Computing & IT Interview Questions & Answers

I had a phone interview with someone from recruitment which was just a really relaxed chat about my motivation for applying for the job and my knowledge of the company. It only lasted about 15 minutes and I asked loads of questions at the end. I thought that the interview went really well but got rejected a couple of days later.

I asked for feedback without much hope because people don't normally feedback after the first round but was called by the same person who interviewed me and she went through every single question and told me how I could improve. This was so helpful. The main point I took from the feedback is that they are looking for people who are really involved in the technology community, so if you have a blog or go to Girl Geek tea parties or even post on twitter about technology a lot I think this will help, otherwise I think there is a very small chance of getting past the first stage.

No difficult questions.

Really research ThoughtWorks and have specific examples of why you want to work for them.

N/a

Telephone interview that was supposed to last no longer than 10minutes. It was basically a match making interview, seeing how I matched up to the what the company required from their candidates. Key skills, responsibilities and my USP which differentiated me from others. I enjoyed the interview process, I took the time out to carefully detail my previous roles and because I wasn't provided with much information, i had my ipad on the company website as soon as it was made available to me. The interview lasted 30minutes due to the built rapport and objective definitions.

One of the most difficult questions was how I was going to link administration with my chosen goal of being a journalist. I've never been asked such a question before so I was a bit taken aback. What I learnt was, the question wasn't to trip me up but more to convey my balance with seeking employment with said industry. I answered with progression within the company will lead me on a path which will hopefully determine my future, flexibility was needed not a strict attitude,

Always stick to the STAR model -

S ituation
T ask
A ction
R esult

There is no going wrong with this model, it exemplifies the uses of situation type scenarios and how you as an individual dealt with said problem. Employers enjoy examples from your past history.

N/A

I had a phone interview asked about real life examples of what I can do. Success in a phone interview led me to Panel interview which consists of the team I supposed to work with.
The Panel interview was divided into 4 sessions; the first one was introducing myself and PowerPoint presentation about how I got to the IT field. The second was technical questions of the kind ' What do you know about?'.
The third session was questioned about my CV and my Personal abilities, such as What did you study in that and this? Talk to me about your experience on that and this. Tell me about a situation when you took a lead, impress your boss, feeling uncomfortable in the work environment... etc..
The fourth session was a written test on the subject I suppose to work on.
All in all it took about an hour.

The personal ability and situation questions were really the trickiest part. You have no idea what the ideal answer to some of them.

- Prepare a good presentation.
- Study and review your technical subject.
- Dress smart.
- Give enough time to arrive early.
- Trust yourself and your abilities even if you don't know the answer.
- Do a research about the company you are going to interview for.
- Smile.
- Stay Positive.
- Read a lot of regular interview questions in your field.

- Prepare a presentation.
- A written test on the job related subject.

It was a verbal interview consisting of all the common questions they ask in an interview, like:
-Tell us about your background, studies and experience.
-Why are you interested in joining us?
-What skills do you have to offer?
-Why do you consider yourself able of such a role?
-Would you be able to work in an industrial environment?
-What do you think of our company?
-Would you be able to work if called overnight?
-Are you able to communicate, understand and be patient with people who work here and have no or limited education?
-What do you imagine would you be doing here?
-How good are your programming skills?

Tell us in one sentence why should we choose you. I was just not ready for a short answer.

Be yourself, the company has a friendly environment and that makes you not to be so stressed up.
No special preparation is needed in the first stage, but in the second(interview) stage you should go really prepared and be sure that you are able to answer in depth all the typical questions they ask in each interview and I described above.
Don't be afraid to ask any questions you might have. They are good people.

There were 2 group tasks, and one individual. In the first group task they split us into 3 teams consisting of 6-8 people each. We were given some wooden pieces which if place properly on the ground they would create a pattern of boxes. The task was after team discussion and practice to figure out to create the pattern as fast as possible. Our team was much better than the others and after completing the task they asked members of our team to show the other teams how we did it.

In the 2nd task we were 2 teams of 10 people and we sat on a table with 3 senior managers. We were given 3-4 cards each which contain a piece of information. We were only allowed to read the cards but not show them to the other candidates. The task was to discuss about what information each had and find a solution to a problem they gave to us. Mathematics had to be used.

At the end there was an individual task, to write a covering letter after all the information we got during the assessment day and why would we be interested to join the company.

I personally proceeded to the next and final stage of 10 people. We were invited for a tour in the company and they had us interviewed by a group of people, 2 senior managers and 3 employees. Out of 10 they hired 5 people and I was not one of them.

