Now what?

Some tips:

Know your resume – If you don't, it will bite you.

Diversify your conversation between interviews – All your interviewers will get together and talk about you later. If you said the same thing to all, they won't have much to talk about. If you give each one a different positive thing, you've broadened your impression considerably. It will be as if you had said 4x the amount of stuff to each of your four interviewers.

Don't apologize for a mistake – Instead correct it without apologizing.

Don't bad mouth yourself – Interviewers are judging you. If you open with how much you suck at math, you will not get a job. Stick to your strengths.

Really, don't bad mouth yourself! – I know, it's hard. People like to say what's on their mind and share stories and have fun. Interviewers will act casually, but they are not your friends just yet. If you're going to say "The project was failing…" it better end in "…so I picked up the slack and kicked butt!" and not "…and that's how we got out of doing any work!" If you're going to say "So that last shot was one too many…" use your flux capacitor and don't say it.

Act casual – It's painfully obvious when someone is acting like everything the interviewer says is gold plated awesome. Learn to have passion for your field without being a "fan boy" for the company you're interviewing with.

Don't be afraid to say no – You don't have to like every area the interviewer asks about your interest in. Really, you're better off if you avoid working in an area you have absolutely no interest in.

Don't Obfuscate Your Code – It's tempting to use some cool coding tricks, but most people know you can already code. They want to see how you can problem solve. Write any code so that it's easy to read and understand.

Have fun – If you take away one thing, take away this. If you're having fun, people will know you like what you do. An interview is not the end all, be all of life (you made it through birth already, congrats). Enjoy the day, enjoy the campus, enjoy meeting lots of new people who like software as much as you do.

The Microsoft Interview

There are many myths about the Microsoft interview. Some involving man hole covers…

For those on there way to an interview here at Microsoft, here are my juicy tips:

• Practice white board coding.
• Use the eraser! Finger erasing a white board + shaking hands => badness.
• Start simple. Getting any solution is better than trying to get the best at first and failing to get any.
• Say what you're thinking, not what you're writing.
• You don't need to wear to a suit.
• Don't sweat the last interview, focus on the current one.
• Don't drink too much free soda, it will haunt you at the most inconvenient time (speaking from experience).

Digg It!

*This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.*