How to Pass an Interview for Software Engineering Job

How to Pass an Interview for a Software Engineer? What to Do and What to Avoid? ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Sofia , 3 .05.2011

Contents ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

What is a Job Interview? A Stressful Situation or a Chance to Demonstrate Your Knowledge and Skills?

What is a Job Interview? ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

How to Overcome the Stress? ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

Interview Preparation What is the Best Way to Prepare Yourself for an Upcoming Interview?

Steps to Prepare for an Interview ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

Research the Company ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

Research the Company (2) ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

Research the Offered Position ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

Prepare for Technical Questions ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

Prepare for Technical Questions ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

The Interview Process Typical Scenario for a Technical Interview

Technical Interview: The Process ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

Presenting the Company / Position ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],My name is … Our company is … bala-bla-bla … We are leader in … bla-bla-bla … Our products bla-bla-bla … Our projects … bla-bla-bla … We are the best!

Presenting Yourself ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Present yourself in short – your relevant experience, education, how did you start programming, etc.

Technical Assessment ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

Technical Question – Example ,[object Object],[object Object],In C# which explain the fastest algorithm to sort a list of customers by their first name? … I know the build-in Array.Sort() method, but I am not sure it is the fastest. If I had a computer I would perform a Google search. For multi-core CPUs I could try the parallel sorting using LINQ with parallel extensions. I should either implement own comparer or use a lambda function to sort by the FirstName property.

Technical Task – Example ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],How do you can randomize a sequence of playing cards?

Personal Character Assessment ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Do you have experience working in a team? What do you prefer – being a leader or a player? Do you play some kind of sport? At what position? How do you react if you are about to miss a deadline?

Personal Character Assessment (2) ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

Negotiation ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

Your Questions ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

Typical Interview Questions and Answers (for Junior Software Development Positions)

Typical Interview Questions ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

General Questions Experience, Education, Future Plans

Typical General Questions Where are you from? What High school have you graduated? What University have you graduated or you are studying now? When you started programming? How many books about computer programming you have read? What was the name of the last? Do you believe that computer programming is your passion and your future job? Can you work on full time (8 hours/day)? If not how many hours a week you can work?

Typical General Questions (2) What are your English skills? Can you freely talk on the telephone in English? What are your plans for the next few years? How you see your career after 2 or 3 years? How you inform yourself about new technologies? Do you read news or blogs? Which sites? Shall you study more after you graduate your current University degree? Maybe abroad? Describe your typical work day.

Technical Questions Algorithms, Databases, Web Technologies, Etc.

Typical Technical Questions ,[object Object],Explain what is a hash-table and how it works. Explain how the QuickSort works. How fast is it? You are given a set of words. Find all their subsets. Can you draw a picture of a linked list? You have to implement a Web spider which runs on a cluster of machines. How you will design it? Explain how polymoprhism works in the object-oriented programming (OOP)? What is typical for the Strings in C# / Java / PHP?

Typical Technical Questions (2) ,[object Object],What is database constraint? How constraints work? You have a table consisting of: EmployeeId (PK), Name, Salary, ManagerId (FK), DeptId (FK). Write a SQL query to find the name, salary and department of the employee that has minimal salary in his/her department. If many employees take the minimal salary, display just one of them. How we implement one-to-many and many-to-many relationship in relational databases? When we use "1 x 1" relationships in database modelling? Give an example.

Typical Technical Questions (3) ,[object Object],[object Object],How we execute multiple tasks in the same time in C#? What is the difference between DOM, SAX and StAX parsers for XML? How you use DOM in C# / Java / PHP? What is XPath and how it works? Give an example. How you use Xpath in C# / Java / PHP? You have to download 500 files from Internet but your network bandwidth is not too wide to handle 500 downloads simultaneously so you want to download the files by 10 at a time. How you implement this?

Typical Technical Questions (4) ,[object Object],Explain the meaning of the following CSS rule: .newscolumn { width: 400px; float: left; clear: both; } Explain the difference between HTTP GET and POST requests. We have a <div> element in a HTML page which is visible. How to hide the <div> with JavaScript? How to do the above in jQuery?

