Interview Expectations....

Question

Hi All,

I recently appeared for an interview for a multinational and came across questions like

1. What are the new features of JDK5?
2. What are the advantages of using Enums?
3. Why would you use Serializable?
4. What are the concrete implementations of the List interface? I missed LinkedList.

...and a few other fact based questions followed...

I had a tiff with the interviewer on implementation of the Singleton Pattern, where he insisted that a synchronized block must be used(I used the SingletonHolder)....

I did not clear it, but was shocked because at my level of experience(close to 8) and based on the Job Description, I was not asked questions on OOPS or UML or asked to write a piece of code or even review a piece of code for refactoring and optimization...I was expecting questions which would cover a broader base and was expecting a discussion and a simulating interaction with the interviewer instead of a bland set of trivia....

My Question: Are my expectations reasonable or do I need to change my expectations and accept that this is how it is...and memorize trivia....I apparently am very bad at it..

Regards, SB

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Added 06th Jan, 2010

Thanks a lot for all the opinions....it certainly makes me feel better....but I figure that I need a bit of memorizing, unless I am really lucky.... ;)

Answer 1

I think that employers like to see what you've done, more than what you can do in a short interview. What you've done in the past 8 years is going to be much more important than what you do in a 1 hour interview. If I were you, I'd highlight my past accomplishments very well on a resume, and if you can, bring demos.

On a personal note, I find that the programming interview (microsoft/google-esque) questions tend to be awful at judging you as a programmer. When actually coding for a real job, you're not asked to write code on paper without access to external resources while having someone look over your shoulder.

Answer 2

I totally suck at trivia nevermind that at some point I collected all Sun certs from programmer to architect. However I think questions that you are listing are valid and any Java programmer applying for a job should be able to answer these. Anyway - no matter how hard you prepare for the interview it's practically impossible to satisfy each and every interviewr since they prepare to ask particular questions of which you have no prior knowledge so it's almost given that you will stumble. But since I also had interview with quite a few candidates it's general knowledge of language that I'm after and not nitty-gritty details. I would suggest for you to re-read some basic points and don't sweat small stuff

Oh - and try not to argue with the person who is interviewing you. It's called "politics" :)

Answer 3

You wouldn't want to work at a job that asks you questions like these. It shows that the interviewer doesn't understand what it takes to be a good programmer. If I were to interview you I would ask questions that assess your intelligence, creativity and problem solving skills. These three traits are not something that a google search could answer, whereas the questions that you were asked could be answered by my younger brother and a web search.

I think it would be more important as an interviewer to discuss your past projects. Any good programmer loves what they do and it will show through when they talk about what they have done. It is important to not only analyze what you have done but also how you approached problems.

Also, as an interviewer I would be very interested in side projects that you have done outside of your paid projects. It would give me a feeling of what you like to do not just what was assigned to you. Open source / side project activity are a good way to determine how enthusiastic a programmer is.

Answer 4

My Question: Are my expectations reasonable or do I need to change my expectations and accept that this is how it is...and memorize trivia....

My opinion is you need to change your expectation and face the real world: human resource agents know little but buzzwords in your field, and senior managers define computer science and engineer based on the books he/she read.

You will find exceptions that developed as a programmer and/or have similar train of thoughts. Don't be discouraged by 1 or 2 bad interview experiences as the dev teams tends to be easier related than your interviewer.

Answer 5

Maybe you should be happy that you didn't end up working for management that only cares for trivia. If the interview process accepts people who can't write code, that's a red flag!

Answer 6

Probably you were being interviewed for entry level instead of midlevel-sr position which seems like what you are.

Trivia question have its place with young developers that might not know all the "advanced answers".

In the other hand, those question IMHO should be easily answered by any Java Developer.

Answer 7

Sadly, this kind interviewing is very very common.

Answer 8

Job interviews are not just for a potential employer to assess you, but also for you to assess them. The kinds of questions you are asked by all those who interview you, how they are asked, and how answers are received and used across the entire interview process will give you great information in addition to the questions you ask.

You didn't mention anything about how the questions you asked were handled, but did you get a different feel with the responses to your questions than you got from their questioning?

A great interviewer will make the time you have feel more like a conversation or discussion rather than an interrogation or trivial pursuit. You may not know what they are assessing, but it should feel natural. Not everyone who interviews you will be a great (or even good) interviewer and that's ok.

I think your instincts are telling you this is not a great match.

Answer 9

That shows that the interviewer is inexperienced, untrained or uninterested at best. You shouldn't hire him.