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INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

 
Ranch Hand
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Hi
Is there any link here which has JAVA FAQ'S or questions asked
in interviews. Paul will this not be a good idea to have a list
of questions asked at interviews or have a link set up.

Thanks
 
Greenhorn
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I'd be interested also in sample java questions asked during job interviews. I'm a non-programmer trying to enter the software world & have no idea what kinds of questions might be asked (once I learn enough to go on an interview).
 
Trailboss
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I have about a dozen questions I ask on the tech interviews I do. If I shared them, I would have to make a new tech interview!
If you are shooting for being an entry level java programmer, I think the thing you should do is stufy for Java certification. I know that several of my questions are similar to certification questions.
 
Ranch Hand
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Hi
We do interviews for Java, and other language programmers, and my best advice to all of you is to just use and practice the language itself.
Just by the way you hold a conversation concerning the language in question can tell us how much you really know about it all. Learning the language and getting some 'hands on' is probably much more important than memorizing a few questions.
Also, diffrent questions may be asked for diffrent positions. If we are hiring a junior programmer we may just be interested if they are comfortable with use case design and class use, but a senior programmer will be grilled more about his knowledge about proper class modeling or his/her ability to use RMI/CORBA/EJB.
So crack open those books and take it all one step at a time and you'll be fine in the end.
If you think having 5 questions from an interview will be your 'checklist' for 'what you should know', you are missing out on the learning experience.
Hope this helped.
 
Desperado
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Excellent advise, John. I'm sometimes disappointed when I see people trying to take the "easy way out". These people will be disappointed when, after getting certification with minimum knowledge, they get to the interview and then are shocked when they get no interest from the prospective employer.
As you implied, one has to know the language well, if one is to make an impression. One technique that I used in my interviews, was to say, after finishing a correct answer with the words "but if you allow me, let me say something extra about the question that you asked". In other words, after answering a question correctly, I would go beyond what they asked just to show that I know more than the plain basics. (I don't have professional Java experience. But a lot in everything else but C++)
A good interviewer could easily see through a phony Certification. Sure, Certification can get you in the door for the interview, but it may not keep you inside.
Finally, of the two tech interviews that I have had this week (six days after posting my resume), the two guys that interviewed me have degrees in physics and not in computer science. I though that was kind of odd, considering that's my case too
 
Greenhorn
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Well I am very dissappointed with the value given to stuff done at college.. I just graduated from college with a bachelors in CS. Despite having done lots of independent studies & having a decent GPA, my education amounts to nothing with respect to potential employers.. I may have as well gone to work after I finished my high school. It would ve amounted to the same job status...
 
paul wheaton
Trailboss
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Later you will be glad you got that degree. And don't forget about all the fun you had in college too.
Having a degree in college demonstrates that you are able to work in a beurocratic system. And you probably got some training in some real world basics along the way too.
 
Tony Alicea
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Parthasarathy:


You don't tell us in what city/country in the world you are, nor in what city/country in the world you'd like to work.


Different countries have different requirements for jobs not to mention unemployment rates and national priorities (as expected).


A technical University degree, like Paul said, means something or more (mine is in Physics).


If you want to be a programmer... Of course experience helps, so I ask, when you where a student, did you put your original student projects in a Web page? Nowadays, (and for some time now), the server disk space has been FREE of charge so it's not like you'd have to pay. If you can read this it means that you have access to the Internet which is the most expensive part of it all.


Finally, Certification without experience will not get you a job! ONLY YOU can get yourself a Job.


Certification and the other things that I mentioned CAN GET YOU AN INTERVIEW where there would have been none otherwise.


It is UP TO YOU with what you know right now to get the JOB.
 
Parthasarathy Aji
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tony,
OK let me clear things up, I am looking for jobs at RTP, NC,US which is supposed to be a "booming" area..
May be I ve to start putting stuff on the web as you suggest. But my question is why wouldn't any employer give any value to independent study projects done at school.. These are by no means trivial and students usually devote quite a bit of their time in these projects. Atleast one can consider it as a part time stuff. When I say i have 2 yrs in some programming language & say that I did these projects in school, I get the response
"we are looking for industry experience". So does that mean those 2 yrs are worth nothing?...
 
John Bateman
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Originally posted by Parthasarathy Aji:
tony,
When I say i have 2 yrs in some programming language & say that I did these projects in school, I get the response
"we are looking for industry experience". So does that mean those 2 yrs are worth nothing?...



Au contraire... It's just that 'classroom' experience is not the same as work experience. Don't get me wrong, the degree opens many many doors for you, but the work experience (along with the degree) can guarantee you're allowed in the open door.
I know our company even looks at 'I did it on my own at home' as better than just 'doing it in school'.
 
Tony Alicea
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"I know our company even looks at 'I did it on my own at home' as better than just 'doing it in school'. "
"I second that emotion"
I personally benefited from that attitude from employers. Of course it helps if you put that work on the Web where they can see it... I guess the same could be done with school projects... why not?
 
John Bateman
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Hi
(Interesting topic that's been spawned here)
I asked around about the problem of using school experience / projects compared to work experience and it was a funny conclusion I came to.
As much as work is a process of working in a team, that is precisely the problem with school projects. You are usually asked to write them with a team. Who's to say YOU were the only person (or even "A" person) who wrote this project.
School teaches you to work in a team, and that's fine, but technically people want you know YOU actually did the work.
They also say that if you claim something as YOURS (on my own project), you are accepting the responsibility of being caught bull$hitting (excuse my language).
Maybe the 'script' in question was found on the net, or maybe a friend did it for you. But, I guess, it's like opennly saying 'I defie you to show me this app/script anywhere else'.
In a group school project they most assuredly WILL find it elsewhere. I.E. When they other person in your group applies for some job somewhere and claims THEY did this project on their own.
Having work experience (and not being fired for your quality) is proof you are competent.. You can mostly slide through school even if you have a very low GPA, but you won't do to well, or get reccommendations from an employer if you are a 'slacker' or lack skill in your profession.
I hope this was insightful to soem of you out there.
OH yeah, they're serving beer in the cafeteria so please accept my apologies for spelling mistakes.
Happy St. Patricks Day!
 
Parthasarathy Aji
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Hey John,
I get ur point and do believe that in many group projects in school only one or two members typically do the spade work. The rest of the members just involve in side things (like creating ppt slides ) and unfortunately all the students may get the same grade in the group project (it depends on the evaluation policy). But on the other hand I think it is unfair on the student to assume that his work on the project is worth nothing. The only way a potential employer will know about the work he did in the project as a whole is to interview him and see the comfort level with the project.
Partha
 
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