Web Development Jobs interviews
To get the job you need to go through an interview first.
This tutorial focuses on:
- The first interview
- The second interview
The first interview
You sent in your resume, the company responded and now you have a job interview. What are you going to wear? How should you act?
Job interviews are more or less the same everywhere you go, in every industry. Don't be nervous, don't be shy. It's not as bad as you think.
Do some research on the company
Before the interview go to the company's website and learn all you can about them. At the interview you will have a chance to show that you took the time to learn about the company through their website. Your interviewer will like this.
Make sure you do this in proper context. Example - your interviewer asks 'Have you done any research on our company?' or 'Have you taken a look at our website?' you can respond with 'Of course I have, I was very impressed with....'
Show up 10-15 minutes early
If you show up any earlier you may come off as trying to hard (15 minutes maximum). Whatever you do, DON'T be late. If you are, say you're sorry for being late and say that the train was delayed or something like that.
Proper dress
Wear proper business clothes - button down shirt, tie, and formal shoes for males, similar professional attire for females. Nothing to fancy or you might come off as pretentious. Obviously nothing casual or you won't be taken seriously.
Questions to watch out for
-
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
What you're thinking: I don't know where I'll be in 5 hours! You expect me to know where I'll be in 5 years?!
What you should say: Something that makes you sound ambitious, a long-term planner, planning to make a commitment to the company, looking to greatly improve your skills over time. -
Why do you want to work for this company?
What you're thinking: Because I need a job
What you should say: That the company is a great company to work for, that it is a great job to have, and how your past skills and experience make you higly qualified for this position. -
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
What you're thinking: Literally, all of your strengths and weaknesses
What you should say: Your strengths that are specific to this position, put emphasis on your skills and level of expertise. Tell them you work well under pressure, have a strong work ethic, and can learn new things quickly. For weaknesses, pick weaknesses that are not specific to this position (won't hurt your chances of landing the job) such as that you see more good in people than bad, work to hard sometimes.
Being interviewed by more than one person
If interviewed by more than one person, you may first be interviewed by one person who then calls a second person to continue the interview or you may be interviewed by more than one person at once. Don't be nervous if this happens, just continue the interview process like normal. Don't worry about getting double teamed or triple teamed in the interview. The questions will be the same as they would be if it was just one person.
When the interview ends
Shake the interviewers hand, say it was nice to meet them. At the end of the interview they might say 'We'll call you' or 'We'll talk more in the future' or something like that. It's hard to say if this really means 'Thanks for coming, we don't need you for this job' or that they really will contact you in the future. Hope for the best, but in any case......
Write a 'Thank you' e-mail
The same day of the interview write an e-mail to your interviewer thanking them for the opportunity to be interviewed. This keeps the potential employer's attention on you as the likely person to hire because it sets you apart from the crowd as most people don't write 'Thank you' e-mails.
NOTE: If you get interviewed by more than one person, write a thank you e-mail to each person that interviewed you.
Follow up
If the company has not gotten back to you in two weeks, follow up. Write an e-mail to your interviewer asking what the situation is (what is going on with the position you interviewed for, if it has been filled). Be formal, of course.
The second interview
Sometimes it just takes one interview, other times it takes two.
In the web industry, if you get a second interview then it will most probably be a technical interview. It shouldn't be too difficult, they won't ask you to redesign a website on the spot or anything like that but they may present typical problems for you and ask you to find solutions for them. For example, they'll give you a webpage with a form and ask you to change around some of the form elements - textboxes to textareas, radio buttons to checkboxes. They may then ask you to do something like loop on all the form elements and print all their values in a list.
The first interview is the hardest one, so don't worry to much about the second interview. Besides, if you are confident in your technical skills then you have nothing to worry about when it comes to technical questions.
