What to expect for interviews and hiring *blog*

[Ike]

I know the school year just started, but it is important to start thinking about your future career and how they will be conducting the interview and hiring processes.  I stumbled across this blog, found it interesting and thought that it would be beneficial to everyone...especially the juniors & seniors.  It is just a few things that this blogger has come across in his experience (or inexperience) when it comes to looking for a job in the programing field.

http://www.mytechnicalinterviewexperience.com/

[Adam C]

Always good to know what to expect. I've found some companies ask brain teasers or riddles, but the best companies want to see how you can work through a problem, not if you've been keeping up on the latest interview riddles. My biggest recommendations are to make sure that you can back up everything you have on your resume with at least 1-2 examples so if you're asked you don't come off as dishonest or stupid and to be able to think on your feet. I've been asked really crazy things during an interview before, but they're usually not as bad as they seem if you think about it for a minute before answering.

Examples of things I've been asked:
Derive (on the phone) mathematically why a bi-directional search is faster than a normal breadth first.
Discuss why a join table is used/needed for a many-to-many relationship.
Discuss time and space complexity trade-offs in a particular set of algorithms.
Calculate a probability using a binomial distribution (they didn't say that's what it was, you had to figure it out)

Examples of things you read about, but most companies probably won't ask:
Anything involving gnomes, trolls, lightbulbs, hats, or piano tuners.