You know you always need to about 10 minutes early. That will show that you care about the position. If you're late, you're in trouble! Plan ahead as to where you're going. Make sure to have adequate directions or use a GPS when driving to the interview. If you think you're going to go to the wrong building, either call ahead of time to verify where you're going or leave extra time if you think you're going to get lost!
Read up on the company, what they stand for, their mission statement, what they do, etc. For example, if you are interviewing for a position at an insurance company, know what types of insurance they sell. And of course know that they sell insurance. If you at least have a couple sentences to say, you're in the clear!
Read up on your job description. Know what languages or tasks you will be expected to do if you were hired. You don't have to know everything because the company will “most likely” train you. For example, if they want you to know what “websphere” is, if you have no idea, at least google what it is and if they ask, say you know what it is, but don't know it at this time and would love to learn it. Always say that you'd love to learn. That shows your motivation and passion for the position.
For what you do know (ex Java and object oriented languages), make sure you brush up on your basic concepts and google concepts that would be typically asked in a technical interview, as well as basic syntax (ex arrays). Some companies may hammer you with questions, others may ask you to write out syntax FROM MEMORY, and others may ask you to type code out on a screen. It varies by company. In most cases from my experience, you are hammered with around 10 questions. With those questions, you never know what you will get asked. A word of advice is to only put languages, frameworks, etc. that you know to a decent degree OR what you covered for nice chunk or a unit in class. For example, if you spent about 10 minutes learning AJAX, it is not recommended to put it on your resume. If you do, the recruiters can ask questions about it. If you don't know enough, you will look silly and not get the job.
Prepare your resume and make sure to bring at least 5 in case the interviewers ask. One thing that would make you look better is printing your resume on resume paper as opposed to regular paper. It's more professional and it will give you a reason to stand out. And of course, make sure your resume is error free or you will be sent a rejection letter instantly!
Another thing that will help you stand out is bringing business cards and handing them out like candy. It will help the interviewers remember you more. You can get them for free at the career center.
If you're a man, wear a nice suit, tie, and dress shoes. For a woman, also wear a suit and nice flats or heels. Pants or skirt suit doesn't matter. Make sure to hide tattoos and most piercings. If you're a girl and have lots of piercings, wear your hair down to cover them up. If you have your ears stretched, as a girl, wear something that looks like a regular earring. For a man, wear a solid color plug, NOT a tunnel. Take all piercings on your face out or wear a clear earring. For tattoos, hide them. For women, if the tattoo is on your foot, leg, or ankle, wear dark colored tights or something else that's appropriate to cover it up.
Bring a portfolio (big leather folder) and put your resumes, business cards, pen, paper, your driver's license (in case you need it for security reasons), and additional information you were requested to bring (ex reimbursement forms).
Print out a copy of your unofficial transcript and bring it with you. A lot of companies seem to be asking for it these days. It will make you look prepared because you were a step ahead of the game!
This is completely optional. If you have made some personal side projects OR have something you spent some extra time on for a class assignment, bring it with you either on a flash drive, print out a nice snippet of the most complex part you have, have the website ready in working order, or bring your phone with the mobile application ready to be ran. MAKE SURE EVERYTHING IS WORKING BEFORE YOU SHOW IT OFF IN THE INTERVIEW or you will look stupid. It can even potentially ruin your chances of obtaining the position. If you do decide to print out code, make sure your code is neat and not just thrown on Microsoft Word to be printed sloppy. Make sure it is neat and organized, as well as very ready to explain what you did for your code and why.
Prepare a list of questions to ask during the interview. After each interviewer is done interviewing you (whether it's multiple people coming into the room at separate “rounds” or if you have a few people in the same room asking you questions), the interviewer will ask you if you have any questions. If you have just one large round, then ask them at the end. If you have multiple rounds, one being with an HR person, one being a technical interview, and one being a senior member/manager on the team you're interviewing for, ask 2 or 3 questions per round (depending on your preference), but make sure to ask the HR questions to the HR people and the technical questions to the technical interviewer and so on. Saving them all until the end would be ok, but not the best option. If you just have one large round, ask about 5-7 questions and save your “best/most challenging” question for the very last one in order to end on the highest note. Also, the interviewers will usually remember what happens at the very end and be able to take great note of that.
Practice your interviewing skills, especially for behavioral. Rehearse some things you'd say for each question that would be asked. You can find a list of popular behavioral and technical interview questions online. If you still think you need more than just your friend to practice with, have no fear. You can ask your professors for advice or even schedule an appointment for a mock interview. You can have as many as you want. It's just like a real interview without anything at stake. You make an appointment at the career center and take the same steps (and dress the same) as you would for a regular in-person interview. They are extremely helpful and highly recommended.
Back to Main Page
No comments:
Post a Comment