IT technical interview??

[SuzanneT]

Hi guys (and girls),

I've seen a few posts from developers, and would really appreciate your feedback.

I'd like to know from the guys who's allready been through interviews, how your interviews were structured. My past few applications here in SA I had write tests to justify my experience/capabilities.

Was that the same case with Oz interviews? How do they determine your technical capabilities?

I also read somewhere that you can ask for guidelines on how your interview will be structured and that it's a common practice in Oz. Can anyone clarify/confirm this?

Maybe I'm just stressed out because I SOOOOO want this to work out as soon as possible.

Suzanne

[Realist]

Hi guys (and girls),

I've seen a few posts from developers, and would really appreciate your feedback.

I'd like to know from the guys who's allready been through interviews, how your interviews were structured. My past few applications here in SA I had write tests to justify my experience/capabilities.

Was that the same case with Oz interviews? How do they determine your technical capabilities?

I also read somewhere that you can ask for guidelines on how your interview will be structured and that it's a common practice in Oz. Can anyone clarify/confirm this?

Maybe I'm just stressed out because I SOOOOO want this to work out as soon as possible.

Suzanne

In my experience (Sydney) they have ranged from a technical test (paper or computer based), a general quizzing by teamleaders/staff to in-depth discussions about certain technologies (I work in the engineering/design side of IT). Some have multiple interviews, really depends on the company (Large corporates are more structured ive found)

They also like psychometric tests and alot of them seemed to ask very simular questions (Ie they read them on the net somewhere )

Speak to your recruitment agent about this, ask for advice regarding interviews and what you should be expecting. The decent agents should provide you with a pretty good idea beforehand. Some even provide example questions for you to "practice"

[wislon]

Hi Suzanne,

I'm a software developer, and I've had both personal (face to face) and telephonic interviews with Aussie companies.

In both types I've been given one or more hypothetical problems to solve. In the f2f ones, it was usually easier because there was often a whiteboard or a piece of paper handy, helping to "draw" the solutions out. The telephonic interviews were a little harder because you couldn't easily point to something you'd drawn or written earlier, and the solutions were obviously a little more abstract. And a lot of the time, because it's a question, with necessarily on-the-fly answer, they won't expect you to get it 100% correct immediately.

And qualify it if you have to, e.g. "I know it'll probably look something like..." etc. If they want more info, or they want you to expand on it, they'll ask. There was no actual code/implementation involved in mine, tho that could just have been luck of the draw. There was some drawing of boxes and linking with arrows in the f2f ones.

At no point did I have to show them any code, or write anything for them (tho I think it's quite possible that that may happen). I even asked a couple of them at one point if they wanted to see anything "homebrew" I'd done, or if there was some kind of program they'd want me to write to demonstrate that I knew the language(s). They always said "no, not necessary, we'll find out quickly enough if you're not capable".

From what I've picked up in them, I think they are more interested in your approach to the solution and possible problems you think you might run into on the way. Most interviews they asked me to tell them about a system I'd done or was currently working on. And they were always especially interested in problems I'd run into, and how I'd solved them. My experience with it is that they're very big on problem solving, and always very interested in why you may have picked one way over another. And if you don't know, I recommend you don't prevaricate, rather just tell them you need a little time to think about it and you'll get back to them.

The best thing is to just listen carefully, take your time, and let your skills and experience speak for you and back you up. If you know your stuff, they can tell.

Best of luck!

[WidgetofOzz]

Hi Suzanne,

Here in good old Melbourne, I went for interviews with a few agencies and 3 companies. All where basicaly identical with 2 people doing the interview and it being divided into 2 parts.

First you are questioned on your work experiences, like problem solving skills, etc. but with the focus on actual situations and what you thought and did. This was very exhausting as they realy wanted a lot of detail. This was done by the person who was obviously either HR or management.

Second part was more of a technical check by surprise, surprise one of their senior techies. This I actually found easy as none of them tried to "catch" me, al their questions where pretty straight forward and related to what I was doing. Funny part is the job I got was for the interview where I told them I do not know to 2 of their questions. It is best to play straight, and you should be ok.

Give me a shout if you have more ???.

Regards,

WoO

Edited March 27, 2008 by WidgetofOzz

[SuzanneT]

Hi guys,

Thank you so much for your responses.

I've been developing for 6 years now, and the job interviews don't even stress me out anymore. My last one was a breeze, and I got the job half an hour later.

I guess I just want to be prepared.

I hope I'll be able to get a job there with a telephonic interview or video conference. We don't have money to go over for a LSD trip.

Widget, I see you're already in Melbourne! Hope to meet you in a few month's time!

Thanks again!

Suzanne

[louw.pretorius]

Hi,

Try this link for some interesting reading regarding interviews etc:

http://www.seek.com.au/advertisers/general...iew_wizard.ascx

Louw

There are only 10 kinds of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't

[Stepchook]

There are only 10 kinds of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't

Brilliant!