Hey guys, I’m currently a third year Computer and Systems Engineer going into some technical interviews that I really want to nail. There’s going to be two technical interviews, one with a hiring manager (behavioral/technical), then a second with a team lead (technical/live coding.) I’m not stressing the behavioral component because I’ve never had problems with my soft skills, but I am worried about my technical knowledge as I haven’t taken a class with actual programming assignments in since Spring ’25. I’m looking for advice in how and what I prep, as this is the first technical I’ve had for a firmware role. I’ve added the job responsibilities below.

Responsibilities:

Design, code, and debug C++ firmware running on real HDD platforms.

Create Python-based test utilities that accelerate our CI pipeline.

Contribute inside a SAFe agile team—story pointing, stand-ups, demos, repeat.

Explore registers, buses, and RTOS internals to hunt down bugs and optimize performance.

Document designs, results, and data insights so everyone learns.

Daily Programming Languages: C++ & Python

Preferred:

Past internship or personal projects in embedded/IoT.

Familiarity with ESP32, I2C, SATA/SAS bus analyzers, or automated test frameworks.

Regarding this info and how I compare to it; I’ve taken some courses in cpp (data structures, computer algorithms) one in embedded c, and use python for my undergrad research on a new wireless breadboard. I’ve written some cool functions for it like self continuity test, self calibration for oscilloscope channels, and a digital reading mode. Bolded the things I am unfamiliar with. For “automated test frameworks” I think I could design a test script, but if there are standardized frameworks I do not know them.

Thank you for any and all help, wish me luck!