Grad Java Dev Interview

meor

Anyone here ever been interviewed/interviewed someone for a graduate java developer position? Any tips as to commonly asked questions/ general tips?

Thanks.

MagicRon

Did you ask Google?

meor

MagicRon wrote: »

Did you ask Google?

Don't worry about what else I did

Feathers

meor wrote: »

Anyone here ever been interviewed/interviewed someone for a graduate java developer position? Any tips as to commonly asked questions/ general tips?

Thanks.

Really depends on the type of company that you're working for/interviewing with, and your CV/the CV of the applicant.

I might be willing to take on someone with very little Java knowledge if they have background in other languages (C++ or JavaScript even) at a development agency if I feel they'll learn quickly or those skills would also be useful to me.

If I'm looking for someone to slot into my banking team working on some multi-threading application I'm sure I'll have very different questions/requirements.

What type of company are you interviewing with & what's your background in?

CrazyFish

Ensure you know all the projects you done well and be prepared to talk/ answer questions on them.

djk1000

Don't ignore the other skills that employers look for. I was at a talk recently where an employer in a software company spoke a lot about software dev skills often being good but social and business skills obviously lacking in interviewees.

He was basically saying that a lot of graduate developers will move into project management, people management or business analysis after a while and he's already looking for the building blocks for that when he interviews a grad for development role.

Francie Barrett

I have done a few graduate interviews for Java developers. Here are some of the questions I would ask.

What are the main principles of object orientated programming?

What is the difference between method overloading and overriding?

What is the difference between an interface and an abstract class?

What is the difference between the super and this keyword?

What is the difference between a private and protected variable?

What is the difference between a GET and POST HTTP method?

I would also give a relatively simple programming test in which I would ask a candidate to write code to reverse a string or to sort a numeric array. I would say over 50% of candidates we give this kind of test to fail it.

If you're a graduate, most interviewers should realize that you probably don't have the depth of experience to know stuff like why you would use StringBuffer over String or the differences between the DOM and SAX XML parser. The important thing the interviewer will want to know is that you have the principles of OO programming, that you have a rudimentary knowledge of Java and that if given a problem, you are able to tackle it.

Stuxnet

my lecturer's have recommended this book

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cracking-Coding-Interview-Laakmann-McDowell/dp/098478280X/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1OMX4MDIPU225&colid=3UGGM7HE6E51O

c_man

It can vary widely OP. I recommend this book. helped me when I was searching for a grad position.

meor

Thanks everyone!

In case anyone else looks at this thread, I was asked about all my college projects and previous work experience, mainly my 3rd year placement. Java questions included:

• Override.
• Overload.
• Why have classes within classes.
• What is the static visibility modifier and when should it be used.
• Also several SQL questions like joins, select statements, distinct. Nothing major.

Edit: Francie Barrett, you were spot on!

shanefitz360

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2114212/questions-every-good-java-j2ee-developer-should-be-able-to-answer

CrazyFish

Has anyone had to do a aptitude test for a graduate position. It's for a graduate software engineer specifically Java. I am not sure if its going to be just like a technical test and asks programming and java questions etc.

ManannanMacLir

Who is the test with CrazyFish (if you don't mind me asking)?

CrazyFish

ManannanMacLir wrote: »

Who is the test with CrazyFish (if you don't mind me asking)?

It's with Capita IB. I probably should have sent an email asking what exactly it is. Hindsight is great.

everdead.ie

Questions that are asked,

What is encapsulation?
What is Polymorphism?