Really "wow" them in the interview

Question

Let me put it to you this way: I'm a top-notch programmer, but a notoriously bad interviewee.

I've flunked 3 interviews consecutively because I get so nervous that my voice tightens at least 2 octaves higher and I start visibly shaking -- mind you, I can handle whatever technical questions the interviewer throws at me in that state, but I think it looks bad to come off as a quivering, squeaky-voiced young woman during a job interview.

I've just got the personality type of a shy computer programmer. No matter how technical I am, I'm going to get passed up in favor of a smooth talker. I have another interview coming up shortly, and I want to really impress the company.

Here are my trouble spots:

1. What can I do to be less nervous during my interview? I always get really excited when I hear I have a face-to-face interview, but get more and more anxious as D-Day the interview approaches.

2. My employers wants me to explain what I used to do at my prior employment. I'm a very chatty person and tend to talk/squeak for 10 minutes at a time. How long or short should I time my answers?

3. On that note, when I'm explaining what I did at prior jobs, what exactly is my interviewer looking for?

4. At some point, my interviewer will ask "do you have any questions for me while you're here?" I should, but what kinds of questions should I ask to show that I'm interested in being employed?

5. My interviewer always asks why I'm looking for a new job. The real reason is that my present salary is $27K/year [Edit to add: and I've yet to get a raise since I started], and I want to make more money -- otherwise the work environment is fine. How do I sugarcoat "I want to make more money" into something that sounds nicer?

6. I have only one prior programmer job, and I've worked there for 18 months, but I have the skill of someone with 4 to 6 years of experience. What can I say to compete against applicants with more work experience?

I took a low-paying $27K/year programming job just to get my foot in IT, and I've been trying to leverage that job as a stepping stone to better opportunities. I get interviews because I consistently out-score senior-level developers in aptitude tests, and my desired salary range is right in the ballpark of what most companies want to offer.

Unfortunately, while I've been a programming as a hobby for 10 years and I'm geared to graduate with my BA in computer science in May 2009, employers see me as a junior-level programmer with no degree. I want to prove them wrong and get a job that matches my skill level.

What can you advice me? I'd appreciate if it could help me get a better job.

Answer 1

Code talks.

Do you have a portfolio of projects that you've worked on in your spare time? You say that you have been a hobbiest for ten years. You must have something to show for that, no?

(p.s. modesty helps too.)

Answer 2

1. What can I do to be less nervous during my interview?

   When you walk in, say "Look, I'm a very good programmer, and my work and experience shows this. But I'm a HORRIBLE interviewee. I'm going to freeze up and squeak like a mouse in a food compactor. Please understand I'm not that way normally and look past this nervousness. Now excuse me while I sweat."

   HONESTY.

2. My employers wants me to explain what I used to do at my prior employment. How long or short should I time my answers?

   Crib notes. Keep it to a paragraph. Read from it. When they ask follow ups answer in single sentences. Don't elaborate or equivocate.

3. What exactly is my interviewer looking for?

   Probably something to do with what they're looking for. If you know what they want to hire you for, Hit the high notes in your crib notes.

4. What kinds of questions should I ask to show that I'm interested in being employed?

   Ask a couple questions about what you'll be doing, but if you don't have any questions don't ask any stupid ones, like "how many days of vacation do I get?"

5. My interviewer always asks why I'm looking for a new job.

   Say, "I'm not earning what I'm worth." HONESTY.

6. What can I say to compete against applicants with more work experience?

   Unfortunately, not much. Experience is an easy yardstick that weeds out lots of candidates with little effort. If you can't explain exactly how this is possible, then you might be out of luck.

   Your lack of experience is a big hump to get over. I know you'd like to make more money right now (don't we all?) but don't forget that experience = money as well. If your current job is letting you get some good experience in the field of work you enjoy, then don't rush to leave. Bide your time; take every opportunity to expand your experience in areas you're lacking. Keep your CV up to date. When a better job you're actually qualified for comes along, you'll be ready to strike. That will also help with your nervousness!

Answer 3

1. Relax. Breathe deeply. Exercise. Run a few miles the morning before the interview. (rest deleted)
2. When I'm interviewing I try to talk roughly 30% of the time and I expect the interviewee to take up the rest. If you feel like you're going on too long, ask the interviewer a question. I wouldn't talk for more than 3 minutes solid unless I was going through a programming problem.
3. Problem solving skills. Pick 3-4 really fun problems you did on your prior job and be prepared to talk about them. Make sure you have them down pat. I'd learn more about them than I did when I was actually solving them.
4. What is the work environment like? What type of testing do you do? Do you believe in unit tests? How are check-ins gated? (Can you tell I like testing :) ).
5. Take a different angle. I'm looking for new opportunities. I feel like I've grown stagnant in my previous job and I want to expand.
6. Use #3 to help you out. Pick really good problems and be prepared to go into them in depth.

Answer 4

1. Hold a paper clip and channel your energy into it. Or, truly convince yourself that you are interviewing them before you go in, and get lots of interviews, so you have lots of practice, don't expect every one to pan out, in fact take a few you don't want, just to have the interview, and perhaps take a publick speaking class.

2. Give them the raw data upfront, and then let them decide if you chat - watch them and wait for the que that says they want to hear more, or ok, quit now.

3. They are looking for assurance that you are the right person for this job. Possibly for certain personality traits.

4. Just think a bit about their company before you go in, and ask for info you actually want. They know you are interested in the job, because you are in the interview. Unless, you are there for interview practice, in which case they only think you want the job.

5. Tell them that, just like that. There is nothing wrong with advancing yourself, just don't give them the idea that they are a stepping stone too. "My current job I took as a learning position, and have outgrown it, both in terms of knowledge and income"

6. I'm not sure if you can. It may take more than one job to get where you want to be. Or, if it's a good company, they may be hiring for native talent. Just make sure they know that you know what you are talking about. Make sure they see some great code from you, and that you obviously have mastered what you are talking about.

Answer 5

Wow, buddy I can totally relate to you! I wish people would realize someday actual skill/aptitude has got nothing to do with the number of years on your resume.

