Also, if the interviewer is a developer, then ask technical questions.. like What frameworks do they use (and why)? What software development methodology do they employ? Agile? Also, be sure to study up on your knowledge of riddles as well as technical stuff. Yeah, they might ask about binary trees, hash tables, or graphs.. but they might also ask the following: 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?
Yeah, I was a bit hesitant to ask that sort of question. But at that point of the interview, I figured my fate was more or less sealed...just didn't know what it was. I thought I'd get some info useful to me (I was curious about some of the negatives about the company) as well as show that I was interested, even if things weren't as good as the company was trying to make itself look. In general, I probably won't ask that sort of question. Perhaps something related where I can make myself look better though (EX: given these sort of challenges, I know I can still succeed). I'm actually interested in these styles of interviews, although I don't know if I'll get a chance until I get a 2nd or 3rd interview...or if I get an on-site interview with one of the smaller companies that I applied to. At the very least, I can better show what I'm capable of.
1. you got the interview in the first place cause you qualified academically 2. the rest of the interviews are basically seeing your work ethic and your personality, if you can't get along with people, then you won't get hired
U have to be open minded and versitile. I have friends that couldn't get a job for years because they wouldn't bulge on their college degree. I had a friend with a EE degree with a cs minor and wound up working in the cs field. He temped for awhil for experience, then he worked for the state of texas in austin, now he works for hpd in the it department. You might als may want to fast track and teach just to get some good money,great vacation tim and flexibility. Its not a bad gig, you will come out making 45k-50k in the austin area. There are options, just don't pigeon hole yourself and you will be ok.
I had a fat section in my resume called "Relevant Coursework;" allowed me to imply at least an interest and exposure to skills and duties related to my job. Although, this might be a little redundant for you, since you'll already have a "Computer Skills" section that might discuss all your coursework as it is.
Networking is important, like Manny said. I'll be graduating in May with a ****ty degree. I say ****ty because unless you want to go into teaching, an English degree is hard to market. I want to do corporate writing, but there's not much out there because writers and "communications specialists" are the first ones companies cut when the going gets tough. So anyhow, I got to know this businessman and his wife through OrangeRowdy95 from the board. I'm currently doing PR interning for their company right now, and last weekend the guy told me if I work hard and they're happy with my work, they'll give me a full time job when I graduate. (knock on wood). I'm hoping and praying for that opportunity. In other words, I would never in a million years be in this position if I wasn't "hooked-up" by someone...it's just so hard to get noticed if you don't have the inside track. I know I'll have to go in for interviews at one point, but it's so nice to be offered an internship opportunity outright, especially considering how much I've been stressing about building my resume (I also have no relevant work experience) the past couple years.
I had both. Coursework would be for saying things like Software Engineering, Data Structures and Algorithms, Computer Security, Object-Oriented Programming, etc. Then I had a part for skills which would be the languages (Java, C++, Ruby, PHP, etc.) I was familiar with, along with tools and methodologies I was familiar with (SVN, unit/acceptance testing, UML, XP, etc.). IIRC, I followed a CS resume template from my career advisor, and she also helped me with my resume. For the most part, I think my resume is pretty good, at least given my situation. Could maybe use some tweaks on the types of projects I list (at least depending on who I send my resume too), but that's probably about it.
Ha! You have almost precisely the same GPA I had I think (3.17, IIRC). The reason I don't remember is that, really, not a lot of companies care what your GPA is, as long as it's above a 3.0. So you're in good shape there. Ouch. That definitely doesn't make it easy, not gonna lie... What I will say is that your education in an area like CS, with all the projects you've worked on, is supposed to simulate the work environment, obviously... so a lot of questions an interviewer might answer, you very well may have 2 or 3 good examples to give just from class projects. Remember that interviewers really want to hear examples. Anyone can say they have good communication skills, but they'll want to hear 2 examples of what sets your communication apart. If you say you're good with Java, tell them about something you built. They don't want to hear generalities. Everything should be based on concrete events. It also works well if you have a minor or a former major in some sort of soft skill... interviewing for an IT job, my former English Education and Journalism majors, along with my second major in HR went a long way in selling my management and communication skills. Keep in mind that even very strong candidates do well to go 1-for-5 in terms of offers-to-interviews ratio. Job searching takes work. Marquette told me I had an absurdly strong, top 5%-type resume for IT, and I still went 3-for-11. You're going to get more rejections than offers. So don't let one rejection get you down... all you need is 1, right? Keep in mind a couple more things... *A lot of interviewers have little-or-no interviewing training. Basically, they suck at doing it. So you have to be assertive and know how to get across what you need to get across, even if they don't ask the right questions. Because often, they won't, as you've already experienced. *Ask one technical question. No more, no less. This isn't what interviews are really about right out of college, but it will wow an HR guy, and/or it will show a technical expert that you at least know your stuff. *Be enthusiastic! Even if you're a completely low-key guy, get yourself to act like you just unwrapped a new copy of SF4 () just for that half-hour. Enthusiasm is always good. Being unenthusiastic will hurt you much more than being nervous will. *If you all of a sudden get to what you realize is the end of the interview, and you feel you haven't had a chance to really sell yourself yet, sell your strengths in the form of a question. Even the worst interviewers will often reflexively ask "did you have any more questions?" right before ending things. Even if they're behind schedule and didn't really WANT you to ask any more questions, they'll rarely kick you out if you pipe up quickly. You could say something along the lines of "I have a wide range of interests in this field... at (CompanyX), will I have the opportunity to exercise my expertise not only in X and Y, but also occasionally in A and B?" Stay away from the "what don't you like" inquiries in interviews that short. You have so little time that it doesn't help their impression of you if you're asking them about what sucks about their job. On the flip side, if you're responding to a question along the lines of "what are your strengths" or "what sets you apart," give a list of 3 or 4 points with examples, and don't forget to end that list with 1 "growth opportunity." Just something you're working on getting better at. For example, I brought up the fact that I often got so caught up in helping my co-workers out that I sometimes lost site of my own work. If you admit to 1 (MINOR) weakness, they often leave thinking "is that really the guy's only weakness?" If you don't mention any weakness, they'll just wonder how many you're hiding.
Good point. I'm not really too worried about my GPA. I used to be a little concerned, especially since I felt like I was really screwed in some of my classes (yeah, I know that's the case for everyone, but still). But I stopped caring since, as you mentioned, it seems like anything above 3.0 is fine. I think I'm pretty good with this kind of stuff. I usually have a number of specific examples in my head. As mentioned, I think my problem is that I need to get them out of my head and into the interviewer's head. Yeah, even though I was pretty disappointed with the result, I'm still pretty optimistic about things. I certainly didn't like being rejected by the company I interviewed with, but I also know that it probably isn't an easy place to get a job at (large company that is #1 or #2 in the services they provide). I'm sure I'll be rejected several more times in the upcoming weeks, but as long as I stay aggressive and pursue more opportunities, I don't think I'll have too many problems...hopefully. Of course, I do want to learn from my mistakes... Hmm...I like this one. Thanks for the lengthy response. Definitely helpful. And again, thanks to everyone else that has contributed to the thread.
Read 101 Great Answers to the Toughest Interview Questions by Ron Fry. That book was money to help me get my job. It should have some tips to address your situation and a bunch of other helpful advice. FYI, I went to UT and checked it out from McCombs Ford Career Library so if you have a friend in the business school just ask them to check it out for you.
