Technology Graduate Schemes Interview Preparation
Common questions, top firms, salary comparison, career paths, and free AI-scored practice for technology graduate schemes interviews.
~£55,000 base
Avg salary
50+ companies
Firms covered
~5-12% offer rate
Competitiveness
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Overview
What technology graduate scheme interviews look like
Technology company interviews vary significantly by company and function. For engineering roles, you will typically face coding interviews (leetcode-style problems) testing algorithmic thinking, system design interviews assessing your ability to architect large-scale systems, and behavioural interviews evaluating teamwork and problem-solving approach. For business and programme management roles, case interviews and product design discussions are common.
Unlike traditional finance sector interviews, tech companies often conduct multiple rounds of technical interviews and code reviews. You may be asked to write production-quality code, explain your design decisions, and discuss trade-offs. Technical interviews test not only whether you can solve the problem, but how you approach ambiguous challenges, ask clarifying questions, and communicate your thinking. Big tech (Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft) conducts more rigorous technical interviews than fintech startups, which often prioritise learning ability and growth mindset.
Tech interviews also emphasise impact and business acumen. Beyond technical ability, you will discuss how your work affects users, how you measure success, and how you think about privacy, security, and ethical considerations. Graduate schemes at major tech companies are structured to develop future leaders; they assess whether you have the intellectual curiosity, resilience, and collaborative ability to grow into senior technical and business leadership roles.
Questions
Common technology graduate schemes interview questions
- 1Tell me about a technical problem you solved.
- 2Why technology/this company?
- 3Walk me through this coding challenge.
- 4Design a system to solve this problem.
- 5Tell me about a time you learned something new quickly.
- 6How would you approach debugging this code?
- 7Tell me about a time you collaborated with a difficult teammate.
- 8What is the time complexity of your solution?
- 9How would you improve your solution?
- 10Tell me about a failure and what you learned.
- 11What is an API and how does it work?
- 12How do you stay current with technology trends?
- 13Tell me about a product you think is well-designed.
- 14What is the difference between SQL and NoSQL databases?
- 15Tell me about your biggest technical contribution.
- 16How would you test this code?
Free practice
Practise a technology graduate schemes interview question
Practise a real tech coding interview. You get 45 minutes to solve an algorithmic problem. You must write clean, working code, discuss your approach, and analyse complexity.
Accenture — HireVue Practice
Your question
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That was one coding problem. Google and Amazon favour algorithmic coding; Meta emphasises system design; early-stage startups test practical product sense. Intervyo has company-specific coding patterns and product design frameworks. Start free trial →
Technicals
Key technical knowledge
Data Structures
Arrays, linked lists, stacks, queues, hash tables, trees, graphs. Know the time and space complexity of common operations. Understand when to use each structure.
Algorithms
Sorting (merge sort, quick sort), searching (binary search), dynamic programming, graph algorithms (DFS, BFS, shortest path). Practice implementing and optimizing algorithms.
Time & Space Complexity
Big O notation, calculating complexity of code, optimising inefficient solutions. Know the complexity of common operations and can articulate it clearly.
System Design
Scalability, load balancing, caching, databases, microservices architecture. Design systems that can handle millions of users and petabytes of data.
Object-Oriented Design
Classes, inheritance, polymorphism, design patterns (singleton, observer, factory). Write clean, maintainable, well-architected code.
Databases
SQL vs NoSQL trade-offs, indexing, query optimisation, schema design. Understand when to use relational vs document databases.
Web Fundamentals
HTTP, REST APIs, client-server architecture, authentication, CORS. Know how the web works from a technical perspective.
Testing & Debugging
Unit tests, integration tests, test-driven development. Know how to debug systematically and write testable code.
Firms
Top technology graduate schemes firms
Most selective. Rigorous coding interviews. Strong learning culture.
Rapid scaling focus. Leadership principles emphasis. Competitive pay.
Product engineering focus. Strong internship pipeline. Cloud-focused.
Hardware and OS focus. Highly selective. Strong execution culture.
Move fast culture. System design emphasis. Good compensation.
Finance technology. Strong C++ focus. Excellent compensation.
Consulting + Tech. Large graduate programme. Diverse projects.
Compensation
Technology Graduate Schemes salary comparison
| Firm | Graduate | Intern | Bonus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bloomberg | ~£65,000 | ~£55,000 pro-rata | ~£25K-35K |
| ~£60,000 | ~£50,000 pro-rata | ~£15K-25K | |
| Amazon | ~£58,000 | ~£48,000 pro-rata | ~£12K-18K |
| Microsoft | ~£58,000 | ~£48,000 pro-rata | ~£12K-18K |
| Apple | ~£60,000 | ~£50,000 pro-rata | ~£15K-20K |
| Accenture Tech | ~£50,000 | ~£42,000 pro-rata | ~£5K-10K |
Career path
Technology Graduate Schemes career progression
Writing production code, learning systems, contributing to features. Mentorship and structured learning.
Leading technical projects, code reviews, mentoring juniors, systems design responsibility.
Architecture decisions, leading large initiatives, cross-team collaboration.
Company-wide technical strategy, thought leadership, hiring.
Engineering organisation leadership, product strategy, business impact.
Getting in
How to break into technology graduate schemes
Build a portfolio of projects. Create personal projects on GitHub, contribute to open source, and demonstrate your ability to build real, working software. Companies value demonstrated ability over credentials.
Master the fundamentals. Data structures, algorithms, and system design are universal across tech companies. LeetCode and HackerRank are good practise, but focus on understanding concepts, not memorising solutions.
Learn a programming language deeply. Python, Java, or C++ are common. Practise writing production-quality code, not just solving problems quickly.
Build something you care about. Your personal projects should solve real problems or explore interesting ideas. Companies want engineers who are passionate about building, not just job-seeking.
Network with engineers at your target companies. Attend tech meetups, contribute to open source projects where employees might review your code, and reach out to alumni. Referrals significantly improve chances.
Research the company's technical challenges. Understand what they build, their tech stack, and their technical values. Reference this in interviews to show genuine interest.
Practise system design thinking. Even as a graduate, companies want to see that you understand how systems scale, not just how to implement individual functions.
FAQ
Technology Graduate Schemes FAQs
Prepare for technology graduate schemes interviews
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