As for the anxiety if its extreme you need to see a doctor (psychiatrist) who might prescribe some beta blockers for you.

To be honest I myself would not prefer taking any drugs, they should be your last recourse.

Having said that here is a silly thing you might try - sleep deprivation or over sleeping! I have noticed when you are either deprived of sleep or oversleep the brain goes into an energy conservation state and you automatically stop thinking about miscellaneous things and start concentrating on the burning issue at hand. I have used this technique effectively to bail myself out of a particularly sticky situation.

Answer 6

I like to have the first interview be over the phone. These days, the initial developer interview is likely to just be a technical screening. Those always make me very nervous, too. Like you, I don't "look right" for the kind of work I do. Invisibility can enhance your professional credibility. Once you've established your knowledge and competence over the phone, you won't have to overcome stereotypes (age, race, gender, nationality) when you appear in person for your second interview.

When you're being interviewed on the phone, only your voice counts. You can fidget all you want, even pace around the room.

You can also have reference materials handy. Whether you use them or not, you may feel more confident just knowing they're there.

Whenever I've gone a long time without interviewing, I try to have a couple of interviews for positions I may be lukewarm about. This way, I can practice my spiel. I can hear what the latest interview questions are. Then, when I start getting interviews for positions that I am really interested in, I am much more confident and better prepared.

As for questions to ask, there was a wonderful discussion here recently on SO about "Dealbreakers for new programming jobs." Reading through these might help you get an idea of things to listen for carefully, and to compose your own tactful questions about.

Answer 7

Tell yourself "I don't need this job", and believe it. It's much easier to relax when you are not hanging all of your hopes on your interview performance. I always approach interviews focusing more on how the company can convince me to work for them, rather than the other way around (just be careful not to come across as arrogant and disinterested).

If you go in thinking that this is your one shot at success, you are piling pressure on yourself and it's only natural to be nervous when you perceive it to be so important.

Answer 8

Have some practice. Apply to positions you don't want and pass a dozen of interviews staying calm, knowing you don't need the job. This should harden you a bit for the real thing.

Answer 9

Research who you are meeting with, you can find people on google with no problem - especially people in tech, know something about that person - are they a gamer etc, find some way to relate quickly to the person who is interviewing you. If they find you have something in common it disarms them and eases you into a more conversational mode with them.

Which leads me to the second point - have a conversation, dont try to 'talk pretty' or seem like some super smart scientist type geek. Be as normal and as 'cool' as you can be.

Know the company well, read their website, know who their customers are. This will give you plenty of ammo for the 'do you have any questions for me' segment which is sure to happen.

Why am I looking for another job? Because your skills have accelerated fast but your earnings didnt keep pace. It is pure honesty and will be appreciated - you have know idea how many times I wanted to laugh at people who I interviewed who told me crap like 'I am just not growing in my current position'. People see through that crap and consider you a phony.

Answer 10

I have interviewed a fair number of candidates in the last year for a couple of positions that we had that were open.

1. There is nothing wrong with excitement. A potential employer likes to see excitement, but some level of restraint is good. If your excitement has a manifestation of a physical tick, you can focus on that tick and when you catch yourself doing it, take a breath and pause a moment. The same technique works equally as well with nervous habits. The balance is to show enthusiasm, but controlled enthusiasm.

2. Don't focus on time, focus on the answer. Practice ahead of time. Pick your key points, outline them, and rehearse them. Make sure you hit the key points and don't wander too much. If you stay on point and hit the important aspects, you will be fine.

3. Many, many things... Depending on the position, it might be leadership ability, problem solving abilities, co-worker relations, attitude, etc. Of course, one of the biggest things that I am looking for is good communication skills.

4. If you don't ask questions, I assume that you are not interested. I look for a candidate to ask a good amount of questions. Ask about the development architecture, upcoming projects, chances for advancement, whether you can do proof of concept work, etc.

5. Don't sugarcoat anything. Be honest. Tell them that you have outgrown your current position and there is no room for advancement. It is the truth, and that is what an employer is looking for.

6. This is a tough one. It really isn't something that you can say, in my opinion. It is something that you have to show. This is why I have candidates do coding excercises. It is the only true way you can see what anyone knows. Anyone can recite book knowledge. Unfortunately for you, though, experience is as important as knowledge to a lot of employers. It is the "trial by fire" that you can't get any other way than being in the trenches.

You might want to consider a new job that is more about room for advancement than an immediate starting salary. Salaries, and offers, are progressive. Don't instantly expect that because someone is making X, that you should make X, too. Depending upon the difference between your salary and your market salary, expect offers to be in the middle.

Answer 11

I interview a lot of people. Some freeze up. Some don't.

Here's what I'm looking for.

1. What can I do to be less nervous during my interview?

   What are you afraid of? Really. This is a hard self-examination question, but you need to know -- specifically -- what terrifies you. 80% of the time it's the "what if I make a mistake?" question. Which is -- ultimately -- foolish. As a musician and a software geek, let me tell you that mistakes must happen. The question isn't "am I going to make a mistake?" The question is "when I make my usual mistake, will I recover gracefully."

   Do some research on Performance Anxiety. Read sites like this: http://www.sharonstohrer.com/performance_anxiety.html for more information on what you can do.

   As a consultant, my biggest mistake is misjudging politics. The influence the person actually has over the organization. As a musician, I miss the chord changes and have to leap ahead, mentally, to where the song's going and figure out what I'm going to do to arrive with the rest of the band and make it look like I meant it that way.

2. My employers wants me to explain what I used to do at my prior employment.

   What do I want to know? I want to know exactly what skills you used. I want specific, technical verbs. Did you design? Code? Test? Write requirements? Did you use tools like configuration management, automated testing, continuous integration? Did you work alone or in a pair? How did you come to understand the domain? The specific problem? The users?

3. What exactly is my interviewer looking for? See above.

4. At some point, my interviewer will ask "do you have any questions for me while you're here?"

   You need to consider what it is about the job that appeals to you and scares you and ask specific questions about that.

   Many people ask how long I've been with my company -- it's a way of judging turnover and the possibility of getting cut. "30 years" is a conversation stopper -- not many folks expect that.

