Computing & IT Interview Questions & Answers

My initial telephone interview was with a member of their graduate recruitment team which lasted 10 mins. We had an inital chat about my CV and why I applied for the company and the interviewer questioned whether I would like to work in the Asia Pacific area.
After a few hours, I was told I passed the phone interview and was put to the next stage which was the assessment center.

On the day of the assessment center, there were eight of us and we were all waiting in the same area and room. During the time, we were either waiting or having our interviews. Interview consisted of one sype interview with an account in hong kong and the other interview was a face to face interviewer from the UK. The UK interviewer was asking basis questions in regards to your CV whilst the other skyoe interview was based on the job and why I wanted a position there and which role I thought was suitable for myself.

After the two interviews we had our numerical test. This was basis maths such as subtraction and multiplication and factors. (nothing to complicated) After this test we had the HR talk in regards to our contract and what they expected from us an what are the consequences.

We had lunch after that and straight after lunch we had two 1hour exam. One was based on questions about IT and the other was based on Venn diagram.

Finally we had a tour around the office.

I got my reply the next day that I was successful.

Describe was your weakness is and how you overcome it?

stay professional, no slang words invoid. Talk to other candiates. Talk as much as you can and sell yourself. Smile to anyone that passes you. If in doubt ask as many questions you want. Be prepared to sit all day.

individual assessment based on maths, IT and venn diagrams

Applied online and received a callback almost immediately.

Organised a 10 minute phone interview which consisted of very typical questions about why I wanted to work for FDM and what my degree was etc. Received an invitation to an assessment centre a few days after this.

The assessment centre started at 8:45am and finished at around 3pm. It consisted of a logical test, a maths test, a venn diagram test and a set of three 5-minute interviews

Would you compromise the quality of your work in order to meet a deadline?

What does success look like?

Read up on the company beforehand and prepare yourself for a lot of time 'learning without earning'. The 'deal' here is that you receive up to 16 weeks of unpaid (!) training, after which you will be placed with one of FDM's affiliated companies. On the day you start your placement, you enter a two year contract with FDM, during which time you may potentially be relocated anywhere within the UK. You are given a £500 bonus upon the acceptance of your first placement but as far as I can gather you receive no further financial help if you need to relocate again. Cancelling the contract can also incur a fine of up to £20,000 which they claim is the cost of the training. They aren't trying to catch anyone out and are very upfront about these terms, but it still seems like a bit of a rum deal.

Practice your mental maths, make sure you know basic computer-related acronyms (HTTP, HTML, SQL etc).

The three interviews are only five minutes long but consist of scripted questions. This means the interviewers will not ask you for further information about anything you mention, so make sure you embellish! They also won't have read your CV (for fairness, apparently) so make sure to point out anything that was on there that is relevant to the questions.

The assessment centre began with an introduction to the company, followed by a logic test lasting around an hour. The test was for both technical and business streams and so there was a range of questions. Some were flow-chart/pseudocode based, some were definitions, one was an anagram!

The test was followed by the interview stage. There were three separate rooms with three separate interviews, each focused on a different aspect of the job. One was about your education and degree, one was more about FDM and why you wanted to work for them and one was more situation-based, posing hypothetical workplace issues and asking how you'd deal with them. This was followed by a lunch break

After the lunch break, there were two more tests. One was a set notation and venn diagram test and mostly involved shading in the correct region of venn diagrams. There was an instruction booklet that came with this, if needed. There was also a maths test based at GCSE level to be done without a calculator, involving questions on Pythagoras' theorem and simultaneous equations etc.

There are two interviews, the first one is more of a discussion about your skills on the CV along with some competency questions and a case study and lasts for 45 minutes. The second round interview is however, includes an in-depth interview of your skills, a presentation on a technical problem.

For the first round interview the team lead himself came to interview me (as the other person wasn't feeling well) and went through the skills that were relevant to his team.

In the second round interview, there were two people one was a senior consultant and the other one being an ex-graduate. This time they were delving deeper into technical questions to see if I was the best fit for the role. This was then followed by a 20 minutes presentation including 5 minutes for Q&A. I was also given a vague idea on what the team does and how I would fit in it if I were to get this role. Towards the end, they left it open for me to ask any questions that I had.

Make sure you know what you have on your CV and sell it as much as you can. There will be questions about the skills you put on your CV and in the second round interview, the interviewers do go into a lot of details. So don't put something on your CV that you are not entirely sure about. They look for certain skills to see if you will fit their team.

You are given a training which depends on what team you join, so don't worry if you are not a master. They don't expect you to know everything as a graduate, but you should show that you are passionate enough and eager to learn.

