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First Programming Interview

my_self

Hi,
I have my first interview next week, slightly terrified. I'm in third year and it's for a 6 month work placement. Not really sure what to expect. Was just told to come in for a discussion on what I can offer. Should I expect technical questions? Should I suit up? The company looks quite formal. Any help tips greatly appreciated. Thanks

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SnitchingBubs

I am in a similar position. I specialize in java. I had an interview last week with a multinational. It was ok, they asked me some stuff about threads/forloops/Concurrency .It wasn't over the top or anything. Just study up a small bit and you'll be fine. Deep breathes

my_self

OK, thanks. My position if I get will be a Java programmer. Where you ask to write any code? Paper or whiteboard? Also, did you suit up? Thanks

McDonnellDean

Senior Software Dev Here, some points

-: Always suit up, it's better to be over dressed than under dressed. In general I would always wear a suit and a tie for interviews regardless.

-: You are being hired as a work placement and will be interviewed accordingly. They won't try screw you over by asking questions about topics you wouldn't be expected to understand at this stage in your career.

-: Coding tests are usually to get a feel for how you code, not to try trick you. I would be shocked if there was a test that wasn't more than trivial to ensure you know how to open an IDE and do the very basics.

Generally, my advice would be, speak clearly, smile and relax. Best of luck!

SnitchingBubs

my_self wrote: »

OK, thanks. My position if I get will be a Java programmer. Where you ask to write any code? Paper or whiteboard? Also, did you suit up? Thanks

No test, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was one, I was prepared for one.

When it doubt always suit up...always.

Creamy Goodness

Show that you can go beyond page 1 of the manual, show that you can analyse a problem (if given one) and break it down to smaller chunks, don't say the phrase "we didn't learn that in college", think on your feet and you'll be fine.

(5 year software dev here).

McDonnellDean

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

Show that you can go beyond page 1 of the manual, show that you can analyse a problem (if given one) and break it down to smaller chunks, don't say the phrase "we didn't learn that in college", think on your feet and you'll be fine.

(5 year software dev here).

N-E-V-E-R say we didn't learn that in college, this is essentially you saying, nah, I don't want a job where I might be required to learn to do something of my own accord!

my_self

Right, thanks for that could see the temptation of giving that answer if confronted with an awkward question. Also, I have got mixed opinions on suiting up, from friends and stackoverflow. A friend of mine got a placement in casuals however the company in which my interview is with does look quite formal. So maybe I should just go with a suit.

McDonnellDean

Stack Overflow is not a good source for determining the dress requirements of an interview. Presentation in any interview is extremely important to some people and it could be the sole reason you don't get the job, unfair or not. Always ALWAYS A-L-W-A-Y-S where a suit.

Did I mention you should always wear a suit.

A good friend of mine runs Tapadoo, they have some very helpful advice for juniors:
http://tapadoo.com/2013/job-tips/

Always where a suit.

A suit, Always wear one.

my_self

OK, a suit it is then.

McDonnellDean

my_self wrote: »

OK, a suit it is then.

Really? I wouldn't bother.... I kid, I kid.

Personally I think the whole suit thing is nonsense, they are expensive in relative terms and I don't see why the absence of one would hinder the candidate but ultimately the goal of an interview is to make the company like you enough to hire you and that means wearing a tin of fruit unfortunately...

my_self

I agree, it shouldn't matter once you can code well. Also, I thought it was now a trend not to wear suits, well at least in a lot of web based companies such as Google, Facebook, Twitter etc. Anyway will get myself one at the weekend, not wearing a tie though.

Creamy Goodness

stackoverflow on dress sense? sure if you're in america where you're an extra in the social network and ride a scooter to work whilst wearing flip flops and a hoody.

first impressions count still you'll have plenty of time to wear casual clothes when you get the job (says the guy wearing a hoody and jeans :pac:).

RangeR

my_self wrote: »

I agree, it shouldn't matter once you can code well. Also, I thought it was now a trend not to wear suits, well at least in a lot of web based companies such as Google, Facebook, Twitter etc. Anyway will get myself one at the weekend, not wearing a tie though.

No tie is fine. No jacket is not a huge thing. MINIMUM is clean trousers, shirt and shoes. Polish those bad boys up.

Jim2007

my_self wrote: »

I agree, it shouldn't matter once you can code well. Also, I thought it was now a trend not to wear suits, well at least in a lot of web based companies such as Google, Facebook, Twitter etc. Anyway will get myself one at the weekend, not wearing a tie though.

