Application Process & Interviews at IR

The interview process involved completing a programming assignment. This is followed up by a phone interview where I was asked several technical questions and about the assignment. Finally an onsite interview occurs that takes half the day. The onsite interview involved playing a board game, followed by a lunch provided for free by the company, a technical interview and a debriefing as well as having a quick tour of the development floor.

I was asked technical questions regarding object oriented programming and design. I was also asked about my knowledge regarding agile software development practices, and my ability to cope in a small team environment and conflict resolution skills. Lastly, I was asked about my goal in the short and long term.

In the onsite interview, I was asked to write on the whiteboard in pseudo-code an implementation of Conway's game of life. In the phone interview, I was asked technical questions such as what is polymorphism, inheritance, what is a deadlock, as well as the difference between class and object.

Practice programming and ensure that you explain yourself clearly. Don't be afraid to take up the whole whiteboard and write down all the conditions/requirements needed by the question. Draw up a simple class diagram before diving into the pseudo code.

The easiest way to get hired is to be a qualified software engineer and a friendly, relatable person. So long as you know fundamental programming practises, skills and theories you should do fine.

Be technically adept in terms of object oriented programming and a programming language of choice (typically Java, C# or C++). Socially be confident but humble and able to communicate clearly regarding both technical and non-technical subjects.