Breaking into the technology industry is often associated with coding challenges, system design interviews, and highly technical assessments. But technology companies also rely on professionals working in strategy, operations, marketing, sales, partnerships, product, program management, recruiting, and other business-oriented functions.
For candidates pursuing these roles, the interview process can be difficult to navigate for a different reason: the expectations are not always obvious.
You may understand your profession, have relevant experience, and possess strong communication skills, yet still find it difficult to explain your value in a way that connects with a technology company’s hiring process. Questions may seem straightforward on the surface while actually testing how you think, communicate, prioritize, solve problems, and work with others.
The Tech Interview, Hacked: 111 Tips for the Business Side of Tech (2026 Edition) by Emem Adjah is designed around this part of the technology-career landscape. Published in July 2026, the English-language paperback is listed at approximately 162 pages and carries ISBN 9798997181642.
Rather than focusing on technical coding preparation, the book addresses the business side of technology interviews. Its stated coverage includes positioning professional experience, developing interview stories, handling behavioral and case interviews, using AI while maintaining an authentic voice, asking meaningful questions, negotiating compensation, and evaluating job offers.
That makes the book relevant to a particular group of candidates: people who want to work in technology but whose roles are not primarily engineering positions.
Understanding the Business Side of Tech Interviews
A technology company is much more than its engineering department. Products need to be marketed, customers need to be supported, partnerships need to be developed, operations need to be managed, and business strategies need to be translated into measurable outcomes.
This creates a broad range of technology careers.
Someone applying for a strategy position may be asked to analyze a market or business problem. A product candidate may need to explain how they would prioritize competing customer needs. A marketing candidate might discuss campaign performance and customer acquisition. A sales candidate may be evaluated on commercial thinking and relationship management.
Although these positions are different, they can share an important characteristic: candidates need to communicate their experience in terms that connect with business outcomes.
This is where interview preparation becomes more than memorizing answers.
A strong preparation process involves understanding the role, identifying relevant experiences, organizing examples, practicing structured thinking, and becoming comfortable explaining decisions.
The book approaches interview preparation from this broader perspective.
Key Features of The Tech Interview, Hacked
111 Practical Tips
The central structure of the book is its collection of 111 tips. According to the author’s description, these tips cover multiple stages of the interview journey rather than concentrating on a single interview format.
This can make the material useful as a reference rather than something that necessarily has to be read as one continuous lesson.
Candidates can identify the areas where they need the most preparation and use the relevant material accordingly.
For example, someone who already has a strong resume but struggles with behavioral questions may spend more time working on interview stories. Another candidate may need more help thinking through case interviews or evaluating an offer.
The numbered format can also make it easier to turn general career advice into smaller preparation tasks.
Resume and Positioning Guidance
One of the challenges in a business-side technology interview is translating previous experience into a relevant professional narrative.
A candidate might have worked in finance, consulting, marketing, operations, education, customer service, or another industry. The challenge is not necessarily whether that experience is valuable. Instead, it is explaining why the experience matters for the particular role being pursued.
The book specifically addresses positioning experience as part of the interview process.
This is an important distinction because a resume should not simply describe everything someone has done. It should help a hiring team understand the relationship between previous experience and the requirements of the position.
For interview preparation, this means identifying transferable skills, measurable results, responsibilities, and situations that demonstrate relevant judgment.
Behavioral Interview Preparation
Behavioral interviews frequently ask candidates to describe situations from their previous experience.
Examples include questions about conflict, failure, leadership, prioritization, teamwork, ambiguity, difficult stakeholders, or situations where a candidate had to make a decision without complete information.
Preparing for these questions is easier when candidates build a collection of real examples before the interview.
Instead of memorizing a complete script, candidates can prepare several experiences that demonstrate different capabilities. Each story can then be adapted to the specific question.
The book’s focus on preparing stronger stories fits into this preparation method.
Case Interview Preparation
Case interviews require another type of preparation.
Rather than simply describing previous experiences, candidates may be given a hypothetical business problem and asked to analyze it.
Depending on the position, a case could involve market expansion, customer growth, pricing, product strategy, operational efficiency, or another business question.
The important skill is usually not knowing a single correct answer. Candidates may instead need to demonstrate how they structure an unfamiliar problem, identify relevant information, make assumptions, perform calculations, and communicate their reasoning.
The book includes case examples as part of its practical toolkit.
Question Bank
Preparing questions for the interviewer is another part of the interview process addressed by the book.