I have not interviewed an engineer in a suit in over 10 years, BAs and PMs, but no engineers (and no I don't work for an American company)

Jim2007

McDonnellDean wrote: »

N-E-V-E-R say we didn't learn that in college, this is essentially you saying, nah, I don't want a job where I might be required to learn to do something of my own accord!

I quickly loose interest in any twit who waffles on about something rather than admit he is not familiar with the topic and will quickly draw the interview to a close.

lc180

Make the interviewer fully aware you are willing and eager to learn on the job and pick up new skills. If you are asked a question you don't know the answer to - don't bullsh*t! Just be honest and say you don't know. If its a topic that will be essential to know for the job, then tell them you are interested in learning it.

Best of luck

lc180 (5yrs+ Java Programmer)

Connavar

Most important thing I have found is showing an interest in the subject outside of just getting the required grades in college. This makes you look like you are willing to learn.
Also, two questions that came up in all the grad/placement interviews I heard about were.
What is polymorphism and what is encapsulation? They are simple enough answers but good to be prepared for the question as it can catch people on the day.
Also don't try to talk about something you don't know about. If there is a technical interviewer there, they will catch you out immediately.
(Software engineer of two years)

Jim2007

my_self wrote: »

Hi,
I have my first interview next week, slightly terrified. I'm in third year and it's for a 6 month work placement. Not really sure what to expect. Was just told to come in for a discussion on what I can offer. Should I expect technical questions? Should I suit up? The company looks quite formal. Any help tips greatly appreciated. Thanks

First all of make yourself familiar with the company and what it does. It is very difficult to convince anyone that you are interested in working for them, while at the same time displaying a complete lack of knowledge about their business.

You have been asked into discuss what you can offer, so spend some time thinking about it. Come up with four or five points and during the interview make sure you make those points.

Be prepared to talk about some project you have done in college or in your spare time. What was the project about, the benefits for the users, the difficulties you faced and so on. If you have slides or a demo even better.

No matter how well you are prepared, there will be some questions you will not know the answers to. There are three approaches to such a situation:
- "I'm not very familiar with this but as I understand..." And then state what you actually know
- "I sorry I'm not familiar with the subject, but here is how I'd approach getting up to speed on this".....
- Try to waffle, believe me you'll never look or sound so stupid as when you are talking BS and the people on the other side of the table know you are.

An of course that basics like making sure you catch people's names and use them during the interview. Maintaining eye contact and so on.

As to what to ware, I'd suggest it comes down to doing your research in knowing the company. If in doubt I would simply call and ask - a receptionist or HR.

Eoin

Of course your normal dress code doesn't reflect your coding ability, but to some people it does reflect the effort you're making for the interview.

So that's why - even if you know the day-to-day dress code is informal - you should just play it safe and scrub up unless specifically told otherwise. Maybe it won't make a difference, but there's enough to worry about in an interview as it is.

You'd have to be pretty unlucky to be interviewed by someone who thinks that wearing a suit is a negative factor in the interview.

Jim2007

Eoin wrote: »

So that's why - even if you know the day-to-day dress code is informal - you should just play it safe and scrub up unless specifically told otherwise. Maybe it won't make a difference, but there's enough to worry about in an interview as it is.

A major part of the exercise is trying to figure out if the new face will fit in… if you are being interviewed by two people dressed in jeans, t-shirts and runners and your in a suit and the next candidate comes dressed closer to them, who do you think they will feel more at home with???

We'd all like to thing that we are impartial and so on, but in the end the interview process is very much about discrimination...

dazberry

It's been a long time since I've given interviews, but the thing that drove me f**king mad was candidates dismissing what they got wrong in the code tests. We did small code tests specifically designed to contain some bug (i.e. index out of bounds) or needing some additional code (e.g. exception handling). We'd then go through the answers.

The amount of people that then retorted with "I wouldn't do it that way" was unbelievable. We started to look on it an being argumentative and marked people down for it ...

Eoin

Jim2007 wrote: »

A major part of the exercise is trying to figure out if the new face will fit in… if you are being interviewed by two people dressed in jeans, t-shirts and runners and your in a suit and the next candidate comes dressed closer to them, who do you think they will feel more at home with???

If it's the type of place that makes a big point of being informal, then they'll say not to dress up.

I would be pretty surprised if the interviewers are going to think "this person is too corporate for our hip and trendy work culture".

Jim2007

Eoin wrote: »

I would be pretty surprised if the interviewers are going to think "this person is too corporate for our hip and trendy work culture".

But it is not about analysis, it's about feelings and reaction - right from get go there will be a certain interaction there that will not happen with the corporate type in a casual environment.

All other things being equal, they'll go for the one who seems most like their crowd!