RECENT GRADUATES FROM Tipperary Institute occasionally return to the college to pass along tactics that worked for them in landing jobs. Some recurring themes about honesty, attitude and work flow are worth noting here. We tell students that they need to be upfront about their own technical skills. Two recent graduates who were hired had lower technical skills than others being interviewed. Part of the reason they got their jobs is they were honest and upfront about where they were technically. The interviews extended longer than planned as the CTOs probed their abilities to learn on the job and to adapt to changing situations. The interviews uncovered previous experience, lending weight to always having two or three stories ready to illustrate your flexibility on the job. But the most interesting tactic arises during code writing exercises.
Antoine RJ Wright explains on a Jaiku thread. "For dev positions, you will have a test, and it will range from the really easy stuff to the hard stuff. You aren't just going to be evaluated on the questions, but how you complete the test. If there is someone looking at you, or checking in, they will be looking at body language, how you process through a problem. Treat it like grade school and show your work where possible. Don't be afraid to skip a question you don't remember, but do bring up in your review of the test that you noticed something on the test that you weren't familiar with and would like to know how they would bridge the learning gap." That's valuable advice.
Jaiku -- "I need help with job interview prep" on 24 January 2011.