Many candidates focus heavily on answering questions and underestimate the importance of asking them.
A thoughtful question can help clarify the role, team structure, expectations, priorities, decision-making processes, and challenges associated with the position.
The book includes a question bank designed to support this part of preparation.
Rather than asking questions simply to appear interested, candidates can use the opportunity to determine whether the role actually matches their professional goals.
AI and Interview Preparation
Artificial intelligence has become increasingly relevant to professional job searches, including resume preparation, research, brainstorming, and interview practice.
The book specifically addresses using AI without losing one’s own voice.
This is an important distinction.
AI tools can help a candidate organize thoughts, identify gaps, generate practice questions, or simulate different interview scenarios. However, a candidate still needs to understand and communicate their own experiences.
Using AI to generate polished answers that the candidate cannot naturally explain can create problems during an interview.
A better preparation approach is to use technology as a practice and organization tool while keeping the final stories grounded in genuine experience.
How The Book Can Be Used
There are several ways a candidate could incorporate this type of interview guide into a preparation routine.
Start With the Target Role
Before reading interview advice, identify the type of position being pursued.
A product manager, marketing manager, sales strategist, operations specialist, and partnerships professional may all work in technology while facing very different interview expectations.
Review the job description and identify recurring requirements.
Look for phrases related to:
- Strategic thinking
- Cross-functional collaboration
- Data analysis
- Communication
- Leadership
- Customer understanding
- Revenue growth
- Project management
- Problem solving
- Stakeholder management
These requirements can then become preparation categories.
Build a Personal Experience Bank
Instead of preparing answers one question at a time, create a collection of professional experiences.
Useful examples might include:
- A difficult project
- A successful launch
- A disagreement with a colleague
- A project that failed
- A time you influenced someone without authority
- A decision made with limited information
- A measurable business improvement
- A challenging customer situation
- A situation involving competing priorities
- A time you learned a new skill quickly
For each story, identify the situation, your responsibility, the actions you took, and the result.
The goal is not to memorize paragraphs. It is to understand the story well enough to explain it naturally.
Practice Explaining Business Impact
One of the most useful interview preparation exercises is asking a simple question:
“What changed because of my work?”
The answer could involve revenue, cost, efficiency, customer satisfaction, conversion, retention, productivity, risk reduction, or another measurable outcome.
Not every professional accomplishment will have a financial metric. In those situations, improvements in processes, quality, speed, reliability, or stakeholder outcomes can also provide useful context.
The important part is connecting activity with impact.
Practice Out Loud
Reading interview advice is different from speaking under pressure.
Candidates can improve preparation by practicing answers aloud.
A practice session might involve selecting ten common questions and answering each one without reading a prepared script.
Afterward, evaluate:
- Was the answer clear?
- Did it answer the question directly?
- Was there unnecessary background?
- Did the example demonstrate the required skill?
- Was the outcome clear?
- Could someone unfamiliar with the situation understand it?
This type of practice can reveal weaknesses that are difficult to notice when simply reading notes.
Who May Find This Type of Guide Useful?
Candidates Moving Into Technology
Someone transitioning from another industry may have transferable skills but struggle to explain how those skills apply to technology.
Interview preparation can help bridge that gap.
The candidate can focus on demonstrating analytical thinking, adaptability, communication, business judgment, and other capabilities rather than assuming that previous industry experience automatically explains their value.
Professionals Applying for Business Roles
The book is specifically oriented toward business-side technology functions, including strategy, operations, marketing, sales, partnerships, recruiting, program management, and product-related roles.
That makes the material particularly relevant for candidates whose target positions are not primarily software-engineering roles.
Early-Career Professionals
People early in their careers may have fewer professional examples available.
A structured interview guide can help them think about academic projects, internships, part-time work, volunteer activities, or early professional experiences in terms of skills and outcomes.
The key is to remain accurate and avoid exaggerating responsibility.
Experienced Professionals
Experienced candidates can face a different challenge.
They may have extensive experience but struggle to decide which examples are most relevant.
More experience does not necessarily mean a longer interview answer is better. Selecting the right example and communicating it efficiently can be more useful than attempting to describe an entire career history.
Candidates Preparing for Leadership Roles
Leadership interviews often require discussion of decision-making, influence, organizational challenges, conflict, and strategic priorities.
Candidates can benefit from preparing examples that demonstrate how they handled situations involving multiple stakeholders and competing objectives.