   I'm a consultant; when I'm being interviewed, I ask what's going on -- why do they need me? Who will I be working with? What do they want from me? I need to know about their processes, their tools and their organization. I need to know about the problem domain, the users, and the funding.

5. My interviewer always asks why I'm looking for a new job.

   Do Not Sugarcoat. We actually need to know what actually motivates you. Not what you think we want to hear. We interview lots of people for a position; if money motivates you, then we can make that happen. If you left because you didn't get along, or you were arrested, or you got caught with a gun in your desk, we'd like to know that, too. Some stories run afoul of EEO guidelines, but we need to know what you want from life so we can find a way to dangle that in front of you and make you work your tail off (cruel, but true.)

Say specifically that you are seeking opportunities to grow.

1. What can I say to compete against applicants with more work experience?

   Skills. It's all about skills. What specific things did you do? What problems did you solve? How gnarly was the business problem? What was the technology stack? How did you cope with debugging? Testing? Users who lie? Deadlines?

As an interviewer, I need to know three things.

• What do you know?
• What can you do?
• What kind of person are you?

Don't tell me what I want to hear. Don't sugarcoat. Lay it out there clearly, so I can fit you into the organization and find a compensation plan that will make you want to stay there.

Answer 12

1. When you first hear that you've got an interview, start writing down why you are an awesome candidate. Brain dump all the cool projects you've worked on, even if they are silly. Ask your mom (sometimes she'll remember cool stuff you've done that you've forgotten about). The edit it down to a list of 10-20 things you are really proud of. Now, the day of the interview, pull it out, and voila: instant confidence.

2. You only have 18 months to account for. I'd say give a brief summary, mentioning some really cool projects you did and the stuff you enjoyed. I'd say 5 minutes, at most (they have your resume, right? They know what you did, they want to see how you express it.) If anything catches their interest, they'll ask for more detail. In fact, if they don't ask for more detail, try a new summary for next time.

3. I'm looking for someone who was passionate about at least one of their former projects. Positively or negatively (preferably positively).

4. They're not just interviewing you, you're trying to see if you'd like working there and they are trying to sell you on the company. I don't what you should ask, what's important to you? Good coffee? Flexible hours? A Wii? Try to frame questions in a non-lazy-bastard way. Instead of, "How many hours do you work?" try, "Can you describe a typical day?" or something. Also, "What do you like best/least about working here?" is a good, general one.

5. If you could get a raise at your current company, it sounds like you'd stay there. Thus, maybe you could say something about how there wasn't enough opportunity for growth or advancement or whatever.

6. You can compete by answering questions better than the other candidates at that level. If you've been in a low-level IT position, you may have to just take a non-senior level position, pay some dues, impress your bosses, present that master's degree when you're done with it, and get promoted to the position you really want.

Also, keep in mind, most of the people interviewing you are probably programmers with no social skills, too.

Finally, as a female geek myself, I'd recommend looking nice. Not sexy or slutty or anything, but most of the people interviewing you will probably be male it'll give you an edge, make you memorable, and probably make you feel more confident. Gah, I hate ending with "look pretty." Sorry.

Good luck!

Answer 13

Heres one thing, and its a biggie.

They will give you a basic competency test

And being as kick ass as you know you are at programming, just DONT PANIC keep calm, and nail the task dead on the head.

If you are enrolling for a job as a programmer, they should at least ask you a technical questions to gauge your ability at handling their problems.

And If you are as good as you say you are, you will have no problem satisfying this test.

If you're not sure, do a few warm up exercises before hand, brush off a few brain-cells by doing a crossword or sudoku challenge in the news paper, or do some basic problem solving.

If they don't give you a test I would myself be concerned how serious they are at employing you if they don't even bother to test whether or not you meet the technical business requirements to an acceptable level.

The complete absense of such a test, would to me indicate that I don't want to work for them, primarily because I've seen what's out there, and there are lots of companies that are run by horrible management that just scrape along with slave labour, and I don't want to be stuck working for one.

Also, you can get an idea of what they are actually looking for by their tests. Any company worth their salt will give you varying entry level and curve-ball tests to see what you are capable of. These should Ideally be practical questions about real-world problems and not rely on unrelated specific knowledge like 'how would you complete the billionth digit of PI' as question for a general web-dev position.

Of course, nothing we can say or do will really help you a lot, you can take the ideas to heart and try apply them, but my experience tells me the only way to conqueror the jitters, is by going out there and taking interviews and getting used to the idea. Sitting on the couch and thinking about it won't get you far.

Oh, and a good interviewer will try put you at ease.

Interviewers see lots of nervous peoples like yourself, and hopefully will understand the nervousness and anticipate the jitter. They want to see you without the anxiety too, because it gives them a better picture of who you are.

If you can't detect your interviewer trying to make you more comfortable, don't blame yourself for the anxiety, its half their fault for being such a horrible cold bastard interviewer. :)

Try consider them being a work mate, not godlike authoritarian figure with power over life and death.

If they don't like you considering yourself equal to them as a human, again, I would probably not want to be working there anyway.

Answer 14

My advice is:

Your first, last and only goal in the interview should be to remain calm. Do not worry about having the "right" answer. Do not worry about what you say at all.

Once and only once goal #1 is achieved, your second goal is to make the interviewer feel comfortable with you. There are no further goals beyond these two.

I have had similar nervousness problems on interviews, and keeping this strategy in mind when I was interviewing this summer I got a 75% offer rate from the companies I interviewed.

Aside from that, just remember to have a good question or two to ask the interviewer, as they invariably ask if you have any questions for them.

Answer 15

Also, don't be afraid of not getting a job from a single interview. You need to expect to go on several interviews (maybe 7 - 10??). You will get better with each successive interview, and hopefully you will calm down a bit more.

Another suggestion going forward would be to continue to interview occasionally even when you are not looking for another job. This will help to become less of a big deal.

Good luck!

