How much easier would debugging my code be with a help button? I can't decide if it would actually be useful or be about as helpful as the old Microsoft Word paperclip guy.
A little over a month ago, I gave you all some tips to behavior interviews. However, for those of us in technical fields, technical interviews are just as important to be prepare for. So let's continue onward!
As a computer science major going into her senior year, I've had my fair share of technical interviews. From those interviews, I've noticed three types of questions that tend to come up:
Knowledge Questions
This is the nitty gritty of the interview where your potential employers are checking if you know what your resume claims you know. These questions mostly consist of explaining concepts and coding questions.
The best way to prepare for these is to study it up the nights leading up to your interview and make sure you've brushed up on those topics you haven't touched in a while. There are plenty of online and book sources to turn to. As a computer science major, my favorite book for knowledge review is Programming Interviews Exposed. It covers all the basics and gives you example problems to think through.
While on the topic of example problems, make sure you actually step through them yourself instead of just reading and nodding your head along. Trying to come up with the answer yourself is a better practice than just being told the answer.
Along side straight up studying, try explaining some of the topics to your non-technical friends and see if you talk clearly enough for them to understand. While your interviewer is testing your knowledge, he or she is also testing your ability to explain your thoughts, which is important for any career where you work with others (which is nearly every job).
Just remember- review, review, review!
Problem Solving Questions
Problem solving questions are about thinking outside the box. They can be anything from "why is a tennis ball yellow?", to graph theory, to estimating how many elementary school teachers there are in the country.
When it comes to these types of questions, your interviewer is less concerned in you getting the right answer and more interested in how you go about solving the question. Of course, don't take that as a go ahead to BS your way through the question. Actually try to solve it. Just don't get too flustered if you don't get the exact answer.
Most importantly, make sure to vocalize your entire thought process as you go about solving the problem. Your interviewer can't read your mind, so you need to make your thoughts heard! Even if you think you might be working in the wrong direction., keep going and keep vocalizing. You might just find that off of your wrong path, you find a side trail that heads in the right direction.
There are tons of examples online for you to practice, so Google "problem solving interview questions" and be on your way! While there are more questions than you could ever practice, getting into the right mindset is half the battle.
Design Questions
This last type of question will mostly be for careers and internships that have a focus on, well, design. Software development and project management are the best examples for this. When these questions are thrown at you, you'll usually be given a very vague objective such as "design a parking lot for me" and then be told to have at it.
The point of design questions is to get you to ask questions. A lot of questions. Whatever you do, do not just start jumping into the design phase. If you're asked to design a parking lot, ask about the surrounding buildings, roads, and natural landmarks. How much traffic is expected? Does the client want any reserved spots?
While you do want to get plenty of "customer" input before you start designing, make sure you feel in charge once you are designing. The interviewer might try to make you question your choices, so make sure you have a good stance behind every decision you make.
If you want to practice design questions beforehand, try thinking about designs you do and do not like and why. What could you improve about your phone interface? What's your favorite feature on your social networking sites? Remember- you don't have to remake the wheel to be creative.
That about covers it! Technical interviews for other majors might differ slightly, but this is still a great starting point. Good luck at your next interview!
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