First professional interview Tuesday

[bigrash]

Originally posted by: archcommus
One hour. 😱

good luck!

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: Gibson486
Do you know how a pointer works and teh difference between C and C++? If not, then you better start learning.

Ig you can show them you pick up stuff vert fat, then you are good as afr as you yourself is ocncerned. Hoever, if other people have more experience, then you are kind of screwed.

you like drunk or something?

Most only care about C++ now. A lot want Java or C# instead.

They may be looking to teach on site and develop a future programmer. I doubt he is going to get paid what a 'real' programmer makes, but it will beat McDonalds and give him experience.

Basic programming is not that hard, esp if you can cut and paste/use snippets at work.

I think I am a terrible programmer...but I have done a lot of huge projects that run very well. I had to use ASP, where .NET may have been more ideal.

I only knew ASP, C, C++ when hired for an exclusively Scheme(LISP) job...I was up to speed in a few days.

It's not that hard anymore.

Ahhh....no. Most low level stuff is still done in C. Heck, Lockheed Martin still used VB when I was interviewing there.

 

[archcommus]

All done. I'd say it went fairly well. He didn't really ask how I could benefit the company or anything like that, just asked some personal stuff, how college was going, how I was transitioning, what's been a shock, hard to adjust to, etc., and he asked about my values, my feelings on business ethics, how I got interested in EE, and so on. He said he would have his secretary call me and that I was a "leading candidate" for a position next summer.

So how long should I wait before sending a thank-you email?

 

[slvrsol]

a few hours

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: archcommus
All done. I'd say it went fairly well. He didn't really ask how I could benefit the company or anything like that, just asked some personal stuff, how college was going, how I was transitioning, what's been a shock, hard to adjust to, etc., and he asked about my values, my feelings on business ethics, how I got interested in EE, and so on. He said he would have his secretary call me and that I was a "leading candidate" for a position next summer.

So how long should I wait before sending a thank-you email?

next day, first thing in the morning or tonight before you go to sleep. Don't wait more than 3 days though.

 

[jaybert]

Actually, there are a few companies who prefer to hire freshmen as interns because they can have them work at the company for multiple summers while you are in college. One example specifically is the FBI/CIA. For interns, they only hire freshmen as it costs a great deal of money to get top secret clearance, so they prefer freshmen since it may not be until your 2nd or 3rd summer you get full clearance and are able to work on anything meaningful.

As for the interview itself, people already mentioned some important tips...but heres a good one, not just for internships, but for full time as well.

Be prepared for behavioral questions, where they ask for specific examples. Such as "Tell us of a time where you did not get along with a group member and how did you resolve it?" Companies are moving more and more to these sorts of questions, even moreso than techincal ones. I know that companies such as Lockheed Martin, Intel, and others do these types of interviews. I would think ahead of time of different examples where you've worked in groups and how you've dealt with difficult situations. Be sure to have specific examples which you've actually done, instead of just hypothetical ones (I was told my an Intel recruiter this was a common mistake).

When I went to AZ to interview for Intel (full-time), at least 60% of the questions were behavioral questions, with a few technical ones thrown in. I was even told that not knowing the technical questions were not as big of a deal, as they weren't expecting you to come in with that sort of knowledge, but it was more for their own edification.

Be polite, dress well (at least a shirt + tie + NO TENNIS SHOES/JEANS), address them as Mr./Ms. so and so unless told to do otherwise, thank them afterwards, and write them a follow-up thank you email telling them you are very interested in the position and to thank them again.

EDIT: oops, didnt notice you already did your interview, but this is good info for anyone else looking for a co-op/internship. In case it makes a difference, last year when I was looking for a co-op, I received offers from 2 different locations at IBM, AMD, and MIT Lincoln Labs. Ended up taking an offer from IBM. I am currently interviewing for full-time positions and have an offer from Intel in AZ, and am finishing up the interview process with IBM for consulting.

 

[Noirish]

will probably fail school b/c too much outside work.

 

[LS20]

you dont think an interview warrants spending 400$ on a suit? youre going to need it sooner or later. best not go to the interview at all. go in shorts and sandals and tell them you didnt think it was appropriate to buy a suit for an interview. or stay at home and play WoW

so the employer KNOWS that you are a freshman.. they cant ask you too many technical questions.. they dont expect a freshman to come in and code heavily for them, anyways. what theyre going to see is your character... if its ends up being a multiple-round interview, this first interview will be a psychological one, anyways. be confidence no matter what they do.

there are literally thousands of interviewing web sites out there.. check out the frequently asked interview questions.. youre going to get em. heres the first one...you sit down, they say, "Tell me about yourself". Go.

 

[Gibson486]

there are literally thousands of interviewing web sites out there.. check out the frequently asked interview questions.. youre going to get em. heres the first one...you sit down, they say, "Tell me about yourself". Go.

That is the worst interview question known to man!

 

[jaybert]

also, check out if your school has a subscription to vault.com for you all to use. It contains important information about literally almost every signle company out there...stuff as their philisophies, and what they look for in candidates. Once you know what they are looking for, you can tailor your answers to their questions.

Also be prepared to ask them questions about the company to show that you've researched + you were listening to them.

 

[archcommus]

I own a suit and wasn't about to spend $400 or even $100 on one. It wasn't a problem because I borrowed a friend's. If that friend didn't have one, I would've kept asking people until I found one, I wasn't going to go without a suit. The reason I didn't have mine here is because, well, I'm two months into my freshman year, definitely didn't expect to need one.

He didn't exactly say "Tell me about yourself" but he basically asked that in more questions. Asked about my values and beliefs, shocks and experiences since starting school, how I came to choose EE, etc.

I think he was quite pleased with my character and personality and I made him very aware that I do not know much coding besides some very basics. I also asked some good questions, one of which he was especially pleased with, which was a question asking about if the software/hardware engineers deal directly with customers or not ("I deal with the goddamn customers so the engineers don't have to!" 😉).