Answer 16

If part of your problem is nervousness about presenting (in an interview, presenting yourself), then get some practice at presenting in front of audiences. For example, put together some 5-minute or 10-minute presentations on things related to your current job, and present them to your colleagues. Suggestions for how to improve the way things are done, for example. Simply gaining experience at being in front of people and talking, and answering questions, will help you in general. Then you can apply this in interviews. The other answers talk about interview technique in some detail, but practicing at public speaking will help you a lot.

• Consider ToastMasters.

Look at some of the 'presentation' web sites:

• Presentation Zen

• Impact

• Slide:ology

• Pecha-Kucha

Answer 17

If I had to recommend a single point of advice, especially for someone who gets squeaky and nervous, it would be to prepare a portfolio. The one that I put together, and have added to for years, is a pretty nice 8x10 art folio with removable page protectors. I have my resume (slightly out of date now), code samples, UML diagrams, piles of screen shots, our JavaOne slides, basically anything that I would like to be able to talk about in a face to face discussion.

It sounds like this sort of physical prop would help you in a variety of ways:

1. It would give you something to do with your hands. Hey, if you're nervous, it's good to have a physical focus to use to center yourself.
2. It would give you a venue to anticipate questions. If there's something that you "flunked" on a previous interview, write up your own answer in your own time. Put that into a "Frequently asked questions about me" document and slide it right in there on page two (resume is page one, obviously).
3. It would give you a place to put physical examples of your work. School projects, hobby work, non-proprietary examples from your job (stealing is bad), whatever you want to be able to show.
4. It would set you apart from the other new grads. "Look, see? I'm ready to play in the grown-up leagues!" and all that.
5. It would give you a chance to drive the interview. "Next, could I show you an example of some of my Java / .net / etc. I think it applies directly to the question that you just asked."

In short, this is what I do and it has worked for me in the past.

Answer 18

Regarding the nerves and the squeaky voice problem, there are some excellent techniques that you can apply to help. I've been enrolled in a public speaking course for some years now, and have found that I always have nerves before I speak (in fact it is a good thing to have those nerves - they help you to 'perform' at your peak). But applying the following techniques seem help me a lot (not just with public speaking but with situations like interviews):

• Resist the urge to immediately launch into an answer when asked a question.
  
  • buy out for yourself a few seconds,
  • smile (it really helps you to feel at ease, and adds some warmth to the interaction)
  • acknowledge their question, maybe by repeating it... Or even saying something appropriate like - "I was thinking about how I'd answer that one...", "That's a good question", "Let me think about that one for a second..."
• Breathe
  • concentrate on breathing slowly, in and out
  • especially if you feel your throat starting to tighten up (my problem is getting breathless and my voice sounding airy), slow down (stop if you have to for a second or 2), get control, breathe, then resume
  • did I mention, smile!
  • imagine a tennis ball in your throat as you breath
• Relax your body
  • relax your shoulders
  • smile
  • sit comfortably
• View it as a conversation, rather than an interview
  • feel comfortable with asking questions to clarify where they are coming from with their question

Answer 19

S. Lott lists very good points, but I want to elaborate a few.

Nervousness - This is the hardest of your questions, I have many words but no answer. It is OK to be nervous, the results of being overly nervous - being chatty, distracted and off-topic - are a problem. Suggesting this openly is a good idea, but will backfire with some companies.
For me, (amateur) stage play has helped a lot, because it requires me to focus on the script, taught me a lot about my appearance in other peoples eyes, and how to wing the "geek" label. Won't work for everyone, I guess.

Former employment - first and on the surface, what exactly you did: What was achieved with which skills, technologies and and responsibilities.

When I ask an open question like "tell me about your past projects", I want to get an overview, and I am looking for hooks where I can dig deeper. If the list is long, pick the "best". Make it a conversation - neither a "yes/no" answer nor a monologue doe it.

If you are unsure about a question, don't hesitate to ask for clarification.

Beyond that I am looking for: Passion, Dealing with problems, Communication

I guess passion you get across easily ;-)
About problems I will ask openly, because people rarely mention it themselves. Can you name problems that occured with a project? How did you deal with them?
Communication - can you explain to me something I do not know? Can you describe the goal of a project to a layman, from a user, product or marketing POV, or is the only language you speak tech talk?

I am also looking for one project that is "special" - either you are most passionate about it, it has some interesting keywords, or it is promising for a further conversation. I judge coding skills by looking at how a candidate writes code, but I want to see how you talk about technology. Can you filter out what is relevant to the question? Can you hold yourself in an argument? Do you know what you are talking about?

I will try to push you to your edge of knowledge. I want to see what you do when you don't know. (This is somewhat questionable because it makes it hard to hire someone smarter, and it might destroy the positive atmosphere that's sometimes hard to build)

---

Your other questions have been answered well IMO, or are better answered by a native speaker who can provide better wording.

Answer 20

There is a lot of advice in this thread that is absolutely great!

1. Practice. You don't even need to go to real job interviews to practice. Do practice interviews with friends or colleagues. See if there are career-development classes at your local community college.
2. Thirty seconds. If they want more detail, let them ask a follow-up question, and respond to these questions in ten seconds. Obviously this is oversimplified, but you can use it as a guide as you practice.
3. Knowledge of course, but also initiative, focus, work ethic, how well you work in a team, etc. Read Joel Spolsky's book "Smart and Gets Things Done." It's a book for managers hiring tech workers, but it can give you insight into what they're looking for.
4. Prepare your list of questions. Have some that are generic to any job, like "how much of my time do you foresee me spending on each of the tasks you have described?" Also prepare some questions specifically about their company, based on researching it before your interview. What are their three-year goals for growth? What does that mean for their product line (which you should have read about)? How many people are in your group? To whom would you report (hint: if the answer is vague or more than one person, run away).
5. Don't tell employers your desired salary or your salary history. The best way to get a better wage is to let them make the salary offer. Read Joel Spolsky's recent article, "Exploding Offer Season." I also recommend the book, "Negotiating Your Salary: How to Make $1000 a Minute" by Jack Chapman.
6. Focus on your accomplishments, not the duration of your last job.

