English interview questions and answers for tech

The openers: tell me about yourself, a project walkthrough, and one follow-up you can handle without translating. Those questions start almost every loop. Get the English automatic, then add behavioural stories.

Aim for 60–90 seconds. Lead with your current role, one relevant win, and why this company. Skip life chronology. Practise the opening and close out loud.

Memorise the four-part structure and the first and last sentence, not every word. Bullet the middle. Reciting a paragraph is what interviewers hear as a script. Practise until you can say it looking at the camera, not at notes.

Problem, your role, what you built, the result, one trade-off. Two minutes. If they want depth they will ask. A 10-minute chronology of the whole team is the usual failure mode for non-native speakers.

Ask about the team’s current problem, how they measure success, or what the last person in the role struggled with. Avoid “what is the culture” with no follow-up. Prepare two questions you can say cleanly so you do not invent English at minute 58.

Give a researched range and the basis: “Based on London mid-level SWE bands, I am targeting X to Y, depending on scope and equity.” If you are unsure, ask their range for the level. Do not say “I am flexible” with no number — it sounds unprepared.

You are translating and performing at once. Simple questions hit first, before you are warm. Rehearse openers until they are muscle memory so working memory is free for the hard follow-up. That is a drill problem, not a knowledge problem.

Mostly yes: intro, motivation, a project, behavioural, then role-specific. UK rooms can sound a bit more formal. The fix is the same — short structure, “I” ownership, a number in the result.