Potential C++ Programming Job

My recruiter thought DirectX was a database technology, so make sure you adequately understand what exactly the position is asking for.

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Original post by Ravuya My recruiter thought DirectX was a database technology, so make sure you adequately understand what exactly the position is asking for.

that made me lol

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Original post by NegativeGeForce ...I have never had a programming job or anything nearly related to programming, but I have a 2 year degree in IT and ive been coding c/c++ on/off for the last 2-3 years and I beleive I know it better then probably 1/4 programmers out there...

Whatever you do, don't say that. People with very little experience say things like that and appear very naive (because they are). If you say something like that, the person interviewing you (who has 10 times more experience and knowledge than you) will think, "This person has no clue."

Be prepared to talk about yourself a lot, especially your skills and weaknesses. If you say you have some experience or knowledge in an area, be prepared to support that claim with specific examples. Be prepared to answer coding questions and general programming questions. A person with no experience is not expected to get all the questions right or even to know very much. They will ask questions they don't expect you to be able to answer because they are trying to determine your skill level. So if you don't know the specific answer to a question, it is better to say something like, "I don't know the specific answer, but this is how I would approach the problem..." than to act as if you do know the answer when you really don't.

If you are able to get one interview, then you will probably get others. Relax, be professional.

Good luck.

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Original post by NegativeGeForce beleive I know it better then probably 1/4 programmers out there.

personally i would avoid making statements like this in an interview situation. It would be better worded as i feel/ believe/ consider iam am very comfortable/ fluent/ proficiant with the target language. It sounds less arrogant and makes the same point.

IMHO

good luck!

[Edited by - Tuesdays Gone on September 6, 2006 4:04:11 AM]

Well you know the language so that's a good start, the only things I'd mention is its maybe worth getting a little head start in using some unix tools and a programming in the unix environment; if possible find out what IDE they use an have a play with it, also get the hang of building projects from the command line (find out the names and common flags to the c++ compiler, make, etc...).

Another thing I'd imagine you will really need is the ability to read library docs and understand them fairly easily, this is pretty much standard for any decent programmer but it can certainly be a challange if everything you've learnt so far is from a lecturer and you've never had to do it for yourself before.

And finally, SQL, no doubt you'll be needing this if you're going to be doing database programming, I don't know whether you know any version of SQL but I'd imagine its the sort of thing you might have learnt about in college or uni. If not, getting a basic understanding is probably a good idea. It's not particuly complicated and it varies a bit from one database to another (MySQL, Postgres, Microsoft, etc...) but knowing the basics of anyone would certainly be a good help.

So I reckon, if you reckon you're gonna get the job grab a database server (if you know which one you'll be using for the job grab that one, I guess it would be MySQL or Postgres on a Unix system), get the C++ bindings and docs and have a play about. If you've got a spare partition on a harddrive or a spare computer maybe stick a flavour of unix/linux and have a play about, obviously if you know what programs the company uses then play with them, if not just getting used to the environment is a good start.

Obviously you don't have to listen to a word I've said and just wait and see if you get the job then get on with it when you get there, that's what I did but looking back on it, it would've been alot easier to get started if I was familiar with the environment I was going to be working in.

Good luck, hope you get the job.

thanks for the tips guys.

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Original post by Tuesdays Gone Quote: Original post by NegativeGeForce beleive I know it better then probably 1/4 programmers out there. personally i would avoid making statements like this in an interview situation. It would be better worded as i feel/ believe/ consider iam am very comfortable/ fluent/ proficiant with the target language. It sounds less arrogant and makes the same point. IMHO good luck!

yah, I feel kinda stupid for even posting that. I dont want to come across as a know it all. I will keep that in mind.



I do have a linux box and ive dabbed into coding on it just a little bit, but I guess I will have to freshen up on that. I actually have messed with mysql recently and created a small guestbook with it, and I have used MySQL C library to post data into it as well as posting through an HTTP POST method and using php to interact with the server.

I definetly dont have work experience, but I am confident I know enough to show them I am at least capable of learning any additional things I lack quickly.

I will be messing with linux today and wait for their call, I guess I will know soon enough if I get the job or not...I will post an update here later :D