How a first-job interview is different
When you interview for your first job, nobody is comparing you with someone who has done it for five years. Interviewers are judging potential: how you think through a problem you haven’t seen, how you work with people, and how quickly you learn. That’s good news, because all three are things you can show with the experience you already have.
It also means the bar is different in a specific way. A new grad answer doesn’t need a big result. It needs a clear account of what you did, why, and what you’d do differently, and it needs to hold up when the interviewer asks a follow-up question.
The usual steps in an entry-level hiring process
Application and recruiter screen
A 15 to 30 minute call about your background, why you applied, and logistics like start date and location.
An assessment or a recorded video interview
Engineering roles often send an online coding assessment. Banks, consulting firms, and large employers often send a one-way video interview such as HireVue instead (more on those below).
Hiring manager or first-round interview
A conversation about the role, your experience, and usually a few behavioral questions.
Final round
Several interviews in one day, sometimes called an onsite, a loop, or a superday. Expect a mix of role-specific and behavioral questions.
The exact steps change from company to company. Our company guides lay out each company’s rounds in order, and when you paste a job link into RoundHound, we research the process for that specific role.
Common entry-level interview questions
These come up across most first-job interviews, whatever the role.
- What made you apply for this role instead of others you saw?
- Tell me about something you finished that you’re proud of.
- How do you figure out what to do when instructions are unclear?
- Describe a time you had to learn a tool or topic quickly.
- Tell me about a time you disagreed with someone you respected.
- What would your first 90 days here look like?
- Why should we take a chance on someone early in their career?
For new grad engineering roles
- Walk me through the hardest bug you’ve chased.
- Tell me about a time you took a shortcut you later regretted.
- Describe a project where the plan changed halfway through.
- Tell me about a time you asked for help later than you should have.
For product, analyst, and rotational programs
- Pick an app you use every day. Who is it for, and what would you improve first?
- A key number dropped 10% overnight. Where do you start?
- Tell me about a time your analysis changed someone’s decision.
- Why a rotational program instead of a direct role?
How to answer “Why should we hire you?” with little experience
Pick the two requirements from the job posting you meet best, give one piece of proof for each from a project or job, then add how quickly you pick things up, with one example. That’s a specific answer instead of a hopeful one.
Five stories to prepare before any first-job interview
Most behavioral questions can be answered from about five experiences you know well: a disagreement, a setback, something you learned quickly, something you owned from start to finish, and a time you helped someone else. Internships, class projects, research, clubs, and part-time jobs all count. Our internship interview guide has an exercise for finding them, and the behavioral interview guide shows how to turn one into an answer.
New grad software engineering interview loops
New grad engineering loops are usually shorter than experienced ones, lean heavily on coding, and often leave out system design. Amazon publishes both versions, which makes the difference easy to see:
- Online assessment
- For new grads, a coding section of about 70 minutes, a work-style survey, and a work simulation; Amazon suggests setting aside up to two hours (Amazon).
- New grad interviews
- A first interview, then a final stage of three to four interviews of 45 to 60 minutes each, with two or three behavioral questions per interviewer tied to the Leadership Principles (Amazon).
- Experienced (SDE II)
- Four 55-minute interviews, with at least one question on system design (Amazon).
So for a new grad loop, I’d spend most of my time on timed coding practice and on behavioral stories, rather than on large-scale design. We’ve researched the new grad loops at Amazon and Meta round by round, and our company guides show what each round tests elsewhere.
HireVue and other one-way video interviews
A one-way video interview (sometimes called an asynchronous or on-demand interview) is a recording, not a conversation. You see a question on screen, get a short time to think, then record your answer to the camera. Nobody is on the other end. They’re common early in the process for internships, new grad programs, banks, consulting firms, and large employers, and HireVue is the best-known platform.
What the format usually looks like
The employer sets the rules, so they vary: usually around 30 seconds to think, one to three minutes to answer, and either no retakes or a limited number. HireVue says a typical assessment has three to six video questions. Other platforms, such as Spark Hire and Willo, work the same way. Read the instructions carefully, and use the practice question the platform offers before you start.
Is an AI scoring your HireVue interview?
Sometimes. Some employers turn on HireVue’s AI assessment; others simply watch the recordings. When the AI is used, HireVue says it relies only on what you say, transcribed to text, and does not assess your facial expressions, body language, background, or tone of voice. The employer, not HireVue, makes the hiring decision (HireVue explainability statement). In practice, that means the content and structure of your answer matter most.
Common HireVue interview questions
- Introduce yourself in under two minutes.
- Why are you interested in this program?
- Tell us about a time you worked with someone whose style was very different from yours.
- Describe a time you made a decision without all the information.
- Tell us about a mistake and what you changed afterward.
- Tell us about a recent news story that affects our industry.
How to practice for a HireVue interview
What makes these hard is the silence: no nods, no “go on,” and a timer counting down. The fix is to say your answers out loud enough times that the structure holds without a listener. Aim for about 20 seconds of setup, a minute on what you did, and 20 seconds on the result, then stop.
You can use RoundHound for this, with one honest difference: our interviewer is live and asks follow-up questions, while a one-way interview won’t. That makes it useful in two stages. First, let the interviewer push on your stories until you can explain what you did and why. Then do a few runs where you answer each question straight through in about two minutes, as if the timer were running.
Non-technical new grad programs
Many first jobs come through structured programs: rotational programs, analyst development programs, associate product manager (APM) programs, and sales development roles. Their interviews tend to mix behavioral questions with a short case or exercise. For example, Capital One’s current Business Analyst posting describes a two-year development program that rotates through two roles, and its interviews include an analytical assessment and case interviews (see the Capital One guide). Sales development interviews often include a mock cold call, and APM interviews usually include a product question like the one above.
Practice each round before the real one
The best preparation for a first-job interview is saying your answers out loud and getting a follow-up question you didn’t expect. Paste the job link into RoundHound and we’ll find out how that company interviews new grads for that role, then an AI interviewer runs each round with you, by voice or by typing, and tells you plainly what to work on.
Practice your first-job interview
Paste the job link and practice the rounds that company runs, with follow-up questions and clear feedback. Your first 60 minutes are free.
Common questions about new grad interviews
Do new grads get system design questions?
Usually not at large companies, though it varies by team and role. Coding and behavioral rounds make up most new grad engineering loops.
How many rounds are in a new grad interview?
Often a screen or assessment, then one to four interviews. Some companies hold the final interviews on a single day.
How do I answer salary questions for my first job?
If you can, ask for the range first. If you have to give a number, base it on published ranges for the role and city, and say you’re flexible for the right team.
Can I ask for a live interview instead of a recorded one?
You can ask the recruiter, but many companies use one-way video for every candidate at that stage, so it’s worth preparing for it either way.