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[Advice] First Interview SQL and Java

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  • 07-05-2007 6:12pm
    #1
    Elfman
    Registered Users Posts: 221 ✭✭


    Hi all,

    If you search my previos posts you'll know i've leaching advice and wisdom from this voards since sencond year in college . well im now finshed (pending exams) and have got my first interview.

    It's with a compny in dublin largly with SQL and to a lesser extent java.My main focus is on the sql side are there are qiestions il definitly get . has anyone experienc eof these interview. Any advice ??

    All help is apriciated

    -Elfman


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    #2
    Ginger
    Registered Users Posts: 2,931 ✭✭✭Ginger


    Graduate interviews can vary wildly. Depending on the company mainly. My own experience was going into a company to do ASP and the interview consisted of me doing some ASP code, and then by pure accident helping them sort out an issue with one of their systems. I got the job!

    Anyhoo.. a lot of employers will ask your experience on the topic, and possibly topics you havent covered and if they do you can approach it by saying you dont know it yet but are extremely willing to learn. People understand that if you are a grad you will have very little real world experience to draw off and that you will be learning all the way.

    Anyways best of luck with all this.. (also maybe this should be moved to the Work forum for a better response)


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    #3
    smcelhinney
    Registered Users Posts: 1,127 ✭✭✭smcelhinney


    Elfman

    Ginger is pretty spot on. Most programming-specific roles, entry-level or otherwise, involve some sort of practical application of skill. Ensure that you brush up on your sub-queries : ). Also, they may ask you what architecture you have experience with. I remember going into a software development interview and being asked about unix clusters, I know pi$$ all about that!! Dont want to scare you. They will probably ask you about SQL solutions such as MSSQL, Oracle PL/SQL, MySQL, PostgreSQL etc, if you have used any of these, what your experience is.

    Important thing is NOT to bull$h!t.. Just say, "Well, no, I havent used that, but I am a quickl learner", and then give them examples of stuff that you ARE au fait with...

    As for Java, just brush up on the basics. Is it EJB or Servlet based Java? Or application programming? Or both? Try and go on about any of the cutting edge Java technology out today that you've used. These companies love bleeding edge stuff.. Also, XP is pretty buzz at the mo, well Im not sure if it is, but I get asked about it a lot.. XP being eXtreme Programming.. not that disease ridden operating system..

    Best of luck..


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    #4
    fasty
    Registered Users Posts: 981 ✭✭✭fasty


    smcelhinney wrote:
    Important thing is NOT to bull$h!t.. Just say, "Well, no, I havent used that, but I am a quickl learner", and then give them examples of stuff that you ARE au fait with...

    Very good suggestion! I used this when being interviewed for my current job and it didn't do me any harm!

    Regarding prep work for SQL stuff. Any employer will know that you won't know EVERYTHING from the get go but they will want to see that you're not a complete idiot.

    Questions I would ask would be asking why it might not be smart to select * from table, in particular if it's a big table or why stored procs are used or what an SQL injection attack is. Other stuff worthy of brushing up on would be triggers and with MS SQL 2005, being able to load .Net assemblies and run them from the server.


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