My favorite interview was for the job I'm currently in.
The interview started with me sitting with 3 of the staff and they introduced me to the products the run. As they were explaining the third of the products, I couldn't help but grin. They were describing a chat bot that did "where is my order" and "order returns" for large retailers.
They asked me why I was grinning and I explained that I'd just built a chatbot that did all of that for a fictional retail website. They were very interested and asked to see it afterwards.
They gave me a technical test which was a printed page of code. All I had to do was talk my way through it and explain what each bit did. It included some SQL query code and they asked me whether I thought it was an effective query. I have almost no experience writing raw SQL so I didn't know, but I would use a library like sequelize to create the query. They said that's often a smart decision.
I managed to find a few improvements in the code and explained what I'd have done differently and why. It was a more like a code review of their code than a high pressure test of my coding skills.
Finally I showed them my chatbot and they were really interested. Tom, who I now work on the chatbots with, asked about the way I had it set up and if he could see the code. We ended up talking through my code for a good 30 minutes. I explained API.ai and how it all worked and they seemed really impressed.
They gave me a tour of the building, including the gym on the ground floor, and the founder drove me back to the bus station. In the car, he let me know that I'd be hearing from them soon with an offer.
My favorite interview was for the job I'm currently in.
The interview started with me sitting with 3 of the staff and they introduced me to the products the run. As they were explaining the third of the products, I couldn't help but grin. They were describing a chat bot that did "where is my order" and "order returns" for large retailers.
They asked me why I was grinning and I explained that I'd just built a chatbot that did all of that for a fictional retail website. They were very interested and asked to see it afterwards.
They gave me a technical test which was a printed page of code. All I had to do was talk my way through it and explain what each bit did. It included some SQL query code and they asked me whether I thought it was an effective query. I have almost no experience writing raw SQL so I didn't know, but I would use a library like sequelize to create the query. They said that's often a smart decision.
I managed to find a few improvements in the code and explained what I'd have done differently and why. It was a more like a code review of their code than a high pressure test of my coding skills.
Finally I showed them my chatbot and they were really interested. Tom, who I now work on the chatbots with, asked about the way I had it set up and if he could see the code. We ended up talking through my code for a good 30 minutes. I explained API.ai and how it all worked and they seemed really impressed.
They gave me a tour of the building, including the gym on the ground floor, and the founder drove me back to the bus station. In the car, he let me know that I'd be hearing from them soon with an offer.
Sounds wonderful! 😍