Career talk summary(Teo from Symantech)

Category: development

This is a summarization of a career talk conducted by Teo from Symantech about preparing for coding/programming interviews.

2 things to note generally:

  1. be yourself

  2. prepare –-do the homework and study the position/company

Some points to note during the interview:

  1. for questions that you do not know, honestly tell them that you do not know and “share something relevant”

  2. familiarize yourself with your resume – it may sound silly. what is more silly is that you forget what you write on your resume. just to make sure things will not go wrong, bring it with you and it will also help you during the interview when you are feeling uncomfortable –-at least you have something to hold on to

  3. generally long answers are better than short answers if you must choose between these two but stay relevant. SAR will help a lot for you to organize your long story and state the matter clear –-situation, action, result, what was the situation, what did you do to handle the situation and what happened because of your action.

  4. (when you are asked for this kind of question as well as show them)tell the interview you are excited for the job and why is that

After you get the job/interview(applicable to fresh graduates and interns):

  1. this is hard, especially for introverted people but useful –-latch on a senior employee; get a mentor

  2. pay attention to the way you behave ALL THE TIME in your company, work on communication, and talk with your boss –-ask directly what he/she is expecting out of me –-help to build up your career (if the boss does not bother to respond, well, you may choose another job/change a boss)

  3. finish your assignment and ASK FOR EVALUATION, which is really help when you are under pressure, then you will have time for reflection and work on improving your working style

  4. observe the work culture and know before you act

  5. make a lasting impression –-this is general, sorry that I kind of missed this point. :)

  6. show discipline, INITIATIVE, responsibility, commitment

Some other things:

  • Work on your network, like exchanging name cards, finding interviewers on LinkedIn, keep in touch even if you are rejected/you have left the company