Computing & IT Interview Questions & Answers

My telephone interview lasted for approximately 25-30 mins. Initially, capgemini went through some HR material regarding my application for security reasons. They then went on to ask whether I could meet the rigours of IT consultancy, as there is a need for a huge amount of flexibility. After, I was quizzed about my CV and academical background. What followed next was standard competency based questions in relation to the organisations values, which can be found on the website. My questions were based around team-working and problem solving.

Give me a time when you have changed a process and what outcome did this have?

Go through the companies values on their website and this should give you a good indication of the competency based questions that are likely to come up. Make sure you give a professional presentation of the case study.

Capgemini gave a brief interview of themselves and the programme upon the arrival of all the candidates. What followed next for me was a face to face interview with a senior member of Capgemini. Again, this was similar to telephone interview, however, before attending the assessment centre you are given a case study in which you are to present to your interviewer. Next i completed a numerical test (SHL). Finally, a group exercise was last on the agenda. I got a group size of 4 people, although the other team had a size of 5. You are given a case study, in which you have to decipher the relevant information and make a decision with your team about an outcome.

My initial interview stages were the typical online assessment stage, after which I was invited by email to attend an assessment center.

The most difficult question I recall was being asked what you would do if another manager came and asked you to quickly do some work for them.

The answer was ofcourse ask *your* manager.

Be confident, there are many "right" answers. And be yourself - there's no point getting a job if you don't think it will suit you.

At the assessment center (when I managed to find the right building!) I met the other potential candidates, as well as several heads of department. As a group we were then briefed on the company in general, before starting our exercises. These ranged from group exercises such as "order these items if you were stranded at sea" testing how we worked as a group, to individual exercises such as presenting a business case to move a company to one of three potential sites. After the exercises (and lunch) we were taken for one-on-one interviews.

I had an initial telephone interview with one of the graduate recruiters, which took about 5-10 mins. They asked me basic questions like what I knew about the company, why I wanted to work there, she also asked me about my experience on my CV.
At the assessment centre we had three 5-minute interviews on a rotational basis. The first one was quite competency based where they asked questions like describe a time you've had to solve a problem at work and what would you do to build a relationship with someone at work. The second interview asked me questions about my background and my CV so questions like why I picked my degree and my dissertation topic and if I could change my degree what would I do instead. The third interviewer asked me questions like why I wanted to work for the company, describe my best day at work, what success meant to me and a time I had used IT for a solution.

The most difficult question asked was why I wanted to work for the company because I don't come from an IT background, but I just gave an answer about the opportunities the role would bring.

Make sure research the company, and show passion, enthusiasm and willingness to learn because they accept people from all backgrounds so their just looking for people with that extra spark.
Also, brush up on your mathematical skills if you haven't used maths since GCSE because they say the numerical test is GCSE level, however I found it quite hard and I did Economics at degree level. Also, do some research about IT because there are few basic IT questions like what is HTTP, SQL, and some coding stuff aswell.

There was a group of about 21 of us, at the start of the day we each had to stand up and introduce ourselves to the group, we were then taken into a room where we watched a video about the company and then a woman came to talk about the company and asked us if we had any questions and we were given a chance to read a sample contract. After that were split into two groups where one group would have the interviews first and then the tests later then we joined together to do a venn diagram test together.

I had an initial telephone interview which consisted of questions such as, why would you like to work in IT? Why would you consider a career with FDM? Where do you you see yourself in 5 years time? The phone interview lasted approximately 20 minutes.

After the phone interview I was invited to an assessment day at the FDM offices in London. The day consisted of 3 tests, including an aptitude test, a maths test and a venn diagram and probability test. Each exam lasted an hour apart from the maths test which was 30 minutes. I then had 3 short one on one interviews with members of the senior management team. They asked questions about my degree, why I wanted to work in IT and some questions on my personality.

The questions were mostly quite straight forward, some questions such as 'How would you describe your perfect day at work?' were not as straight forward as they first seemed.

Be confident and have a positive attitude even if you feel the process isn't going as you initially planned. Prepare for the venn diagram test with some revision on probability and standard notation. I practiced all of the test styles before the interview a few times to make sure I didn't get a nasty shock!

3 short interviews, 3 exams. I then took an extra exam for an accelerated training program that focussed on my knowledge of pseudo code and problem solving skills.

My experience did not involve an interview other than the ones during the Assessment Center.
After the initial screening I was given a week to complete 2 online assessments; 1 numerical and 1 abstract reasoning.

Competency based questions were not easy. I was asked different types of questions which were very much indirectly related to my course.

Be prepared for your Assessment Center interviews and presentation; you have adequate time at your disposal.

Prepare typical Competency Interview Questions.
Regarding the Technical Interview: Research the company's Website about their technology and methods of production, this will hopefully get your thinking started.

After a long wait I was invited to an Assessment Center, which involved a Presentation, a Competency Interview, a Group Task, a validating Numerical Test and a Technical Interview.
We were split into two Groups and we were handed separate schedules covering the day. For my Group:
1)9:00 - Numerical Test first thing in the Morning; time allowed around 25mins for 30 questions.
2)10:30 - 10-minute presentation, which we had time to prepare before the Assessment (almost 10 days). Topic was about ourselves.
3)11:00 - Competence Interview. Standard Procedure but personalized to each candidate at that time.We were asked questions coming from a scenario booklet. i.e. Tell us a time when you were really stressed, how did you cope, how did you plan, etc.
4)12:30 - Lunch break. The opportunity to mix with the assessors and chat was given to us.
5)13:30 - Group Task. The task was to build a Tower, able to withstand the weight of a water bottle. It was required to reach at least a height of 1m.Materials available; A4 paper, A3 Carton Paper, Scissors, Sticky Tape, Pencils, String and Plastic Cups.
6)14:30 - Final Task: Technical Interview. The interview was personalized and adjusted to the level of knowledge and experience each one of us had. Questions started out easy but progressively became difficult reaching a point, from which onwards we could not answer. This is done for them to see how you react and think to something you have not seen before.