Important Things to Consider
Interview Advice Is Not a Guarantee
No interview book can guarantee a particular hiring outcome.
Companies have different hiring processes, interview structures, role requirements, and organizational cultures. Hiring decisions can also depend on factors outside a candidate’s control.
Interview preparation should therefore be viewed as a way to improve readiness, not as a guaranteed formula for receiving an offer.
Adapt Advice to the Specific Company
General interview frameworks are useful starting points, but candidates should research the company and role separately.
A strategy interview at a large technology platform may differ significantly from a business operations interview at a smaller startup.
The company’s products, customers, business model, market, and current priorities can all influence the discussion.
Keep Examples Authentic
Prepared answers should still reflect real experiences.
It can be tempting to make a story sound more impressive by adding details or inflating one’s role. That can create difficulties if the interviewer asks follow-up questions.
A strong interview story does not need to be dramatic.
A relatively ordinary professional situation can demonstrate valuable skills if the candidate can clearly explain the problem, their decisions, the tradeoffs, and the result.
Do Not Over-Script Responses
Memorizing every sentence can make an answer sound unnatural and can make it difficult to adapt when the interviewer asks a slightly different question.
A better approach is to remember the important elements of a story rather than every word.
This provides enough structure to stay focused while leaving room for natural conversation.
Verify Current Interview Practices
Hiring practices change.
Technology companies may update interview processes, use different assessment tools, or incorporate AI into recruitment workflows.
For that reason, candidates should verify company-specific instructions directly with the employer and treat general career advice as a preparation framework rather than a permanent set of rules.
Using AI Responsibly During Interview Preparation
AI can be useful during preparation when used as a support tool.
For example, a candidate could provide a job description and ask an AI assistant to identify recurring competencies. They could then compare those competencies with their own experience.
AI can also generate practice questions based on a role.
Another useful application is mock interviewing. A candidate can answer a question and ask an AI system to identify areas where the answer was unclear or incomplete.
However, AI-generated content should not replace personal judgment.
Candidates should verify factual information, protect confidential employer information, and avoid entering sensitive company data into tools that are not approved for that purpose.
Most importantly, the candidate should be able to explain their own experiences without depending on generated text.
The goal of AI-assisted preparation should be better thinking and practice, not creating a fictional professional identity.
Evaluating an Interview Offer
Interview preparation does not necessarily end when a company makes an offer.
An offer represents a potential professional commitment, so candidates may want to examine the complete package rather than focusing on one number or benefit.
Relevant considerations can include:
- Responsibilities
- Reporting structure
- Team size
- Growth opportunities
- Work location
- Remote or hybrid expectations
- Benefits
- Equity structure
- Performance expectations
- Working hours
- Travel requirements
- Career development
- Role stability
- Scope of responsibility
The book includes the Adjah Matrix™, described by the author as a decision framework for comparing roles against factors that matter to the candidate.
A structured approach can help make the decision more deliberate.
It can also encourage candidates to think beyond the excitement of receiving an offer.
Comparison of General Interview-Preparation Categories
Different types of interview resources serve different purposes.
| Preparation Category | Primary Focus | Useful For |
|---|---|---|
| Technical interview guides | Coding, algorithms, system design | Engineering and technical roles |
| Case interview resources | Business problem solving | Strategy and consulting-style roles |
| Behavioral interview guides | Professional stories and competencies | Many business and leadership roles |
| Resume resources | Positioning experience | Job applications and career transitions |
| Company-specific preparation | Employer processes and expectations | Candidates targeting a particular organization |
| Business-side tech interview guides | Business roles within technology companies | Strategy, product, operations, marketing, sales, partnerships and related functions |
This distinction matters because not every interview preparation book is designed for the same audience.
Someone preparing for a software engineering coding interview may need a very different resource from someone preparing for a product strategy or operations position.
Likewise, a resume guide may help improve an application while providing less preparation for a live case interview.
A business-side technology interview guide can sit between these categories by connecting career positioning with interview performance.
Building a Practical Interview Preparation Plan
A candidate can turn the concepts covered by the book into a simple preparation system.
Week One: Understand the Role
Start by studying the job description.
Identify the five to ten capabilities that appear most important.
Research the company’s products, customers, competitors, business model, and recent developments.
Then identify which parts of your background are most relevant.
Week Two: Build Your Stories
Create a collection of professional stories.
Aim for variety rather than quantity.
You want examples involving leadership, conflict, failure, teamwork, problem solving, prioritization, ambiguity, and measurable outcomes.
