Security Testing Journal Entry | w/e Friday June 7th, 2024 - "Tech Interview Fears Conquored" Ed.

Highlights for the week

So this week was the tech interview and boy-howdie! how I prepared. I got on the code path and just went at it daily. As much as I prepared, I was still nervous the night before. On the day of, I was a little anxious, more so because of how much it mattered and not for how I was going to do. Interviewers were pleasant and cool people.

How I think I did on the tech interview:

1. Overall: B+
2. Attitude: A
3. Aptitude: B

What I did right:

1. Overall, I was proud of myself for overcoming my fears and ineptitude and doing well with the coding exercises
2. I demonstrated understanding of some core concepts
3. I spoke at length of tech. arch., and testing principles
4. I was asked about security and did the best I could not to ramble

Where I should have done better:

1. I got asked to sketch out a web architecture and mapped out an e-commerce app. It could have been better
2. I have no bkgd in FinTech so that might be points against
3. I needed to have spent more time understanding the "why" of feature to code tests better (missed the copy that showed a formula that was part of the output
4. Page objects were not declared properly - I use POM and there were errors thrown with how I declared them in the test
5. I jumped right into the code without really understanding the scope of the feature .. but it worked to my advantage since the tech issues impacted time
6. I was asked about using Cucumber and expressed my opinion on it as "cumbersome" which might be a strike since its what is used for the backend

What We’re Grateful For

1. Grateful that I am healthy and capable
2. Grateful that I get to have a roof over my head, a full 'fridge, and a loving home
3. Grateful for a wonderful wife, son, and family
4. Grateful for the opportunity to make it to the tech interview of a potential great employer

What We Loved

1. Preparation for the tech interview. Did as well as I could

What We Learned

1. Cybrary - learned a few new techniques with Pen Testing for SQL Injection; On to LFI
2. Royal Security Pen Test - "paused" .. the priority was the job interview!
3. Automation w. Appium - coded a few tests for android
4. Automation w. Playwright/JS - several tests for different components to help practice for interview
5. "Husb ..." - new chapter leading up to a major conflict; 2 new 'sisters' and origins .. fun!
6. Burp Suite - Race Condition: paused! Shall resume this weekend, or next week
7. Been practicing hackerrank for fun .. and as a way of overcoming my incompetence {GET SOME!}

What We Longed For

1. As always, a good job, with good pay and benefits, working with cool people, doing cool things [Consultancy feels like the right move!]

What We Loathed

1. Anxiety and overlooking the obvious because of nerves