IT Job Interview

In today’s IT environment, you’ll need the ability to get along with all kinds of people, coworkers, managers, subordinates, and especially customers.  To do your job, you must get long with all of them.

Are there difficult people?  If you think they are difficult, you imply that you may not be able to get along with them well.  So, the answer this question, first deny there are any difficult people to you.

Sample Answer:

“To me people are different but not difficult.  I honestly don’t think there’s any type of people that I don’t get along with. Of course, some people are more pleasant to be around than others, but I’ve worked with all kinds of personalities and never had any problems with anyone. I understand this consulting position requires interaction with a lot of client, I am very good at this.”

You’d better say you’re comfortable in either situation whether or not you know which situation applies to this particular job. Provide examples of how you’ve successfully worked alone and with others.

Sample Answer:

“I enjoy working in a team atmosphere but am also perfectly comfortable working on my own. In my previous jobs I’ve always done both. For example, in my current position I work alone as a developer on specific duties such developing a middle-tier Java component, but every programmer in the development team works together as a team to analyze client requirements and design database structure. I enjoy sharing ideas, helping others, and learning from my teammates.”

“Depending on the specific situation, I may use different approaches to resolve different conflicts.  First I would try to understand the situation, know what’s going on and analyze the issues.  I would work as a mediator to bring all parties together and talk it out.  I would listen carefully to all of them and help them analyze the pros and cons of their points.  If possible, I would use existing documents and standard to help make decisions.  In many case I would be able to find compromise acceptable by all parties.  Only if when necessary I would bring in upper management to solve the issue.  In general, to avoid possible conflicts, I would encourage effective communication among all team members and enforce documentations.”

It is actually 2 questions, – how to handle priorities, and how to manage tasks.

“It’s important to communicate with managers and users to solve conflicts.  Although all tasks are in high priorities, some must be higher than others.  I would look into each task in detail and talk to my manger to analyze the priority.  In general tasks required from higher authorities such as executive directors come with higher priority.  I would also look at the expected time span to complete a task.  If a task takes short time to finish, I may do it first.  Another thing to look is the chain effects.  If a task is dependent on the result of another task, I would do the master task first.  As for manage daily tasks, I used Microsoft Project for task scheduling and analysis.  I also used Microsoft Outlook to maintain a daily task list.”

“I can perform my job independently, I also enjoy work in a team environment.  In the past I’ve worked as a team member and team leader as well.  In my last project I was the team leader with a development team of 8 developers for a Java web application development.  As the team lead I was responsible for design the system, assigning tasks to team members, and provide support to my team during the development.  The advantage of team environment for me was to create the synergy among the team and the opportunity to learn from each other.  I really enjoyed working with people in different technical background and personalities.  It’s a lot of fun.  I learned a lot from other term members and I also enjoyed helping others who work with me.”

“I feel the most effective approach to learn new software is to actually do it.  Whenever possible I would install the software on my own test environment and play with it.  This way I could learn the tool’s functionalities and build hands-on skill fast.  That’s how I learned Visual Studio.NET.  I setup the evaluation software on my PC and started to code a few simple applications in C# and Visual Base.NET.  After a few weeks I became expert in Visual Studio and started to work on C# programming for our company’s projects.  When learning a new tools, I would also read the user manual and find online help.  I am a quick learner and really enjoy learning new technologies in IT.”

Give all documentations you made or you may have created.

“I’ve created tons of documentations in my past jobs, such as…”

Here’s list of documentations common for IT:

Requirement Analysis document
Functional Specification
Technical Specification
User’s Manual
Technical Guide
Operational Procedures Guide
Coding Convention Doc
Project Proposal
RFP – Requirement for Proposal
RFO – Request for Offer
FSR – Feasibility Study Report
BCP – Budget Change Proposal

Obviously, the right answer is “Yes.” But don’t answer a question with just one word.  Say you interact well with all of the key people, — your team members, your mangers, and your clients.

Sample Answer:

“Yes. I’m very friendly and enjoy being around people. I get along well with all kinds of people with all types of personalities.  In my current job, I really enjoy working work my co-worker, the management team, and our customers.”

Are you responsible, mature, and capable of handling conflicts in the work? If so, you may get the job. So answer what your employer wants to hear. Tell a story about a dispute or conflict you had with a co-worker and how you resolved it in a positive way.

Don’t say you are so good with people and never have to handle conflicts. They don’t believe you.

Sample Answer: (more…)