Write short notes rather than full scripts.
Week Three: Practice Questions and Cases
Practice behavioral questions aloud.
Then introduce case-style exercises if they are relevant to the position.
For each case, focus on structuring the problem before jumping into an answer.
Ask clarifying questions when appropriate.
State assumptions clearly.
Explain your reasoning.
Week Four: Simulate the Interview
Conduct several mock interviews.
Set a time limit.
Avoid reading notes.
Record yourself if possible and review your communication.
Pay attention to whether your answers are concise, whether you provide enough context, and whether your conclusions are supported by the information you discussed.
Finally, prepare thoughtful questions for the interviewer.
Why Storytelling Matters in Business Interviews
Business roles often involve influencing people.
That means candidates need to communicate more than facts.
They need to explain why a decision mattered, what they considered, what changed, and what they learned.
For example, saying that you “managed a project” provides limited information.
A stronger explanation might describe the original problem, the stakeholders involved, the constraints, the candidate’s specific contribution, and the measurable result.
The difference is not necessarily better wording.
It is better context.
A good interview story allows the interviewer to understand how the candidate thinks and operates.
This is one reason preparing stories in advance can be valuable without turning the interview into a memorized performance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is The Tech Interview, Hacked only for software engineers?
No. The book is specifically focused on the business side of technology rather than technical engineering interviews. Its stated audience includes functions such as strategy, operations, marketing, sales, partnerships, recruiting, program management, and product-related roles.
Who wrote The Tech Interview, Hacked?
The book was written by Emem Adjah. Bibliographic listings identify Adjah as the author and publisher, with the 2026 edition released in July 2026.
How many tips are included?
The title indicates that the book contains 111 tips covering different stages of the business-side technology interview process.
Does the book cover behavioral interviews?
Yes. The book’s published description specifically mentions preparing stronger stories and handling behavioral interviews.
Does it cover case interviews?
Yes. Case interviews are among the areas identified in the book’s description, and case examples are included in the listed toolkit.
Does it include resume resources?
Yes. The listed toolkit includes resume templates along with a question bank and case examples.
Does the book discuss artificial intelligence?
Yes. The author describes guidance on using AI during the interview process without losing the candidate’s own voice.
What is the Adjah Matrix?
The Adjah Matrix™ is described by the author as a decision framework intended to help candidates evaluate roles against factors that matter to them.
Can the book help someone changing careers?
Its focus on positioning experience makes it potentially relevant to career transitions. Candidates changing industries or functions can use the underlying preparation concepts to identify transferable skills and connect previous experience to the requirements of a new role.
However, career transitions also require research into the specific field, company, and position.
Should candidates memorize the advice?
Memorization is generally less useful than understanding.
Interviewers may ask unexpected follow-up questions, so candidates benefit from knowing their experiences and reasoning rather than relying on fixed scripts.
Can AI replace interview preparation?
AI can assist with preparation, but it cannot replace genuine knowledge of your own experience.
It can help generate practice questions, organize information, and simulate conversations, but candidates should still develop their own understanding and authentic answers.
Is this a technical interview preparation book?
Its stated focus is the business side of technology rather than programming or engineering assessments.
Candidates preparing for highly technical roles may therefore need additional resources covering the technical requirements of their specific positions.
How should someone use an interview book effectively?
A practical approach is to combine reading with action.
After learning a concept, apply it to a real job description, create an example from your experience, practice explaining it aloud, and adjust your approach based on the results.
Final Thoughts
Preparing for a business-side technology interview involves more than creating a polished resume.
Candidates need to understand the position, communicate their professional value, explain previous decisions, solve unfamiliar problems, demonstrate relevant skills, ask useful questions, and evaluate opportunities carefully.
The Tech Interview, Hacked: 111 Tips for the Business Side of Tech (2026 Edition) approaches these challenges through a collection of practical guidance covering positioning, behavioral interviews, case interviews, AI-assisted preparation, questions for interviewers, negotiation, and offer evaluation. It also provides a toolkit containing resources such as resume templates, case examples, a question bank, and the Adjah Matrix™.
For candidates pursuing strategy, operations, marketing, sales, partnerships, product, program management, recruiting, or related technology roles, the central idea is straightforward: interview preparation should connect professional experience with the business problems a company needs someone to solve.
The most useful preparation is ultimately the preparation that helps a candidate communicate that connection clearly and honestly.
If you are preparing for a business-side technology interview,