Other thoughts:

• When you are asked in an interview about some specific skill or technology, don't answer with a purely factual textbook answer. tell a story about how you used that skill or technology in some past project. Or perhaps you considered using technology X on that project, but decided on technology Y instead, and give the reasons.
• Some people said, convince yourself that you don't need the job. I wouldn't phrase it this way -- but I think there's something worthwhile there. I was told early in my career that anytime you are negotiating, the best way to negotiate from strength is to be willing to walk away from the deal. Of course you need a job, but you want the right job. You're interviewing them as much as they're interviewing you. You can turn down the job if it isn't right for you.

Answer 21

Honesty is definitely a must. Additionally projected confidence is good to have too...but that comes with experience.

I once made it to the third round of interviews where the I was being interviewed by a partner and I got so nervous half way through that the words coming out of my mouth weren't making sense to me. So I stopped talking, explained to the partner that I was feeling particularly nervous at that moment and that I didn't think I was making any sense. After taking a few moments to regain my composure I started talking again and finished the interview.

I thought I had blow that interview for sure....but I was hired. From that experience I learned how important it is to be honest even if you think it will hurt you. In hind sight I've realized that its honesty like that that companies are looking for cause it means people like that will admit they're wrong and correct their mistake rather than letting pride blind them into walking off a cliff.

Answer 22

My advice to you is to keep up the hard work that you have been demonstrating. It will pay off eventually, even if you do not see or reap the benefits now.

You are at a dis-advantage in that you do not have your degree yet, this will be a hinderance to you. Although I know plenty of software developers who never received degrees or certification tests, most of these people have proven themselves with skills and years of project history. In my opinion, its much harder to excel as a career programmer without an education in computer science or technology. That being said, having a degree does not make you any better than the next programmer. I know plenty of over-certified, P.H.D types that cant code a lick!!

Taking a low paying job shows initiative. I did the same thing when I graduated college.

• Always remember that they need you more than you need them. *

• To be less nervous, try cracking a joke at the beginning of the interview. Think of something witty and make it come from left field, so they are caught off guard. Notice something strange or funny in the office or lobby and question them about it. It is usually good to break the ice and show that you are human and not a robot.

It's okay to be nervous, but you dont want to be over-nervous or on the edge of a mental breakdown. Maybe explain to them that you're nervous, in a polite way. Most employers are flexible in interviews. Some employers are more relaxing than others. Just find a medium and talk personably. Again, dont be a robot!!

1. I would keep this answer rather short. Keep it to the point. Dont ramble on about your previous job, or how you like your coffee, etc etc. Give them highlights or bulletin notes. I usually keep my resume handy for this very reason. I point at the job and read off the list of projects/tasks I completed. Dont go off the top of your head, you will forget important things (atleast I do). So keep your paper resume nearby for reference. There are times I go blank in an interview, and it helps to have that sheet of paper that lists your previous jobs. You built it, so use it (resume)!!!

2. They are looking for indication of project size, technology and the role you played. Since you are junior level, it's best to go into detail of the tasks you have listed on your resume. Dont use buzzwords or flashy tech lameness. Give them specific details about the tasks you performed. It's important to be detailed here, to demonstrate your strengths and understanding of what you have accomplished. This is where you can get a little technical and show them your aptitude. If you're a junior level programmer, and you start talking about how you architected and implemented this really cool new feature, or helped them migrate and implement a new system or whatever cool stuff you did. Dont go into unnecessary details but do highlight your accomplishments.

3. To me, this is the best part of the interview. They usually expect you to say "No, I dont have any questions". But you really should have a few. Ask them about their coding practices and standards. Ask if they use silly notations, or naming conventions. Ask them about their development team(s) and their sizes. Ask how long the team leads have been on the project and if they seem happy with it. Ask them if they are fully licensed to use their tools. Ask how many end users do they have and what type of customer support they provide. Also ask about the project's scope, how long the project will last. Look at the company/employer's website and gather information for asking questions from there. Look at the management team or executives, ask specific questions about them and their roles within the organization. Always look at the company's website to gather ammunition for firing back questions. Usually employers are quite unprepared to answer most of these. This can really turn a bad interview around into a good interview, if you act generally interested in their company and projects. It also shows that you did your homework before the interview.

4. That's easy. Dont sugarcoat. Tell them up front that you feel that you deserve a pay raise and that you are going to find it, somewhere. Employers arent afraid of people who know what they want. Explain to them that you are content with everything EXCEPT your current pay. There is nothing more an employer wants is another company's underpaid staff who's skillset is impressive. Dont be afraid to let them know you are worth the money. Explain to them that you took the low paying job for experience and for the opportunity. I did the same thing with my first job, and after three months demanded a raise or I'd walk. I got my raise, even if they did grumble about it. $27k a year is very below average, and I think McDonald's employees get paid roughly the same. Put it in perspective and work out your hourly pay. You wont be impressed with it and you can use that in your interview. Dont come off as disgruntled, but let them know you cant pay the bills or buy that cool laptop or iPhone/GooglePhone, etc to further your skills. Besides, you work hard, you deserve it!! Dont let them fool you.

5. How do you know you have the skills of someone with 4-6 years of experience? See, that doesnt even make sense. I know people who have programmed for 20 years and are worthless. I know people who have programmed less than 5 and could code circles around the 20 year old senior developers. It's not fair to yourself to compare against the "4-6 years of experience" guys. Regardless of THEIR experience, you have significantly LESS. What you need to prove is your motivation and drive. Since you dont have a degree, give them your GPA (hopefully its good?) and let them know what honors or activities you contribute in. If you dont contribute (since you are working full-time after all), try to get into some groups you can contribute in. There are many free groups and computer events/activities you can participate in. Take or study for certification/exams. Enroll in a training course. Show that you have some intiative to further your skillset. And most of all, show them that you can handle anything that comes your way, no matter how trivial or complex. Give them examples of how you impressed your current boss. Dont feel like you must compete with other developers for the job. Go in with an attitude of accomplishment and proven self worth. This will work to your advantage, rather than explaining why you feel like you already lost or have to compete.

