A typical interview process for roles where selection is not purely based on rank but also on skills, personality, and extra-curricular achievements usually begins with application screening, where recruiters review your resume, cover letter, and portfolio to assess both technical expertise and additional strengths such as leadership or teamwork gained from non-academic activities. This is often followed by an HR or recruiter pre-screen call, a short 10–20 minute conversation to understand your background, communication skills, interest in the role, and salary expectations. Next comes a skill assessment stage, which for technical roles might involve an online coding test, system design problem, or a hands-on task like building a REST API with Docker deployment, while for non-technical roles it could be a case study or situational exercise. Those who pass are invited to a first technical interview, focusing on core concepts—in your case, topics like low-level design, API principles, Docker commands, and database optimization—often paired with questions that connect technical delivery to teamwork experiences