Make sure ato network with members of staff

The assessment centre was very friendly. I was given a tour of the office and introduced to staff in the department where I was applying to.
I then had a panel interview with three members of staff that lasted about an hour; and was then given 30 minutes to prepare a presentation .
I then had a 1-on-1 interview with the recruiting manager which was very informal and lasted about 45 minutes before spending 30 minutes delivering the presentation I prepared early.

The interview was held with two senior executives who asked me many competency questions and tried to get a gist of my technical skills and techncial experience. It was a 15 minutes interview and was focused on extracting the problem solving skills, communication skills, confidence, leadership, team working skills which will be required for any role at GE on a regular basis due to the nature of the teams.

Tell me about a project that failed and how did you go about making it a successful project in the end?

Don't worry if you don't do well on one part of the assessment center, concentrate on what is left and give your best. I believe its based on the marking system, so it will all add up and you will still have a good chance if you do well on the rest.

The assessment centre that I went to was from 8:30 to 2:30 (including lunch) and I think we started at 9. It consisted of 8 potential ITLP's and we were split in 2 groups of 4 each. We then went through the following (The order may vary):
1: Presentation about GE and life as an ITLP. (30 minutes approx.)
2: Interview (15 minutes)- As explained above.
3: Group Exercise (30 minutes)- This is where four of the people were sent to solve a problem and come up with a solution (there is no right or wrong answer). The team then had present the proposed solution in 5 minutes to the senior executive team who will negotiate on why you chose this to be the solution and not the others. So they were looking for skills such as persuasion, negotiation and decision making and ability to cope with pressure.
4: Presentation (10 minutes each) - My greatest achievement.

What do you do when you have a deadline approaching and you still have tasks to complete?

I applied through a recruiter and the process took about 2+ weeks. I began with applying through one of the recruiting agencies and then someone got in touch with me. I was then told that I had made it through to the final interview which was a 3-4 hours interview at their Paddington office with 3 people. One of them being HR, another one was a senior manager and some other person who asked me behavioural questions. The interview began with the first person asking me about myself; about how I found out Cerner and what do I know about them. I had over researched the company and the person was really impressed with my knowledge. I had also done my final year project on healthcare industry which is what they do, hence that made a good impression on the interviewers as well. It lasted for 45 minutes and then I was given a short break before I could go to the next person.
The second person was HR who was interested in my background, my interests alongside competency based questions etc. This interview lasted for about 30 minutes, where I had to provide my details such as nationality, right to work etc.
The final interview was with the senior manager who asked me about my academic background, my employment history and all the technical questions. This covered transferrable skills, interpersonal skills etc. I used STAR technique for most of the answers and related the examples back to my experience. This interview lasted for about 50 minutes I think, and then I was told that recruitment agency will get in touch in about two weeks. Hence,
To add to that, all three of them gave me an overview of the company from their perspective and that was an interesting aspect as it differed for each of them.

Describe a difficult decision and how you made it.

I used STAR techniques for most of the answers, make sure you use it as it gives them the impression that you analyse each situation you have been through in your career/life and that you understand how you would go about solving it if you faced it again. Another thing is don't panic if you don't know something, just say you don't know. We are graduates with no experience or may be one year if you do placement, so they don't expect us to know everything.What they do expect is that you should be capable of and eager to learn new skills.

N/A

The first interview was a telephone interview asking general questions, for example. What did you study? What skills do you have that will be suitable for the role? Why FDM? Why IT? It was a short interview no more than 10 minutes.

I was successful and then invited for an assessment day two weeks later. There were eight of us and we went into a room called a fish bowl, the offices were new and modern. We were first given a short introduction about the company from one of the recruitment team and then we had to stand and give a short introduction about ourselves on what we studied and where we heard about FDM. We.We then transported to another meeting room, where we stayed most of the day, and a member of HR gave a powerpoint presentation and a sample contract to look at. Followed by the numerical test (no calculator), it wasn't too bad but I did practise beforehand but during test situations it feels different as always, the test contained addition, factors, multiplication, percentages, fractions, simultaneous equations and Pythagorus. I was lucky to have a 15 minute break with another prospective, while the others started interviewing. We went to the kitchen and met someone who spoke well of FDM. He said the business pathway was 8 weeks and technical is 12 weeks (can also be paid whilst training).

I had three interviews back to back, they were short. My first one was about my degree and asked, what my degree was, my result, whether I was happy with it, my project, what would I change about my degree and what modules I liked in my degree. Second interview was a personality one and lastly one about why FDM and IT. The interviewers are friendly but do prepare to say as much as you can in a short time.

