30 minute casual technical round, what does that usually actually look like?

I have a technical interview coming up with a small software consulting company for an entry level application development role. I already got past the initial screening call and their online coding assessment, so this is the first round with an actual engineer on the team.

The recruiter emailed me and said it would be a casual technical discussion focused primarily on my past experience and background, followed by a few technical questions. The whole thing is only scheduled for 30 minutes.

I have never done one framed exactly like that, so I am trying to get a realistic picture of it.

A few things I am wondering:

  1. How does the flow normally go? Intro, walk through the resume, then questions at the end? Or is it looser than that in practice?
  2. With only 30 minutes on the clock, is live coding even realistic, or does it usually stay conceptual?
  3. For the "few technical questions" part, what kinds of things actually get asked in that little time? Are they mostly follow ups on whatever project you just described, or random fundamentals?

The stack on the posting is fairly standard full stack stuff. JavaScript, Python and Java, React or Angular on the front end, Node, plus Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD, Git and cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP). Nothing exotic, so I am guessing the questions stay pretty general.

If you have sat on either side of one of these, I would appreciate hearing how it went and what caught you off guard.

Posted Jul 29, 2026, 6:55 AM UTC

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