First professional job interview

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GreatBarracuda

Golden Member
Mar 1, 2004
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So I finally got an interview after my mass mailing campaign. BTW, I'm a 3rd year electrical engineering student and this is an internship position.

These are the job duties:

Support and develop enhancements to the computer software of the Integrated Operating Facilities. This software is used in the real-time monitoring and control of the Transmission system.
· Develop computer software, using C++, Java, and SQL programming running on UNIX and Windows 2003 platforms,
· Develop programs to extract data from Oracle or SQL Server databases and generate reports using Web technology

These are the requirements:

· Working knowledge/experience in some of the following areas would be an asset
Ø Developing stand-alone, client server and/or multi-tier applications
Ø With programming languages such as C, C++, JAVA etc.
Ø Relational database system,
Ø Electrical theory, power system modelling and computer applications
Ø Unix and/or Windows NT computer system

I have experience with only 2 and 4 above. I mentioned something about being familiar with Java on my resume and that's about right. I know only the basics!

Understandably, I'm a bit nervous. Any tips would be welcome! And answers to commonly asked questions. I'm guessing this is going to be more of a behavioural interview but might include technical questions.

How do you answer the following?

1) What are your weaknesses?

I'll post more questions when I can think of them.

Thanks!
 
R

Reel

Diamond Member
Jul 14, 2001
4,484
0
76
Originally posted by: GreatBarracuda
How do you answer the following?

1) What are your weaknesses?
Click to expand...

Originally posted by: GreatBarracuda
C'mon! I'm freakin' out here! ;)
Click to expand...

You could say that you are demanding and impatient.
 
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FortFunFoSho

Golden Member
Mar 7, 2002
1,101
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0
When responding to what your weaknesses are..

I would say 8/10 people read on the net to say "I tend to be an overachiever and take on too many activities at once..." In all the interviewing I have done whenever someone would say that I would ask for something else.

What are your weaknesses? Do you talk too much? Are you a slow learner? Do you work better by yourself? Do you work better at your own pace? Find something that might be somewhat different from the above response I mentioned. I always mentioned that I talk to much. And in sales (what I do) it is not a good thing and that I am working to correct it.

At the end of the interview when they ask if you have any questions, make sure to ask a couple about the internship, the company, typical day, etc. Show enthusiasm. Then make sure to close them.

Say something like...
"Based on the interview and the research I have done I feel like i have gotten a good idea of what you are looking for in a candidate. I believe I have the <insert traits they are loooking for here> you are looking for. Do you feel I would be a good fit for the internship?"

Best of luck. I love interviewing and have tons of experience on both sides of the table. fire away any questions you might have.



 
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BCYL

Diamond Member
Jun 7, 2000
7,803
0
71
It's very likely they will give you some kind of programming test...
 
purbeast0

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
53,660
6,536
126
Originally posted by: BCYL
It's very likely they will give you some kind of programming test...
Click to expand...

eeh i don't know about that. i had one internship and now at my professional job, and they never once asked me to do a test in any of my interviews, and i'm a software designer too.
 
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FortFunFoSho

Golden Member
Mar 7, 2002
1,101
0
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I am guessing they will do some sort of crash course in programming (in the language they want you to use) training. depending on who you are working for of course.
 
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GreatBarracuda

Golden Member
Mar 1, 2004
1,135
0
0
Originally posted by: FortFunFoSho
When responding to what your weaknesses are..

I would say 8/10 people read on the net to say "I tend to be an overachiever and take on too many activities at once..." In all the interviewing I have done whenever someone would say that I would ask for something else.

What are your weaknesses? Do you talk too much? Are you a slow learner? Do you work better by yourself? Do you work better at your own pace? Find something that might be somewhat different from the above response I mentioned. I always mentioned that I talk to much. And in sales (what I do) it is not a good thing and that I am working to correct it.

At the end of the interview when they ask if you have any questions, make sure to ask a couple about the internship, the company, typical day, etc. Show enthusiasm. Then make sure to close them.

