I am scheduled to have a phone interview for a game developer's position. They have not made it clear whether it is a HR interview or a technical one. I have done research on the company but I am not sure what kind of technical questions they might ask on the phone (they specialise in mobile and handheld games). I'll appreciate if anyone has any insight on this. Thanks
Asif
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Phone interview
If it were me I would have asked whether it is an HR or technical. Problem is with phone interviews, its difficult for them to ask technical questions about programming a given language because usually you need an example to look at. They will probably be using this as a preliminary culling step so they might ask about your experience, what you do/don't like about certain things.
Some other tips though:
1) Speak slowly and clearly.
2) If you don't know, just say that you don't know. There is nothing more annoying than a woolly answer.
3) Give concise answers, don't drag them out.
4) Prepare some questions to ask them, maybe about their design process etc (like what do they do to get a feature from design to implementation).
5) Relax!
Good luck.
Some other tips though:
1) Speak slowly and clearly.
2) If you don't know, just say that you don't know. There is nothing more annoying than a woolly answer.
3) Give concise answers, don't drag them out.
4) Prepare some questions to ask them, maybe about their design process etc (like what do they do to get a feature from design to implementation).
5) Relax!
Good luck.
Just ask. This is not a bad thing to do. Ask for the name(s) of the people you'll be talking to, their roles, how long it's likely to last, and what they'll be asking you about.
It's entirely possible to ask technical questions on the phone but they tend to be either simple "what's 'protected' mean in language X" or idea-based rather than asking you to write code. Like they might ask you to sketch out an algorithm or something, ask you about stuff you've done before, etc.
It's entirely possible to ask technical questions on the phone but they tend to be either simple "what's 'protected' mean in language X" or idea-based rather than asking you to write code. Like they might ask you to sketch out an algorithm or something, ask you about stuff you've done before, etc.
Generic phone interview advice: Shower and dress nicely as if you were going into a live interview. Smile (people can actually tell if you're smiling over the phone even if it is unconsciously.) Have something to write on handy, sometimes you're asked to write programs and read them out over the phone, being in front of a computer with a compiler up and running can also be helpful. Do your best to answer the questions, but also feel free to admit when you're stumped, but suggest how you might find the information if it comes to that.
A phone interview means you can google!!
I second M2tM, treat it like you would a face to face interview as far as your preparation goes.
I second M2tM, treat it like you would a face to face interview as far as your preparation goes.
It's pretty easy to tell when some dullard is looking up all the questions on google. Long gaps of silence with maybe a little clicking in the background...
Nothing wrong with having it but to be honest I'd be honest about it. Like if you were talking about dot products, saying "there's a D3DX method that does it for you, let me look that up" is better than trying to pretend you know, while desperately looking up the formula. And since you rarely get a job straight from a phone interview, you're not helping anyone...
Asif: let us know how it goes?
Nothing wrong with having it but to be honest I'd be honest about it. Like if you were talking about dot products, saying "there's a D3DX method that does it for you, let me look that up" is better than trying to pretend you know, while desperately looking up the formula. And since you rarely get a job straight from a phone interview, you're not helping anyone...
Asif: let us know how it goes?
Yes, honesty worked for me too. Okay, on a real interview. It was my very first interview, I had no previous work experience, I didn't have time to prepare for the interview (I was called to the interview 2 hours before it), the job and the task is not entry level at all (small company, design and implementation task which is a risk for the company). I even said "I don't know", "I don't have experience in that", "my profession is so general, that I'm not an expert in any fields, but I can do the job and I'm not afraid of the task". I got hired right away.
I didn't talk too much, I talked when I was asked, I asked some general but quite specific questions (it's a good thing to look into the labor laws or whatever: about concessions or whatever, your job seeker status (some countries offer stuff for employing beginners), or anything).
I was able to talk about how would I approach the task.
(Later, the leader and boss (she was interviewing me) told me that I was the only applicant who didn't got scared of the task).
I'm sorry, I'm not good with the terms.
I didn't talk too much, I talked when I was asked, I asked some general but quite specific questions (it's a good thing to look into the labor laws or whatever: about concessions or whatever, your job seeker status (some countries offer stuff for employing beginners), or anything).
I was able to talk about how would I approach the task.
(Later, the leader and boss (she was interviewing me) told me that I was the only applicant who didn't got scared of the task).
I'm sorry, I'm not good with the terms.
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