Landing a LinkedIn premium interview is a great accomplishment and reflects your skills and experience. However, the interview process can be challenging, so thorough preparation is key. In this comprehensive guide, we will walk through everything you need to know to ace your LinkedIn premium interview.
Understand the Interview Format
LinkedIn premium interviews typically consist of two rounds:
Round 1: Skills Assessment
The first round is usually a coding test or skills assessment to evaluate your technical abilities. Expect questions or tasks related to:
- Data structures and algorithms
- Object-oriented programming
- Front-end, back-end or full stack development
- SQL and database knowledge
- System design and architecture
Brush up on core computer science concepts like big O notation, binary trees, hash tables, stacks, queues, graphs, etc. Be prepared to whiteboard code as well. Have explanations ready for your design choices and code optimization techniques.
Round 2: Behavioral Interview
The second round focuses on cultural fit through behavioral questions like:
- Tell me about a time you overcame a technical challenge.
- When have you had to collaborate on a project with someone difficult?
- Describe a time you had to manage numerous priorities. How did you handle it?
Have stories ready highlighting your problem-solving, communication, leadership and other relevant skills. Emphasize how you delivered results, assumed ownership and added value.
Study LinkedIn’s Business and Products
As a premium company, LinkedIn looks for candidates passionate about their mission and business. Thoroughly research:
- LinkedIn’s vision, values, culture and work environment
- Major products like Recruiter, Sales Navigator, Campaign Manager, Learning etc.
- Revenue streams and business model
- Organizational structure and teams
- Recent news, acquisitions, product launches
Understand LinkedIn’s priorities, challenges and direction. Discuss how you can contribute given this context.
Master LinkedIn’s Tech Stack
While LinkedIn uses many languages and frameworks, priority technologies include:
- Java
- Python
- JavaScript
- React
- Node.js
- GraphQL
- Kafka
- Spark
- AWS services
Optimize your skills in these areas through courses, projects and practice. Highlight relevant experience in your resume and during the interview.
Enhance Your Coding Skills
LinkedIn premium interviews are heavy on coding, so sharpen up with:
- Algorithms practice: Use LeetCode, HackerRank, Codility etc. Favor questions tagged LinkedIn.
- Mock interviews: Try sites like Pramp and Interviewing.io for timed mock interviews.
- Systems design: Learn techniques for designing complex systems like a social network feed, Uber ridesharing, Airbnb etc.
Review common data structures like arrays, stacks, queues, trees, graphs etc. Analyze time and space complexity tradeoffs.
Polish Your Resume
Optimize your resume by:
- Highlighting relevant skills and experiences for the role
- Cutting fluff and getting straight to impact
- Customizing for each position
- Ensuring ATS friendliness
Emphasize quantifiable achievements. Reflect the job qualifications and LinkedIn priorities.
Practice Behavioral Questions
Prepare for behavioral questions by:
- Reviewing common question banks
- Having 5-6 go-to stories ready emphasizing your top skills
- Writing down stories using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result)
- Rehearsing with a friend
Some common questions include:
- Tell me about a time you influenced someone without authority.
- When have you had to manage conflict on a team?
- Describe a time you solved a difficult technical challenge.
- When have you gone above and beyond for a customer?
Anticipate Tricky Questions
Also prepare for some potentially tricky questions like:
- Your LinkedIn profile is empty/basic – why?
- You haven’t worked at a major tech company – why should we hire you?
- You seem to job hop frequently – why would you stick around here?
- You have gaps in your work history – what were you doing then?
Have thoughtful explanations ready without being defensive. Spin weaknesses into strengths.
Ask Good Questions
When given the chance, ask smart, researched questions like:
- How do your engineering teams tackle technical debt?
- What are the biggest challenges facing your product area right now?
- What exciting projects or initiatives are coming up that I could work on?
- How has the shift to remote work impacted culture and collaboration?
Avoid questions about benefits, compensation and time off. Prioritize learning about the team, challenges and impact you can make.
Dress Professionally
Even for a virtual interview, dress professionally from head to toe. For men, wear a suit and tie or button-down shirt. For women, wear a business suit, blouse/top and jacket. Look neat, tidy and avoid distracting backgrounds.
Set up Your Tech
Ahead of time, test your:
- Webcam, microphone and audio
- Internet connection speed and stability
- Browser and video call software
- Camera framing and lighting
Have your computer charged and all required software downloaded. Have backups ready like mobile phone tethering.
Practice Video Interviewing
Get comfortable video interviewing by:
- Enabling self-view
- Looking directly at the camera when speaking
- Slowing down responses
- Minimizing filler words
- Practicing common platforms like BlueJeans, Zoom and WebEx
Record yourself and review to improve body language and eye contact.
Prepare Your Space
Optimize your interview space by:
- Finding a quiet, distraction-free room
- Setting up proper lighting so your face is visible
- Decluttering the background
- Removing distracting objects or noise
Positioning the camera properly for direct eye contact
Close other programs and mute notifications. Put up a “Do Not Disturb” sign.
Review Common Technical Questions
Here are some typical technical questions that come up:
General
- Explain polymorphism and inheritance in OOP.
- How does DNS work?
- What is the difference between an abstract class and interface?
- How does caching work? Describe different cache strategies.
- Explain public and private key encryption.
Front End
- Explain React lifecycle methods.
- Compare Redux vs Context API for state management.
- How does React reconcile the virtual DOM with real DOM?
- Describe how CSS selectors work and specificity.
- How can you optimize the performance of React apps?
Back End
- Compare SQL vs NoSQL databases.
- Explain how you would design a URL shortening service.
- How can you make an API secure?
- What is ACID in database theory?
- How does load balancing work?
System Design
- Design Uber’s ridesharing service.
- Design a social media feed like Facebook/LinkedIn.
- Design Amazon’s online shopping cart system.
- How would you design Dropbox’s architecture?
- Design YouTube or Netflix’s video streaming service.
Research common system design questions and practice outlining components, APIs, bottlenecks, scaling etc.
Prepare for Coding Challenges
You will likely have to code live on a whiteboard or IDE, so prep with these strategies:
- Clarify requirements, constraints and use cases
- Think through test cases
- Consider data structures like hash tables, stacks and graphs
- Think of time and space complexity
- Write clean, well-commented code
- Come up with optimizations
- Test your code thoroughly
Verbally communicate your approach before diving into coding.
Conclusion
Preparing for a LinkedIn premium interview takes time, practice and dedication. Follow these tips to understand the formats, technical expectations, culture and communication style. Research the company and role so you can highlight your relevant skills and contributions. Sharpen your technical and behavioral interviewing skills through mock interviews and practice. With diligent preparation, you can showcase your abilities and land your dream role at LinkedIn.
