Coding Interview: An interview where you solve programming problems, often live, while explaining your approach.
Example
You are asked to write a function that checks whether a string is a palindrome and explain how efficient it is.
Why Coding Interview matters for IT interns
Practice helps — but explaining your thinking clearly matters as much as the final code.
Where you will hear it
You will come across this term while preparing for and attending internship interviews and assessments. If someone uses it and you are not sure what they mean in your project, it is completely fine to ask; every team uses terms a little differently.
Related terms
- Behavioral Interview: An interview about how you have handled real situations — teamwork, disagreements, mistakes and deadlines.
- Career Goal: What you want to achieve in your career, in the short and long term.
- Coding Assessment: An online test where you solve programming problems within a time limit, usually marked automatically.
- Communication Skills: How clearly you explain ideas, listen, ask questions and write — especially about technical topics.
- Expected Stipend: The stipend you hope to receive, which interviewers may ask you about.
- GitHub Profile: Your public page on GitHub showing your repositories, activity and README files.
Previous term: Coding Assessment | Next term: Collaboration
Related guides
- IT Internship Interview Guide
- HR Interview Questions for IT Internships
- Online Coding Tests for Internships
Frequently asked questions
What is Coding Interview?
An interview where you solve programming problems, often live, while explaining your approach.
What is an example of Coding Interview?
You are asked to write a function that checks whether a string is a palindrome and explain how efficient it is.
Why does Coding Interview matter for IT interns?
Practice helps — but explaining your thinking clearly matters as much as the final code.
Explore more internship terms
The IT Internship Glossary explains 199 terms you will hear before and during your internship, with simple definitions and real examples.
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About the author
Dhaivat has 16+ years of experience in the IT industry, working on AI and cloud technologies, project delivery, and engineering leadership. He has interviewed and mentored many interns, wrote The Lost Intern, and runs the non-commercial Career Impact Initiative, mentoring students for free.