The intitial telephone interview and the first one and one interview were simple enough - standard competency based interviews (Can you give me an example of when you have had to.../have demonstrated skills... and often followed by "what would you do differently if you were to do it again?") and questions about why you want to do the particular role and some questions about the company.

"Can you give me an example of when you have had to influence someone?"
"Can you give me an example of when you have had to deal with confrontation?"

Prepare.
Find out a lot about the company - what it does, its history and information about its products. You may be asked what you know about certain products.
Practise competency questions and lots of them. The majority of questions during interviews are competency based, asking about your skills and previous experience. Be specific when giving an example, remembering to use the STAR technique (Situation, Task, Action, Result). Also think about what you could have do differently regarding your examples - they want to see your analytical skills.
Especially give examples pointing out your strengths which match the requirements of the position you are going for.
Think about why you want this particular role.
Be patient and be polite.

There were 8 candidates and we began with a group based exercise involving working together and making a decision on a scenario where we had to distribute a grant to certain companies.
We then had a test, using cards, which was essentially about spotting patterns and using your analytical skills.
We then were to prepare a 15 minute interview regarding a technical project we had undertaken.
Finally there was a 1 hour interview with a senior person from the role which you are applying for and someone from HR.
Assessment centre is in Abingdon and transport and accommodation is paid for by the company.

Telephone Interview around 30 mins - This consisted of a set of comptency questions which I had to give real (and different) example. Example questions.. Tell me about a time when you had to adapt to a new situation? Have you ever had to persuade a team to do something? How did you achieve this? Why did you choose Capgemini? Who are Capgemini's competitors? I was also asked about my degree and what I enjoy ouside of work/study.

Assessment Centre- This started with a meet a current grad where we could drill them for questions. We were then split in to two groups. One set went to do their presentations and interviews whilst the others did a verbal reasoning test. We then change round. After lunch we did a group exercise where we were watched and assessed by the people who interviewed us.

What do I think the most annoying thing about consultancy would be?
Give me an example where something hasn't gone right and what you did?

Make sure you do your research about the company and make sure you get involved with the group activity without taking over. For the presentation remember they are looking for solutions and as long as you can justify why you're doing it, it doesn't matter if it turns out to be wrong.

Assessment center ran smoothly, it was based in Woking and all expenses were paid. The staff were easy to talk to and the questions were not too hard. I found it quite fun.

My personal experience did not involve a physical interview. It involved the two online assessments that IBM use to select their top candidates. I submitted my CV (IBM have their own CV guidelines and template you must follow). I was given 7 days to complete 2 online assessments which I have described in the assessment centre section.

Numerical test questions were difficult due to the time limit and seemingly irrelevance to the job. I'd applied for a job elsewhere and they asked IT/Project Management questions. IBM have their own way of doing the exams and you need to be able to answer mathematic questions, quickly.

Make sure you are quick at answering mathematics questions in order to get to the interview stage. This company is looking for a certain level of mathematics ability in a student and unless you have it, you will not get the interview and not be allowed to apply to IBM for a year.

Whilst I didn't make it to a physical interview, I managed to get to stage 3, which was, for me, online testing. I was advised by IBM's email that I should have a pen and paper ready and that the test was NOT a test of your academic ability, however, I found that the numerical test was very much a test of mathematical ability and felt rather pessimistic from the outset. You are given 2 minutes to spot a pattern of numbers, work out the pattern, then select the correct answer from the multiple choice list given below. Whilst some answers are incredibly easy, some take a little bit more working out and with a countdown timer and maths not being your strongest point (afterall, this is an IT job, not a banking sector job) I failed to see the relevance of this, although IBM insist it's a worthwhile testing scheme for them.

The second part of the test is a numerical reasoning test where you are given a questions which contain a list of numbers for objectA, objectB and you have to work out the answer. I found this section of the test slightly easier than the previous test, however, it's mathematics and unless you're really up to speed with maths, it'll be a tough slog to finish the questions confidently. Needless to say - You are also timed on these questions, 2 mins only.

Unfortunately, I didn't meet the minimum amount of points and my application was sadly, cancelled. Something you should know about IBM is that you can only apply once per year. I'm now in a situation whereby I have to wait until Jan, 2015 if I want to apply to IBM again. Good luck!

Initially I had a phone interview which was competence based. Basically you get questions like: Tell me about a situation when.. someone was treated unfairly? What did you do? etc Very few questions about your previous work experience.

Then I have been invited to assessment day where I had lots of different questions like, there are 4 groups of questions they ask, technical, competence, and two more which I can't quite remember.

Tell me about a situation when someone was treated unfairly, what did you do?
Tell me about your presentation skills, what feedback did you get after your recent presentation?
Why do you want to work for HP?
Describe a situation when you had to make a difficult decision, what was the outcome?

You have to look at their corporate values + volunteering they do, you will probably get questions about it.

We had interviews first, then 20min long presentations, then about 10 people in a group for a group task which was quite simple.

Initial steps were to send in my CV and cover letter, followed by two online tests; numerical and verbal reasoning. I was then invited to a face to face interview with two managers within the company. The interview consisted of a 30 minute presentation about introducing social media into Siemens, and then a 30 minute interview about my CV and about what I could bring to the role.

Explain how you can use your previous leadership experiences to assist you in teaching new computing techniques to older staff members, who may be quite stubborn in wishing to not pick up this new skill.

Lots of research into the company. Know the job role you are applying for, and link how skills shown in your CV can apply to this role.

N/A