Computing & IT Interview Questions & Answers

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.

I had two face to face interviews. The first one was 40 minutes and was just a case of talking through my CV and talking about my current job and university degree, I was presented a selection of questions based around my personality and how I would deal with different situations.

My second interview was an hour long and the questions were based more around the job role. I had to answer competency questions based on the job I would be doing with the company.

'Describe your weaknesses' - This was the hardest question I was presented with, I found it's actually very hard to come to terms with your weaknesses and talk about them to a potential employer. People are always quick to point out their strengths but when the situation is reversed, its not as easy!

Make sure you read up on the company before the interview, know what its core values are and think about how you are suited to the role and what you can bring to the company. Make sure your personality shines through, my degree wasn't directly related to the role, neither did I have as much experience in it as other candidates, but I was offered the position based on enthusiasm and willingness to learn.

The assessment centre was located at the company head office. There were around 15 candidates at the assessment centre in my group (although 4 assessment sessions were being held). We participated in a group activity where we were presented with scenarios and had to talk through how to solve them while being observed. The atmosphere was very tense and stressful, with all candidates trying to out-shine one and other. The assessment centre also carried out a quiz that tested our general knowledge about the company and its history.

My initial interview was with a recruitment agency that works on behalf of Atos and it lasted around 30ish minutes. The interviewer was really friendly which helped my nerves. The questions were generic competency questions as I had prepared well with STAR model it let little room for the interviewer to ask me questions.
Also, there were questions regarding my interest in IT and why I applied for this company in particular, so make sure you are aware of competitors and what they are doing better this gives you room to show that you have done your research.

I don't remember any difficult questions

It is vital to prepare well and definitely follow STAR model. As far as your interests in the company go don't be generic be more specific about what you like about the company- it could be the way one department works to charity work.

For Atos it is important to see that you match their culture and drive to succeed

We had two interviews, a group exercise and a presentation. The day started with group exercise in a group of 6 ( all the people that attended A/C), all three assessors were present. After this, we had interviews which are split between two interviewers one asks 2 competency questions and the other asks you more about your interests and a talk through your CV.

The day started with a presentation from an academy head, basic info about the company, their clients and opportunities available. We then took a 20 minute Java test and 20 minute Logical test, they weren't too bad. Logical one was complete the pattern activities for example and the Java was basic keywords associated it.

After this we were given a topic, in our case, boxing. We were given little booklets with areas that we needed to cover as a group. This meant splitting the workload and working as team. This was the majority of the day and to be honest as it sounds more difficult than it is! As long as your confident enough to speak to people and just give ideas and participate you will find it ok! It's pretty fun to be honest.

The tasks involved were: business plan, create website, make a TV advert etc. We then had to present to two members of the QA team, and as long as your confident and speak well, it's not too much stress. During the group activities they take you out for 1-1 interview, basic questions about your future ambitions, uni experiences, likes and dislikes, then some Java questions, like explain what void means, inheritance etc! That's the end of the day then!

Explain the 4 major principles of Object Orientated Programming and give an example of one of them?

Brush up on your Java understanding and the meaning of keywords! If your not a comfortable speaker, try practicing that, it can be a big part of the interview and we were given the impression it was a big factor in their choosing of who to employ.

It was supposed to be in their academy , but they were so busy they moved us to a hotel literally across the street! Meant we missed out on the chance to talk to people currently on the training and job, no big deal though.

Assessment day involved 60 minute Competency based interview. And a group exercise. The interviews format is based on the competency based questions, to the best of my knowledge;

-Customer focus
-Resilience
-Team Work

These questions then lead onto why you chose to apply for the role. They expect you to make use of the allocated learning materials. Which will be attached with the email invitation to assessment day. And it won't hurt you to know what CGI is currently doing, in my case it was the 'appeal of working on the Galileo Satellite project.' Again the applicant is the driver of conversation in this part of this assessment. This process also involves questions based around your report.

As a tip make sure you show a degree of professionalism when answering questions. One of the questions I was asked was, What drives you? I answered - Perfection, being the best in whatever I pursue. This is drived by my personal moto 'Consistant Motivation.'....and so on. This left the interviewer pleasantly pleased with the level confidence I was showing. So expect to elaborate on answers in an articulate manner.

The most difficult question I was asked was;

Why choose to work for CGI?

They want to establish the reason why you chose CGI over their competitors IBM, Fujitsu, HP.
I answered by declaring my love for a consultancy role but also wanting to work for a global company with a turnover of x amount of £'s and wanting to work on special projects like Galileo Satellite, etc. Also elaborate on what you can bring to the company and how your personal development can be benefited by working for CGI.

Make sure you know what the competitors are doing and how you think CGI can grow and what technologies they should be pursuing.

They presume that you have made use of their learning material which they made available online (tips section for application process) in which they will test you on. which is a basis of another question;

How did you find the materials made available to you and the information on the website?

The other questions were fairly easy and followed the basic competency based questions format.

Make sure you make use of the learning materials provided by CGI and the information provided in the graduate scheme section of their website. This will give good preparation for the one-on-one interview and some help with the written part of the interview.

The written report will undoubtedly play a role in being offered a job so do not treat it as an afterthought. Alot of the roles offered by CGI involve project management and administration duties so formal report writing style is a must with (Harvard) references. And they make this clear in their 'guidance' section of their website on the interview process.

Be well versed on answers to competency based questions. The biggest advantage I gave myself was introducing myself to the group to help break down that 'barrier' before the whole assessment process started on assessment day.

If you are well prepared then you should be ok.

The group exercise, this exercise is based reading a problem statement and working as a team to draw up an answer. The particular problem was that you are evacuated from a sinking ship and you are only allowed to take X amount of items on a rubber a dingy. These items are used to survive on a nearby island until help arrives. This is a timed exercise and tests your teamwork, communication and listening skills.

Make sure you use the room, for example white board and make sure you actively participate and also listen to others.

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 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.

Fantastic day, really enjoyed every moment of it.
Kirsty is a great recruiter, and Amy was amazing, she gave me back some excellent feedback. The best parts were creating the project and then presenting it. Elliot did put me to the test with the interview, how ever i did give it my best try. Can't wait to hear from QA consulting.

The question where I had to answer to to wether 9 is a prime number.

Make sure the programming knowledge is to a high level, find a good car parking spot before hand (if you are driving) I recommend you be yourself, have fun but remember you are being assessed so try your best throughout the day.

Clean and organised.

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.

As a new manager in charge of a small team, what will be your priorities for the first week?