Say something like...
"Based on the interview and the research I have done I feel like i have gotten a good idea of what you are looking for in a candidate. I believe I have the <insert traits they are loooking for here> you are looking for. Do you feel I would be a good fit for the internship?"

Best of luck. I love interviewing and have tons of experience on both sides of the table. fire away any questions you might have.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your comforting reply. You pretty much confirmed what I was thinking. Most people do tend to answer that question by saying something along the lines of "over achieving" and "striving for perfection" and the like. So I'll definitely try to avoid that.

Do you think it's a good idea to ask them:

"Do you feel I would be a good fit for the internship?""

Because they usually have second interviews for long internship positions like this, so wouldn't I find out eventually anyway?

Keep it coming guys!

 
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GreatBarracuda

Golden Member
Mar 1, 2004
1,135
0
0
BTW, it's a half-hour interview, so programming tests are unlikely, but they will definitely ask technical questions.
 
7

777php

Diamond Member
Jul 17, 2001
3,498
0
0
They may not give you a programming test but be prepared to answer questions pertaining to programming.

Also they'll grill you on past experince if you have any, be sure to be prepared to explain all your duties, how you performed them, how you handled multiple tasks, etc..
They want to know how well you'll fit into their environment.
 
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FortFunFoSho

Golden Member
Mar 7, 2002
1,101
0
0
30 Minute interview is really short. I am guessing they will walk through your interview and try and get a feel for who you are.

The closing thing. Maybe change it to .. Do you see me as a strong candidate for the next interview?
 
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nageov3t

Lifer
Feb 18, 2004
42,808
83
91
IMO, interviews are more about getting a feel for a person's personality than the interviewers actually caring about the answers that you give to the generic questions (ie: what's your biggest weakness-type questions). just be nice, calm, and confident :)
 
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fs5

Lifer
Jun 10, 2000
11,774
1
0
Originally posted by: GreatBarracuda
Originally posted by: fs5
Originally posted by: GreatBarracuda
bump
Click to expand...

you didn't answer my question, do you know c/c++?
Click to expand...

Yes I know C and am familiar with C++ but I'll have to brush up on it a bit.
Click to expand...

It looks like a programming job. So I'd expect the regular programming questions such as 1) what is a class 2) why use OOP? 3) java versus c++? etc.

Depending on the company maybe even a brain teaser to see how you think.

good site to get you started thinking:
http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~wwu/contents.shtml
 
Gibson486

Gibson486

Lifer
Aug 9, 2000
18,378
2
0
Originally posted by: purbeast0
Originally posted by: BCYL
It's very likely they will give you some kind of programming test...
Click to expand...

eeh i don't know about that. i had one internship and now at my professional job, and they never once asked me to do a test in any of my interviews, and i'm a software designer too.
Click to expand...


it depends where you interview....in one of my coops interviews, i was asked to design the logic behind a keyboard and he asked me to write some algorithmns.
 
B

BCYL

Diamond Member
Jun 7, 2000
7,803
0
71
Originally posted by: purbeast0
Originally posted by: BCYL
It's very likely they will give you some kind of programming test...
Click to expand...

eeh i don't know about that. i had one internship and now at my professional job, and they never once asked me to do a test in any of my interviews, and i'm a software designer too.
Click to expand...

Most job interviews nowadays would ask you to quickly write some pseudo-code or describe some algorithm you would use... Granted not all interviews will do so, but if it's a programming position more than likely there will be these kind of questions...

I was also a Software Designer, and actually helped created a written 1/2 hour programming test to be used in our interviews (the quality of interins we were hiring just wasn't good enough, had to weed some out)...
 
BEL6772

BEL6772

Senior member
Oct 26, 2004
225
0
0
Behavioral interviewing is a style of interview where they are looking for you to tell stoies that demonstrate your abilities. Google 'behavioral interview' and troll through some of the sample questions. Be prepared with specific examples from your life that demonstrate the qualities they list in the description.

This excercise can be helpful even if they don't use this style because it gets you thinking of experiences that you've had that qualify you for the job.
 
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