I would suggest to you, that if you've been coding for 10 years, apply for mid-level positions as well as junior level positions. Even try Senior level positions if you feel comfortable with the job descriptions. It will be hard convincing them of your skillset if you dont have work experience or a software portfolio of examples to impress them with. The best thing on a resume is your experience or "time served". If you dont have much of that, I would suggest getting certifications because those will get you plenty of interviews. Then all you would need is to prove you can handle the work load.

I have had plenty of jobs (and interviews) in my 7+ years of professional programming. I recommend to you to believe in yourself, because if you dont, nobody will. At the end of the day, you employ yourself and answer to yourself. Know your strengths, know your weaknesses. Practice public speaking, maybe join a speech group if you have nervousness.

One interview experience I would like to share with you (and maybe you can think of this when you're nervous) is that I went to interview with a small credit report company, that moved from California to Texas. The CIO and technology manager gave me my interview. These guys came off as real cocky, like most Californians who migrate to Texas (they all think we are slow, which we are, we just think more clearly). Anyways, I did my "homework" the night before and went to their website. I noticed a login page, in which I clicked the "LOGIN" button. It instantly redirected me to a spreadsheet list, with all sorts of information, including 1000s of emails, phone numbers and even social security numbers. I didnt really think much of it at the time....

When I went to the interview, they started hammering me with some ASP.NET/web questions, which I had little problems answering. Then, in an explanation, I made a reference to their login page I had seen the night before. They laughed at me (being cocky that they are), and said there was no way I could have logged into their system and seen that report. I corrected them and told them exactly how I did it.

It was priceless to see these guys (CIO and Tech manager), walk out of the room into their office (which was glass by the way, I could see them attempt this)...and follow my instructions on logging in, anonymously, with no username or password. Surprisingly, and to their grief, it worked. They saw a huge bug in their login page, which apparently, their old developer left in tact for debugging purposes.

Immediately they came out of their office and apologized to me, and told me I was correct. They implemented the fix before I even walked out of the interview. It was very embarassing on their behalf. What was even worse was the lack of security around sensitive information, such as the 1000s of social security numbers I saw. I felt like emailing everyone on the list with the information I found.

Needless to say, I didnt get a job with them. Dont think I would have wanted one anyways. Sometimes it's in your interest to stay away from companies that have no idea what they are doing!! Good luck!! And dont be afraid to be yourself!!

Answer 23

1. I generally view interviews as opportunities to meet new people - it's not the start of a war, e.g. "D-Day". Try to keep the language you use (and think) relaxed and you'll become relaxed.

2. Reply as you would in a normal conversation: look at the other person and watch their reactions. When they look ready to talk, stop, when they look puzzled, ask them if they have a question.

3. I'd start with an overview of my previous experience, then watch their response to see if they want more info. Just watching someone's face is usually a good guide to how to pitch your answers.

4. Ask yourself some questions about the company and job before you walk into the interview room: is this company right for me?; am I a good fit? What things do I want from a new job?

5. It's okay to ask for more money, but is this really the only thing that motivates you?

6. Success is ALWAYS better than plain experience. Talk about what you've achieved.

Answer 24

It's not just about interviews, it's about global social skills.

Making a good interviews is easy as long as you are competent and can show it. The first part, you are. The second one can be trained like anything else.

You can make you own bootcamp to drastically improve your social skills :

1 - Plan objectives for a week, a month, a year (and don't try to push it, it's hard) : being able to talk to a perfect stranger, been able to talk to a woman without any reason, been able to enter in a pub and spend the night with total strangers, been able to go to an interview completely unprepared, been able to screw something up in public willingly, etc...

2 - Choose what you are ready to pay to obtain it : number of hours you will spend a week as a training. Number of failures you can accept a day (you may be rejected 100 times a week, be prepared...). Number of money you are willing to spend in drinks, clothes, etc.

3 - Apply. Go out, and try to reach your objectives. Try something. Fail. Try the contrary. Fail. Try somehing new. Fail. Discover. Try again. One day, you will succeed in something. Then another. Then more and more.

It takes time. It's hard. Your entourage can make fun of you. But it pays. I was like you some years before. Then I practiced. It took me 3 years, but now I can talk to anyone : CEO, hot girls, childs, strangers, smarter, dumber... First job, out of a 2 years IT course, hired 30 000 € (that's $35 000 ) a year. My friends and family are not making fun of me anymore, but having fun with me because I am much more relaxed. Okay, everything is not perfect, but really better. And now I know how to keep improving it.

You can do it. There is just no magic answer but knowing what you want and persisting to get it.

P.S : I know it feels artificial, but it's not. Practicing will get you closer to people you like, on subjects you like, in environements you like. Of course, at the begining you will not "be yourself" to succeed. But with time, you will just learn to accept to be yourself anywhere. The "I try to fit / blend / match" part is just a stage, but you need to pass it. People that will tell you to be just "natural" forgot that if they can be now, it's because they passed this stage when they were teens, but we did not.

Upate, one year later:

So you know it's not temporary bullsh***.

I kept doing just that and now I run my own business, doing IT for multinational NGOs. I travel everywhere in the world and meet very interesting people in crazy situations.

Getting social skills is hard, even harder for the nerds that we are, but it's really worth it.

Answer 25

1. Practice, practice, practice. Have a friend or family member quiz you by asking various things to see how you can do out of the blue in a way. Looking at the various conversations you have in a day may be another idea of where to look at how you communicate.

2. The key on prior employment is to remember what were the main tasks you handled there: Did you troubleshoot issues, design large system integrations, do business analysis to determine feasibility? It may take a little work to get this into a 3 minute answer but I think you could practice various approaches that show you did this or that within the "Software Development Life Cycle" or methodology followed where you are?

3. What did you do? How do you feel about what you did? Can you analyze what you did or is it always kept as a "we" rather than an "I?" What awesomeness will you bring here that makes you worth $X/year?

4. I tend to have a few categories of questions like what is the methodology they use, what bug-tracking software do they have, what software do they generally use as well as release (do they use Visual Studio, Emacs, Vi and are they releasing web applications, Windows applications, console application). What hours do they work? How big is the team? What is the structure of the company in terms of its employees? Look for what kind of emotion and thoughtfulness is put into the answers given and followup where you want more information to determine if the interviewer isn't giving you enough detail for what you want.