Started with the on-line assessment which consisted of numerical, verbal reasoning and psychometric analysis. After clearing this test, there was a telephonic interview which lasted for 15 mins where I was asked about my IT and project management skills and brief discussion about my previous work experience. Also, they asked me about the company and told me about their job specifications.

How will you implement your skills in our organisation?
How are you planning for your future?

Be clam, clear and compose. Read thoroughly about the company you are going to apply and clearly understand what the company wants from you for the applied job role. Don't be tensed.

N/A

I first encountered the company at a graduate fair where I spoke to a manager, we spoke about computers and what the company did and he invited me to an assessment day that was taking place the following day.
At the assessment day myself and two other candidates were shown a video about the company and then they had a slideshow which gave more information about the company, what they do, what their values are and brief introductions to the senior managers. We were then free to ask questions before we moved on to a short test, there were 30 questions based on english, maths and general logic skills, we had 13 minutes to complete it. After that there was a one on one interview, I met with an IT technician who asked me about why I was interested in the position and what particular area I wanted to specialize in. He also asked some questions about dealing with angry customers and other questions which I was expected to answer by mentioning previous experience.
After that I received a phone call telling me I had gotten through the first round and asking me to come back in the following week. At this second interview I completed a short psychometric test and the met with the managing director. He spoke about my test results and asked me why I wanted to work in this particular field. After that I met with the CEO and a linux technician, they asked why I was interested in the role and asked if I would be able to complete qualifications in Linux, this interview only lasted a short time and at the end I was offered a job.

When I told the CEO about my university results (a 2.1) he asked what went wrong. He was joking but it was still hard to think of an answer.

Remain calm, chat with everyone around you and for this company just be yourself, they overlooked my lack of experience because of my personality so you don't have to worry if you've never done the work before as long as you're willing to learn.

Other than the tests I mentioned as part of the interviews there was no other assessment.

Asked basic questions about education, and interest in applying for this position

It had three stages. First, we attended a session to take 4 tests. Then we were narrowed down for the second session to have an interview with managers. The last session was another interview with the directors. They mostly focused on my CV and asked about my skills and experiences and also what I know about the role.

What is so challenging about the job you applied? how would you overcome it?

Be well prepared before attending the interview session, make sure to ask them smart questions, they normally like it. Be confident, honest and do your best. In the test sessions, make sure you pay attention to time as well as being precise and follow the steps one by one. Best of luck! :)

It was very friendly. It took almost 3hrs. The questions started from easy to difficult.

The interview process consisted of a telephone technical interview followed by an assessment day. The telephone interview was to gauge how much knowledge I had in coding from my experience on projects, and also my response to a number of situational questions, where I had to give examples of skills I had learnt in areas of working and social life. This lasted roughly 1 hour.
The assessment day consisted of a one-on-one interview in which I had to answer similar questions as before, however was geared more towards my response to situations and problems I would encounter in the work place and how I would deal with them. I was then given 20 minutes to create a 5 minute presentation about something I was passionate about, to present to my interviewer.
The group exercise was a problem solving activity with a group of approximately 6 of us. We were given 50 minutes to complete a task where we had to work as a team to answer 2 questions that the solution to the problem would resolve. The problem was given to us each on an A4 piece of paper and was solved by hand, without the use of a computer.

In the face-to-face interview I was given the situation "A team working on a project has hit a problem that they have been unable to solve, and you are brought in to help resolve the situation. How would you go about this?" This was particularly difficult to answer as it is extremely general and puts a lot of pressure on you to present the correct skills you have to apply to this situation.

Be relaxed and open minded when going for interview and assessment centres. Remember they are looking for people that communicate well with others as well as highly technical people, so don't try and compete with others but work together! Research their key principals as this is what they will look out for in your answers to situational questions. Think hard about your own experiences: describe what you did, what skills you learnt and how you apply them to other aspects of your life. They will ask about a lot of these. Most importantly be yourself! They want to see creativity shine through, so don't be scared to describe a funny (but appropriate) story that had a positive impact, or talk through a unique hobby that you love. Go all out with the presentation (I made a stick man cartoon sketch).

The assessment centre was relaxed and the assessment staff very welcoming and friendly. The centre lasted 3 hours, in which we first had a presentation about the structure of the company from manager of the department. Hot drinks and biscuits were provided. We then had our one-on-one interviews which lasted 50 minutes, with a 20 minute presentation about a passion in our lives included in that. The group activity with approximately 6 of us lasted 50 minutes after a short explanation. This was a problem solving team exercise which was solved by hand, with three assessment staff overseeing.