We then had another test straight afterwards the aptitude test, consisting of 50 questions. They were okay some questions were tricky they had some puzzles, personality questions, programming and basic IT questions, like what is SQL, what does a service manager do, why go from IP4 to IP6..

After a quick lunch of 45 minutes with the other applicants, we sat down for our final test on Venn diagrams and Set notation. There are four parts the last part was the hardest and the test was okay until the last part where you had produce a 3 set venn diagram and find quantities in each set. I did run out of time.

Do you like to work on many different projects? Is change a good thing? What would you change about your degree or modules in your degree? How do you balance your time and time with your friends?

Practise some interview questions with a friend. They email you information about your assessment day and supply helpful links to help you revise for the test. Dress smart. The environment is friendly and you wouldn't feel in competition with the other candidates when you are there, so try not to worry.

There were eight of us, we sat the numerical, aptitude and venn diagram tests together. Then split into groups of 2 when interviewing.

At the start of the day, we were given a short presentation on the history of the company and the work it does, after which we were given a comprehension test and a Java test for 40 mins. The main part of the assessment day was the group task, though. We were asked to come up with an idea for a food-based technical product, design a marketing campaign and website, and finally present everything as if to a board of investors after which we had to answer any questions they had. During the day, we also had 1-1 technical interviews. The whole day was enjoyable, but pretty stressful.

What are the principles of object-oriented programming?

Brush up on Java and your presentation skills. The main purpose of the assessment is to see how you work with others as well as making sure you are competent for the role. Try to stay relaxed and it should be fine.

The assessment day wasn't help in the office as usual, but in a museum just down the road. While a nice setting, it wasn't a a reflection of the usual working environment.

Applied online, got a call back asking if I was available for Phone interview. they scheduled it. During the Phone Interview - it took 10 minutes and asked me 3 questions - basically things like why choose FDM etc.

Afterwards - they said they will let me know if I progress onto the next stage (which is the assessment day). 2 days later I got a response saying i was successful - and went to join the assessment day.

Overall it was quite relaxed. Quite laid back during the interview process.

Name a time you had to work with someone difficult, and what was the end result?

Learn a bit of A Level math again, it will help you when it comes to the tests. Also - during the interview you have to keep it short, they ask 4 questions in 5 minutes so keep it short and sweet.

Only apply if you are willing to stick to a 2 year commitment - and by the way, you are assigned to campaign which could be anywhere in UK, so you have to be VERY flexible. It could be for 2 months, it could be for 2 years - but when they tell you to move, you pretty much have to just move.

My personal advice is that there is a load of potential in working with FDM, however I'd say this job is really for people with no prior commitments. If you're married - then it's not as ideal as they could relocate you anywhere.

Upon arriving, there were about 12-14 of us. We all went to a room, sat down and they told us about the company and how the process works. Basically - you commit to FDM for 2 years, and they will also provide the training for you. However - FDM explain that if you leave within the 2 year commitment, you will be liable to pay them back for training (which costs around £16-20,000). As well as that, training is unpaid (there was talk of how they give you a joining bonus of £500).

We all introduced ourselves - and then got down to doing tests. Overall during the day, there are 3 tests - 1. Tests IT knowledge, 2. Test on Venn Diagrams, 3 Mathematics test.

The first test asks things like what's HTTP, what is a Mac Address and etc. All multiple choice. There was maybe 5 questions that test programming logic (written in PsuedoCode). It wasn't all programming - one of the questions asked "what is the penultimate question"

Second test - you were given a leaflet on venn diagrams, and then had to shade in the circle according to the logic given.

Third test - basic math, some hard, some not.

After the tests, we were all given an interview. These were 3 separate 5 minute interviews with 3 different groups. They all asked different questions - some were basic ones like why do you want to work here, why did you choose to study your degree... some were questions like would you rush something to get it done knowing that you compromised the quality.

This was a telephone interview, and it lasted about 45 minutes. I was given a call on my phone to let me know that they will call me on Skype. Then the person went through my personal details and started the interview process. It began with competency questions followed by questions on the knowledge required for the job role.

Competency questions such as, "Tell me a recent technology that can be beneficial to our company, "seemed as if these were the key questions they assessed me on. I was also asked some pure software engineering questions which i think were asked because they wanted to see whether i will be a nice fit for the role. I wasn't expecting these sort of questions as the email said there will be core competency questions to see if I am eligible for the final assessment centre.

One on One interview was completely based on Data Structure and programming which was quite difficult for me.

Ensure that you know about what is required from the role you are applying for. E.g. Being a software engineer what are the core responsibilities and what is the knowledge you would need to have.

I didn't get through to the assessment stage, but I was told if I did get through the telephone interview I would have been given a call to attend the assessment centre at the London office