5. You could say that you are unsatisfied with your current compensation and want to make a more appropiate wage. Underappreciated may be a better way to hide that.

6. The key is to explain what is the value you'd bring to the company: Would they have better applications, faster software, another person to troubleshoot issues? What do you know already? What suggestions and process can you bring as well as what to avoid in implementing changes to processes? These are the things I'd want to emphasize as don't forget you probably don't know what the company is looking for, e.g. how much will they pay as well as how much experience do they want in the new guy or gal?

Answer 26

I'd also mention you need to be yourself and remember you're interviewing them just as much as they are interviewing you. No one can make you take the job so be critical of how they conduct themselves as well.

If you make a joke about something and you get a dirty look, you might want to consider if that is an environment you'd like to be working in? (that doesn't mean to cut up the whole interview though!!)

If you go into an interview being yourself, then chances are you won't experience the same symptoms you're describing above.

Answer 27

I had my second interview with a company here in Omaha last night, and it was easily the longest interview of my life (lasting from 3:00 - 5:30, speaking with 5 people one after another after another).

I got some good news this morning: I have a job! Pay = $27/hr, more than twice what I made at my previous employment. Start Date = December 15.

Here are some valuable job hunting lessons I've learned:

• Dress professionally. Men wear a clean shirt, slacks, with tie. Women: clean shirt, slacks, no tie. I would recommend against wearing a skirt (this applies to men too).

• First interviews exist only for the sake of getting you second interviews. Save your most hard-hitting material for your second interview.

• I wrote a list of "second interview" questions. These are intended to keep my interview moving along at a rapid pace, to gather information about the company, and to show I'm really interested in being employed. My questions include:

  • Easy Questions (my own version of the Joel Test) - I introduce these by saying "I'm going to ask a few easy questions. They don't require an in-depth reply, just 'yes' or 'no' so I can get a feel for how things work". I then ask these questions one-by-one:

    • Do you use source control?
    • Can you make a build in one step?
    • Do you make daily builds?
    • Do you have a bug database?
    • Do you fix bugs before writing new code?
    • Do you have deadlines to meet and are you able to meet them easily?
    • Do you use a spec?
    • Do programmers have quiet working conditions?
    • Do you use the best tools money can buy?
    • Do you have testers?
    • Do you write automated tests?

  • More involved questions - I introduce these by saying "Alright, I want to ask you a few questions about your policies, coding standards, etc".

    • How would you describe the work environment here? More relaxed and casual, or more rigid and bureaucratic?
    • What kinds of projects are currently in development?
    • What kind of methodology does the dev shop use? Agile? Waterfall? Something in between?
    • How are requirements gathered and how do they get to the developers?
    • Are there any areas in your business process or development department which could use a little polishing?

  • Hard-hitting questions - I prefix these questions by saying "alright, now I'm going to ask few a more hard-hitting questions":

    • What particular qualities are you looking for when you're considering new employees?
    • Let's say that, by the end of this interview, you were really impressed and wanted to offer me a position. What top 3 priorities would you want me to accomplish in the first 90 days?
    • Now that we've takled about my qualifications, do you have any concerns about me fulfilling the responsibilities of this position?

• Bring a notebook and pen to take notes during your interview. Write down answers to the questions above.

• If you're a bad extemporaneous speaker like I am, then mentally rehearse your answers about your job history.

• Your target salary should be the current market value of a programmer at your skill level. Its easy enough to find positions at salaries well-below the market value, but you'll do yourself a favor by staying away from these positions like the plague.

• Recruiting agencies are hit and miss. Some are really really good, some are awful and will only waste your time. A good group will get in touch with you immediately, stay in touch daily, put your resume out to companies quickly, and get you interviews promptly.

• If you work with multiple recruiting agencies, keep good tabs on where they are sending your resume. Having your resume double-submitted to the same company by different recruiting agencies is a death blow to your employability.

• Do a little happy dance when you finally get that job :)

Answer 28

The best advice I can give is to treat an interview as an exam... study. Get a book like Interviews for Dummies and read it cover to cover the night before answering all of the sample questions out loud.

Like many in IT I am looking for work about once every two years. The day before each interview I go through this entire book answering out loud each of the sample questions. By the time I get to the interview I have all of the answers that employers are looking for at the tip of my tongue. It is easy to be confident when you are prepared.

Answer 29

did you read this? The Guerrilla Guide to Interviewing, by our "creator" Joel Spolsky

Answer 30

Read as much as you can from the point of view of the interviewer. Examples are:

• phone screen tips
• Joel's Guerrilla guide to interviewing
• I prefer his older : Joel's Guerrilla guide to interviewing

Before the interview do several mock interviews where you can show that you have the skills the target group needs.

Prepare an interview of your own where you are interviewing the company. Take into account your own needs and ambitions and the requirements you have for your work environment. I like the Joel Test but also consider the values of the company and how they line up with your own. The commute and the general attitude of the interviewees. (No amount of money makes it worthwhile to work for or with jerks)

Lean toward saying no. (Have enough self worth to feel that you deserve to wait for a good match)

Give them respect in the interview. Let them lead but make sure that there is a give and take between you and the interviewers. Don't be afraid to ask clarifying questions during whiteboard or technical questions and don't be afraid of saying you don't know an answer if you don't. Any hint that you are dishonest is way worse than a technical skill that you don't have.

Remember 50% of the interview is about making sure that you have the skills. The other half is making sure you are a good employee and coworker. It is like dating in this respect except in dating you can get by on good looks and a sense of humor. Here you need to display in the way that you conduct yourself that you are dependable, fun to work with can meet deadlines.

Another way it is like dating is that if you seem desperate they won't want you. Tell yourself that you are a good programmer(if this is true so that you carry yourself as such) and convey in your questions and responses that you are not desperate for the job but that is sound like a good option.

Answer 31

i think the perfectionist tends to be shy. also, the person who expect a perfect world often became cynical later.

my advice is not to care. there is no right or wrong. as some say, the interviewer initially already have an idea whether to hire you or not. he/she only try to justify his/her answer.

so be carefree. try it once and twice, and see how it goes. it may need to be a few times before you can let go and not be so tense about it.

