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Web / Software developer interviews - how to answer difficul
Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 4:34 pm
by recci
Hi
I have three job interviews coming up in the next week, all of them for PHP developer roles. I am an intermediate level php developer with just under two years experiance. However, I have mainly worked for web development agencies where getting the job done as fast as possible is their only real concern because that’s how they make profit e.g. charge by the hour. This has meant that they didn’t really follow best practices, testing was pretty much non-existent, they didn’t even use a version control system as the designers hated it and makings things look nice was more of a priority.
I am trying to move away from this and get into a more professional software development focused role and as such the interview process is a lot more stringent. I am technically capable of doing this kind of role but often convincing HR managers of this is a different story so how should I answer the following type of questions in a way that is going to aid me in getting a job. Obviously I have my own answers but Id like to know how you would answer them as either a software developer or developer manager.
How do you organise yourself when working on a project?
How do you keep track of where you are?
How do you comminicate with your team?
What is youe experience of communicating with clients?
Re: Web / Software developer interviews - how to answer diff
Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 5:43 pm
by requinix
recci wrote:How do you organise yourself when working on a project?
Not sure what you mean by this. Generally there's a document somewhere with a spec, whether it's an actual spec or a bug report, and there's a workspace for files...
recci wrote:How do you keep track of where you are?
The spec will have a to-do list of some kind or another, implicitly or explicitly - there's one way to tell. Given an understanding of the work you can form a time estimate - there's another way.
recci wrote:How do you comminicate with your team?
In person preferably, IM next but less reliably, or email last but more reliably.
recci wrote:What is youe experience of communicating with clients?
They don't know what they want but they're eager to explain it to you. They won't give you the full story and they're prone to changing their minds. So collect as much information as possible and talk out the requirements as much as possible. Plan your work according to their personality: for example if they change their minds a lot then focus on rapid prototyping, or if they want to see results soon then break the product into small deliverables.
Re: Web / Software developer interviews - how to answer diff
Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 6:29 pm
by recci
These questions are what Iv to talk about at an interview so I am assuming he will talking about the development life cycle etc for the first one.
Perhaps a better way of asking this is how should the above questions be done in an ideal world during an enterprise level development project?
Re: Web / Software developer interviews - how to answer diff
Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 6:37 pm
by requinix
They're more about your work patterns than the development cycle, really.
There aren't any "ideal" answers to any of those. There are certainly bad answers, like saying "it'll be done when it's done" (which can work if it's adopted by the entire company and its clients) or "I ask the clients what they want me to do and I do it" (shows that you don't really understand the developer/client relationship) but there is no golden answer key to provide you for those questions.
Re: Web / Software developer interviews - how to answer diff
Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 6:43 pm
by recci
Yeah I know, I am just trying to get a broad range of potential answers so that I have an understanding of what he is trying to get at. Basically I passed the first interview and now Iv to speak to the development lead who has specific requirements and has stated these are the topics he is going to speak to me about. Seems like he will be trying to figure out how well I understand the development process and if I can talk to clients.
Re: Web / Software developer interviews - how to answer diff
Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 8:16 pm
by Eric!
Unless you're applying for a job that you are under-qualified for they should have a pretty good idea that you're inexperienced based on your work so far.
The best piece of advice I would give you is to be honest. Don't try to BS through an answer. In fact, admitting you don't know and asking the interviewer for assistance isn't a bad thing. Try to just work through the problem out load so they can see your thought process and maybe assist you as you try to solve it. Likewise they might give you a hypothetical situation with a client and ask you what you would say to them. It's fair to say, "Well I haven't really been in that position before and I'm not sure what the the answer is. I would just have to write down all their concerns and assure them I'd get back to them in the morning with answers. Then I'd come back and consult with my team."
BS usually walks.
The fact that you're seeking advice right now is probably a good sign you'll do fine. They probably know you're coming in with a learning curve and don't expect you to have all the answers.
Re: Web / Software developer interviews - how to answer diff
Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 10:25 pm
by Christopher
I agree, BS is not the way to go. Be honest ... but ... focus on your positives.
recci wrote:This has meant that they didn’t really follow best practices, testing was pretty much non-existent, they didn’t even use a version control system as the designers hated it and makings things look nice was more of a priority.
You could restate that very long sentence as:
- I understand the importance of best practices and am looking to work at a company that values them
- I try to implement tests as much as my employers allow. I understand the benefits of testing.
- I understand the importance of version control, even if sometimes resisted by some members of the team.
- I have experience working with creative team members and understand their needs.
- I know the importance of the end user experience and how to meet high project quality goals on time and budget.
Re: Web / Software developer interviews - how to answer diff
Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 6:31 pm
by twinedev
Interviews... man I hate them, they are about selling yourself, which I suck at. If I could sell, I'd be in sales making big commissions... LOL
I love interviewing with a non technical person and they want to see examples of your work you did (which is all back-end programming) then they comment on the visual side you didn't code....
1. Organizing yourself on a project: Use something such as Basecamp or another project tracking software to layout the project, giving yourself reasonable milestones throughout it, then breaking those up into manageable tasks for each one to complete
2. Keeping track of where you are: Use something such as Basecamp which is already set up in #1 (and updated as parameters change during project) to mark of progress within the project.
3. Communicating with co-workers: Use a system such as Basecamp which will let you message multiple people at once, yet also time track it for reference later on discussions of the projects. Any phone call to discuss the project that discusses something that can change the direction/option/timeline of a project, gets a followup in basecamp so there is no confusion over what is said. Any other messaging, (ex txt message, IM, etc) get copied into there as well so that there is a log of it in case a dispute comes up over who said what and when.
4. Communicating with the client: Using Basecamp, you can set the client up so that they can be part of the discussion (yet limited to only things you want to make "public" to them, so that all discussions can be tracked. Mockups can be done as a shared file in BC, clients can put content they need to provide directly into BC, either as a message or as an attached file. Again, any verbal or non BC messages would get handled as in #3
Do I like Basecamp? Yup!