Interview Questions

Q1.  Describe your current project?
A1. Provide the following information in order: name/title of the project, the client name and  location, a functional overview of the project, the environment (hardware and software) of the  project, your specific role and responsibilities and technical features of the software that were  used by you. However, if your most recent project does not fit the requirements of the project for  which you are being interviewed for, and then provide a summary of your experience and  highlight the project which best fits the requirements of the project for which you are being  interviewed.

Q2.  Rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the best) or 1 to 5 (5 being the best) on each  area of expertise. Example: Rate yourself in PowerBuilder and Sybase.
A2.  Typically, you should rate yourself between 8 and 10.


Q3.  If you rated yourself less than a 10, what will it take for you to become a 10?
A3.  One possible answer is “more experience in a wide range of applications and systems”.

Q4.  Describe which part of software lifecycle you were a part of?
A4.  The main phases in the software lifecycle are specification, design, coding, testing, and  implementation. You need to indicate which areas you have worked in.  For a programmer  analyst, it is essential to have experience in design, coding and testing.  It is always nice to tell  the interviewer that you at least have some experience in specification (interacting with users)  and implementation (installation at the client site).


Q5.  What percentage of the time do you spend in analysis/design, coding and testing?
A5. The industry average is 35% in analysis/design, 35% in coding and 30% in testing. Make sure  that your answer does not grossly violate the industry standard.

Q6.  How do you estimate time durations for your tasks?
A6. You should break down your tasks into smaller pieces, which help you accurately estimate  the tasks. You should use your experience to estimate the durations for the individual pieces as well as any integration time for joining these pieces. If necessary, you should ask your  supervisors and peers to review your estimates. Typically, programming tasks need to have time  assigned for design, coding, unit testing and if appropriate, system testing (or integrated testing).



Q7.  Did you have to prepare the spec or did you program from the spec?
A7. It is a plus if you have prepared a spec (or specification) but if you are a junior programmer, it  is acceptable to have programmed from a spec.

Q8. Did you interact with the end users?
A8. It is a plus if you have interacted extensively with the end users of the software.  It may be  acceptable to state that you have interacted occasionally as the need arose.


Q9.  Explain any debugging tools that you have used?
A9.  Make sure that you are familiar with the debugging tools in your area of expertise.  You  should be able to view values of variable, set breakpoint, change variable values in the debugger.  Debugging using print statements to the screens is  not acceptable method of debugging and  should never be mentioned in the normal cases.


Q10.  Explain any CASE tools that you have used?
A10.  If you are not familiar with any CASE tools, make sure that you at least read up or find out  about any suitable CASE tools in your area of expertise. ERWIN SQL is a popular data-modeling  CASE tool on the PC.


Q11.  Explain any version control tools that you have used?
A11. Any significant software project will have version control tools to allow concurrent  development and so to provide a development trail. Popular version control tools are PVCS on  PC and sccs on Unix. It is not acceptable to indicate that you have not used any version control  tools.  Make sure that you are familiar with version control tools in your environment prior to the  interview.

Q12.  What are the differences between versions of the software in your area of expertise?
A12. Make sure that you find out about the differences between the software versions. This is  most important when the software changes from character mode to GUI mode (such as Oracle  Forms 3.0 to Oracle Developer 2000) or from mainframe to client server (such as SAP R2 to SAP  R3) between versions.


Q13.  What do you do when you are running late on your assignments?
A13. You should keep the project manager or supervisor informed about your progress at all  times.  When your tasks are running late, you should work longer hours to try to catch up. If  appropriate, you should ask your supervisors and peers for their advice and help.


Q14.  How do you handle problems with peers?
A14. First, you should talk to your peer and see if you can resolve the problem between the two  of you. If not, then you should talk to your manager about the situation.

Q15.  Do you work long hours? 4
A15.  Definitely, say yes.  You should state that you  will do what it takes to get the job done  successfully on time and within budget.


Q16.  When are you available to start?
A16.  Make sure that you check with the recruiter/sales representative as to what the  interviewer’s expectations are and make sure that you provide a suitable start date. Typically, a  start date can be a week or two from the interview date.


Q17.  What is your visa status?
A17.  If your visa has already been approved and you have a valid work visa for GTRAS, Inc.,  then state the visa details. If you do not know about the exact status of your visa, check with  recruiter/sales representatives as to the status of your visa so that you can appropriately answer  this question.


Q18.  How long can you stay in the United States?
A18.  Typically, the H-1B visa is valid for 3 years and can be extended for 3 more years.  In most  cases, GTRAS, Inc. will sponsor your permanent residency for the United States, in which case  you can work indefinitely in the United States.