October 19, 2012 University of Toronto

Acing the Technical Interview

Inmar Givoni, Terry Borer, Scott Brissenden, Adrian Ludwin, Val Manohararajah Altera Corp.

2012 Altera CorporationPublic

About Altera
Leader in FGPA industry
Modular hardware that can be programmed to implement diverse

applications on the same hardware device Our products are used in medical equipment, cars, wireless network switches,

Toronto Technology Centre

Software & Hardware Place & Route - algorithmic heart of the CAD tool (Quartus II) Future architecture exploration Device modeling (timing, power) OpenCL c like hardware programming language

Hiring full time, PEY, interns (TO & San-Jose)

Competitive salaries, medical benefits, downtown office,

2012 Altera CorporationPublic 2

Interviewing is a learnable skill

You can (and should) become good at it By doing your homework:
On the order of hours Close to the interview time

1. 2. 3.

Understand the process and what is expected Recognize your weak spots and work on them Practice, practice, practice Interviews In general Technical interviews Coding problems

2012 Altera CorporationPublic 3

Doing your homework - research

Eliminate uncertainty Ask around dont be shy!
Find people whove interviewed, ask them about the process, the

details, what material to know, will they require you to code? on paper, on whiteboard, on desktop? Do they ask brain-teasers? How many interviews? How long? One person? Panel? You can also ask the company! They would usually just tell you

Refresh your knowledge!

Go over basic class notes - data-structures, algorithms, write some

code if you arent doing it regularly.

Books / online resources

Find questions, practice answering them Find blogs/posts about how to interview candidates!

Use university resources

Career center, MITACS workshops, etc
2012 Altera CorporationPublic 4

Some resources:
1.

Books
1. 2.

Programming Interviews Exposed; Secrets to landing your next job by John Monagan and Noah Suojanen Cracking the Coding Interview by Gayle Laakmann McDowell

2.

3. 4.

Algorithms / data structures : http://www.topcoder.com/tc?module=Static&d1= tutorials&d2=alg_index Wesbites: http://www.careercup.com/ Lots more, do your homework!

2012 Altera CorporationPublic 5

Doing your homework - preparations

Be ready for a dialogue this is not just about answering the question but communicating, discussing your thought process and your approach. Be prepared to talk about what youve done
Be able to talk about every point in your resume Shows your communications skills, Be able to summarize but also delve into details, as appropriate What the company did (project goal) + what I did (personal contribution)

If the company conducts behavioral interviews, prepare for that (I dont know much about it) Research the company, product, values Bring pen, paper, clipboard, Prepare questions

2012 Altera CorporationPublic 6

Do your homework practice!

Go on interviews for practice Ask friends and family members to interview you
Often harder than interviewing with a stranger Similar setting room with whiteboard, question you havent

heard

Ask friends and family members to look for mannerisms you can fix Ask and answer questions aloud by yourself
Answers in your head go a lot smoother than in reality In front of a mirror

2012 Altera CorporationPublic 7

The Interview
Introductions Technical evaluation

Problem solving and analytical skills Coding Programming depth, technical breadth Communications & teamwork skills

About the company Your questions make sure you have some
What would you like to know? Imagine your day to day work there You are also interviewing the company

After the interview you can email and ask for feedback!
The worst that can happen is theyll say they dont provide feedback

2012 Altera CorporationPublic 8

Other types of interviews

Phone interviews
Make sure you have a good landline/reliable connection Prepare pen+paper Try to keep your hands free Talking is even more important

Lunch interviews
Prepare a few interesting tidbits about yourself, practice 3-5 times Example: Instead of showing you are a hard worker, show it

through story Show interest, enthusiasm, but not overly so If you are from a different cultural background, this may require some preparation!

2012 Altera CorporationPublic 9

What does the interviewer want?

Coding:
Sure, theyd like to see the right solution The problem solving process Thought process, approach To see you succeed! If you share the thinking process, the issues, etc., they will likely give you a hint / lead you in the right direction! This is why its important to keep on the discussion even if you dont know the answer!

And in general:
A pleasant interaction Energy, enthusiasm, passion for technology, intellectual curiosity, someone theyd enjoy working with Confidence This is not the same as knowing the solution!

2012 Altera CorporationPublic 10

Recipe for technical code question

1.

Make sure you understand the question

Repeat the question and ensure you understand it Draw/create an example if none was given Write the function prototype

2. 3.

Think out loud how to solve the problem

Share bad solutions! Share why you think they are bad

Once you have a good idea - write your code

Explain what you are doing, motivation for your choices Deal with corner cases (empty/illegal input) Deal with boring code (sometimes comments are enough!) Comments

4. 5.

Check by running through the example Ask - is there a more efficient way of doing it? Always: think out loud Whenever in doubt: ask questions, assert assumptions, share issues Dont worry too much about the syntax, and syntax errors. As you practice, review your answer against this checklist

2012 Altera CorporationPublic 11

Mock Interview

2012 Altera CorporationPublic 12

Thank You

2012 Altera CorporationPublic

ALTERA, ARRIA, CYCLONE, HARDCOPY, MAX, MEGACORE, NIOS, QUARTUS and STRATIX words and logos are trademarks of Altera Corporation and registered in the U.S. Patent and 13 Trademark Office and in other countries. All other words and logos identified as trademarks or service marks are the property of their respective holders as described at www.altera.com/legal.