Typical Technical Questions (5) ,[object Object],What is custom tag / user control in a ASP.NET / Java based Web application? How it works? When we need this technology? How you could implement a shopping cart in ASP.NET / Java / PHP? What is AJAX and how it works? How we use AJAX in ASP.NET / jQuery / PHP / Java based Web application? We have a list of products that have name, price and photo. We need to display them in a Web application. Describe the steps to do this in ASP.NET / Java / PHP. How we implement URL rewriting in ASP.NET / Java Web application / PHP?

Typical Technical Questions (6) ,[object Object],What is source control repository? Which source control software you have used and when? What is software requirements specification (SRS)? What is the typical structure of such document? What is unit testing? When we need it? What unit testting frameworks you have used? How the continous integration works? Explain what is agile development. What is SCRUM? Explain the most important practices of SCRUM.

Abstract Thinking Questions Puzzles, Unsolvable Problems, Etc.

Abstract Thinking Questions ,[object Object],[object Object],Estimate how many gas stations exist in Sofia. Do you see the tree outside on the street? Can you calculate how many leaves it has? You have 8 balls. One of them is defective and weighs less than others. You have a balance to measure balls against each other. In 2 weighings how do you find the defective one?

Personal Character Questions Your Best and Worst Qualities, Ability to Work in a Team, How do you Handle a Stressful Situation?

Typical Personal Character Assessment Questions ,[object Object],Describe the ideal software company from your dreams. Can you describe an ideal collague / team member? What are your 5 best personal character qualities? What are your 5 worst personal character qualities? What kind of sport do you practice? At which position do you play? What shall you do if you have a deadline until tomorrow and your project is not completed? How do you resolve a conflict with a colleague?

Typical Personal Character Assessment Questions (2) ,[object Object],Do you prefer to work independently or in a team? Give some examples of a team work from your experience. How do you resolve a conflict with a colleague? Describe a difficult work situation / project you have experienced and how you overcame it. What does motivate you and what does not? How do you handle stress and pressure? How you can evaluate your results. What is success?

Typical Personal Character Assessment Questions (3) ,[object Object],What were your responsibilities at your last job / last project? What major challenges and problems did you face? How did you handle them? Why are you leaving your current job? What interests you about this job? What challenges are you looking for in this position? Why we need to hire you, not someone else?

The "Salary" Question How to Answer in the Best Way?

The "Salary" Question ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],What salary do you expect? I don't care about the payment. I want to work at the company for long-term and I believe that if my results are good I will be paid accordingly. I understand that I have to learn a lot. Thus now I think I could start with a salary of XXX leva and in a year I expect to become more skillful and get a pay rise of YYY (or be fired if I don't meet your expectations).

The "Salary" Question (2) ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],I don't know what salary to expect. Please make an offer for me. You will be a junior developer (trainee). For this position our salary range is from XXX to YYY leva.

The "Salary" Question (3) ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

Typical Mistakes and How to Avoid Them? One Wrong Word Could Spoil the Deal!

Typical Mistakes ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Did you have colleagues or classmates who you can't stand? What were they? Why you can't stand them? Generally I can stand anyone. I don't like too much XXX kind of people but if I need to work in a team with such colleagues I will defenitely find a way.

Typical Mistakes ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

Typical Mistakes (2) ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],This is my first job and I want to start with 1800 leva net salary because I am very smart and experienced. I will work in your company for few months and will go abroad for a better job after I get some experience. I want to start a job at some management position because I have graduated University in UK.

Typical Mistakes (3) ,[object Object],[object Object],I want to start working but my University education is my first priority. Thus I will be unable to come at work each Tuesday and each Wednesday and when I have tests, exams and projects. My first priority is my job. In the same time I have some commitments in the University but I am flexible to do my best to move them out of working time. Sometimes (e.g. once monthly) I will have to take tests / exams in the University and I hope we could find a way to avoid harmful consequences for my projects at work due to my eventual absence. Do you think this would be possible?

Other Hints Do not Come Late, Usual Dressing, …

Other Hints ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

How to Pass an Interview for Software Engineer? ,[object Object]

How to Pass an Interview for Software Engineering Job

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How to Pass an Interview for Software Engineering Job