Answer 32

Work on your soft skills.

If technical skills > epsilon then
        soft skills >> technical skills

There is an enormous amount of evidence that suggests that the above statement is true for almost everyone.

Answer 33

Face Your Fears

Regarding nervousness, ask yourself, "what's the absolute worst that could happen?"

• You screw up your explanations
• You fail at solving example problems
• Your experience sounds weak in discussion
• You accidentally insult your interviewer
• You throw up on the carpet

Then picture all that, as bad as it can get, and come to terms with it. Be able to say, "if that happens, I will be OK. It will suck, but I'll be OK, and I'll have a funny story later."

Better than that: even in this scenario, you'll learn from your mistakes.

If the worst possible outcome no longer scares you, then guess what? It's probably going to be better than that. It might be great.

And anyway, you're not scared anymore.

Answer 34

1. Do lots of interviews, then you will be used to that and will show no fear. More important, you won't believe anymore you ask a favor the interviewer.
2. Well, don't think about that, if you talk too much it means your are passionated, it's great.
3. Maybe he doesn't think of anything, and just want to hear you talk about your job to see how much you like it.
4. "Where is the coffee ?" Does he smile ? if he doesn't maybe you won't smile at work either !
5. "I estimate that my skill worth more than currently paid" :)
6. Well, if your interviewer is a developer, what have you done ? certifications ? blogs ? open source projects ? articles ? show ? conference ? If he is not a developer, there is lots of things which seems impressive to a normal person. For a commercial, show him a sexy user interface you have done ! :p

Answer 35

Honestly, if you start shaking like a leaf, as a short term fix, you might want to ask your doctor about beta blockers.

Answer 36

I will only answer the first question, as I believe it's something I know a little about. I was once a pretty shy person and got nervous too, but I have been working on myself and got pretty good result. I bet your nervousness and discomfort are result of similar reasons. This is also pretty common for hackers, but it's something that can be worked on. If you wish to be less shy, you can try one of those two books by Zimbardo or Carducci. Or you can try program like Demonic Confidence, which is basically directed for getting confidence in contacts with women, but this also makes you less nervous in other situations (according to Zimbardo's research, the two most common factors for shyness are women and people with higher status - when you apply for a job, you have to face at least the second one).

It's worth to develop self confidence. Hackers are usually very well educated and trained people, but they lack confidence to aspire for higher offices in the company. That's why we have to live with all those managers, that don't really understand, what we are talking about ;-) I have the comfort of having a boss, who has very solid programming and administrative background. It would be great, if more of us had :-)

Answer 37

On 2): I have started to take some pictures of the product(s)/technologie(s) with me. These serve as a reminder to what I intent to talk about (and what not) and help the interviewer to follow me on the large scale.

I once got a compliment from an interviewer for having such pictures.

Answer 38

Just a point about the money aspect. I used to wonder about the same thing--that if an employer asked why I'm looking for this job, the true answer would be money. But recently I realized that I've been missing the point of this question. Granted, almost everyone wants their job for the money. But I think this question is not concerned with that. What they are really asking is "why do you want this job", say as opposed to a job at McDonalds, or some other company. Money aside, what is something about this company that you like.

So, it's

why do you want this job?

not why do you want this job?

Answer 39

I always drop a semi-swear or slang word, in the interview. So they remember me amongst the sea of candidates later on.

I have also had the unfortunate experience of a bit of spit flying out my mouth and landing on the interviewers forehead, and then sitting in silence whilst he wiped it off. All in reponse to him offering me substantially less that my current wage, but saying i could have birthdays in leui. Though i was still offered the posn

Morale of the story, it's a numbers game. Go to as many interviews as possible, have fun and dont take it too seriously. My success rate is 1 out of 5, work out what yours is...

Answer 40

Your first strike should be "Showing you are confident?", no matter how you answer his questions, whether they are bad, average or excellent, be sure to look him straight in the eye with a light sarcastic smile, while you two are interacting to show that you are confident.

Answer 41

The easiest trick to get rid of nervousness is to consciously try to be nervous.Every night before going to bed simply imagine an interview situation and force yourself to be nervous.

In an interview learn to be spontaneous rather than giving prepared answers.Just understand the concepts and when the interviewer asks the questions respond appropriately.Better not mug up anything because it can give unnecessary fear of forgetting them.

You can try Vipasana which is a meditation technique.It is a technique of continuous awareness of your actions,thoughts,emotions.So you can do it throughout the day without spending extra time for meditation.In the simplest sense vipasana is carrying out all you activities of the day just as usual but u keep on watching(monitoring) your physical,mental and emotional activities.Its a bit difficult in the beginning but I can tell for sure it's worth it.

Answer 42

I've recently had an interview, the first in ten years. The night before I was really nervous, however i got a good night's sleep, practised some answers and suprisingly felt really calm during the interview.

I feel this may have had a negative effect as the feedback I got was along the lines of: no problem with my technical skills but they felt I wouldn't fit the team as I was too laid back!

Answer 43

My attitude at interviews (to avoid nervousness) is to convince myself that I don't need this particular job. That I am using this interview oppurtunity as a practice / test on how I answer questions and handle my nerves. Being a contractor, I have interviewed so many times, it's a breeze now.

Also reading this board and talking to other developers, I have learned that just because I failed an interview or didn't get a job, doesn't mean that I don't know my stuff.
The interviewer might have been having a bad day;
The position might have been a bit senior for what I am comfortable with
The interviewer might be just a fruitcake.

The other thought is that these days, so much needs to be considered in selecting a good candidate (and vice versa, selecting the great position) such as personality, ability to get along with others, the type of projects, the role and influence of management, that I am convinced that a position is a jigsaw puzzle and the candidate is a jigsaw piece. The two need to be the right fit, else you can jam the jigsaw into the big puzzle, but it wont fit.

Answer 44

In regards to nerves: Its good to be nervous for big events. Your nervous feeling is your mind's way of preparing you to think fast on your feet, if you are prepared then they will help you act quickly. Expect to be nervous. Embrace it.