Maximum PC

I'm going in for a second interview Tuesday afternoon for a Programmer / Analyist position. It's a pretty old school shop that has big HP Alphaservers running OpenVMS and they do all their software in COBOL and 4GLs. They're actually starting to convert the systems to a mixed COBOL / JAVA environment. COBOL for the backend but with new JAVA front ends for the clients.

Anyhoo, Since the first interview was pretty vanilla I know this time around it's going to be a gauntlet. I'm just hoping some people can give me pointers on what to expect.

I've already pulled out my COBOL book and rereading it and they know I only have passing experience at JAVA but I'm also starting to read a few intro to java tutorials/etc...

Hey Dex. I don't have any pointers for you outside the normal interview tips (non programming), but I wanted to wish you good luck anyhow!

Don't forget your WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

UGGHHH... Cobol, oh well, could be worse I suppose. Good luck

Good luck Dex!

I'm up to interview 4 for the job I am hoping to land (SDK Technical Writer) ... I didn't realise how many of these things are necessary before landing a real job.

Who is doing the interview? Mine were: junior HR rep; HR manager; team lead and 2 team members; and a technical competency test.

I also had to provide a portfolio, sample code, sample writing, etc. etc..

I find the interview 'style' and questions depends entirely on who is interviewing you.

My biggest tip, though, is to bring a list of GOOD questions with you to the interview, and ASK them. Don't make them think you'll take any job offered ... show them that you are looking for a job that is the right fit for you.

Think of it like seducing a women ... you have to make 'em want you ... which means making it appear as though they have to work to land you.

Some questions:
For HR

Opportunities for career development / education
Opportunities for advancement
Does this company see a lot of staff turnover?
Does this team see a lot of staff turnover?
Salary? Bonuses? Benefits? (Be prepared for these to be turned back on you)
Facilities in the building? (I asked about exercise equipment, showers, etc.. ... ask about what interests you ... parking, maybe?)
Describe the company's philosophy regarding its employees ... this question can segue into asking about buying into the company: stock options, etc..
Vacation time? Sick leave? Maternity / paternity leave?

Technical Managers / Team Lead

Describe a typical days' work on this team
How much overtime is typical for this position? How often?
What is the relative importance of this department / team to the company?
Why are they hiring? Are they filling a vacancy? Expanding?
Importance of career development and education ... are they supported?
Duties of the job
Ratio of team work to individual work
Hours? Flexible or fixed?
Ask what your greatest weakness in respect to this position is .. and how / whether you can improve it.

Questions specific to the position are also good ... I'll leave those to you.

Good luck bro!

dexman, how old r u dude? cobol??? my fucking god, get a life dude. u sound like like a dude starting a job at walmart as a greeter and pimp out his caddy and kingpin suite for the interview. why dont' u go work for Google, i heard they looking. but u got to know at least Qbasic.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I stole that pic already dammit.

No, really. Your advice was on the mark so much that it should be linked to in one, if not all, of the RL stickys. Seriously. That was good stuff, even if it wasn't that specific to programming. If I ever have to go on a job interview again, I'm taking your list!

Thanks Spidey.

I've been working on this job hunt thing for a while.

And I've been itching to use that pic for a while too.

I was cruisin' your picture index and when I saw that I thought to myself...

"Whao! Never seent that one before!"

Weren't you the one moving soon? That usually entails searching for a new job.

I moved last August from Halifax to Vancouver ... east to west coast.

I've found work, but nothing 'career' oriented yet.

I'm really hoping this latest job comes through ... it was tailor-made for me.

i was just goofing around.

Wrong place and time.

And BTW, wrong person, Dexter is a full mod. He may ban you if he wants. Even for nothing more than a funny sneeze

You've been hangin' in the LL too much.

Outside the LL things are more....erm......different. More nice I guess.

Manta

PS. Good luck Dex.

Dude, those are beautiful! I'll definitely keep those with me. I'm finishing up whatever's left with school, hopefully, I can finish by December 2005. I'm focusing more on Software Engineering, as that coding jobs in the U.S. are in the suck.

Thanks man. You're more than welcome to them, and any more advice I can dig up in my own search.

Those are some good questions. Dex, I would say just prepare for the obvious questions since nobody can prepare for the unexpected, right? Be ready for the 'describe yourself' and 'what did you like/not like about ____' questions.

Java.... no the difference between == and .equals (seems to be a common question) and also don't fall into the trap of inserting primitives into an Object collection (ie int's can't be queued to a List, Integers can though).

And good luck.

AG Edwards and Enterprise Car Rental also use COBOL. For many years the college I work for now, had an AS/400 Associates degree that was the most popular around. The two companies above always hired as many graduates as possible each year. They got rid of that degree year and half ago and replaced it with Web Development/Programming degree. It is not that popular as of yet. The networking degree has become much more popular now.

When I took RPG IV last semester I was surprised by how similar it was to COBOL related to amount of data required to setup programs before actually writing them.