineers to work on tasks modeled after daily work scenarios at GitHub. This will include coding and code review.

Be confident in your ideas, but be open to incorporating feedback.
Work fast but carefully.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions, but do your research.

Following the pairing exercise, the hiring manager will call you in for a classic GitHub interview to discuss:

Your work history and background
Projects you’ve led in the past or your contributions
Goals and motivations regarding your chosen career path

The main purpose is to judge whether you will be a good cultural fit for the company since any technical GitHub questions they could have asked have already been covered in the previous stages.

You’ve almost made it to the finish line! This final stage consists of two main interviews:

Leadership principles: This will be an hour-long session to evaluate your leadership qualities, growth mindset, and team collaboration skills.
Diversity and inclusion (D&I): A 30-minute session revolving around GitHub interview questions around diversity and inclusion.
- Be prepared to elaborate on your perspectives and experiences related to diversity and inclusion.
- Provide concrete examples of what you’ve done to promote D&I at previous workplaces through your work and outside of it.

What to Know Before Your GitHub Interview

Before you decide to take the coding interview, here are some factors to keep in mind

The GitHub Workflow

Be familiar with GitHub operations like forking, cloning, branching, committing, and pushing code. Figure out how to interact with issues and pull requests.

Coding Skills

Brush up on your problem-solving and algorithmic skills in whatever coding language you prefer. Your priority should be clean, readable, and efficient code. Don’t forget to look up automated testing frameworks since the Interview-bot generally evaluates solutions via test cases.

Time Management

Balance speed and accuracy. While rushing can lead to errors, taking too long will show inefficiency and make it difficult to finish all the GitHub questions within the time limit.

GitHub’s Interview-bot

GitHub has built its application, called the Interview-bot, to facilitate their interview processes. This app helps candidates by:

Let you choose a preferred coding language to take the interview.
Give the option to choose when to take the interview at your convenience.

Expect this GitHub interview with clear instructions and a set time limit; you won’t have to worry about any tricks that might throw you off.