So, I have a "phone interview" for an internship for a programming position. I've had enough interviews for stuff like customer service and retail to know some of the generic questions to expect, but what kind of questions should I be ready for for a computer science related job?
It's probably wise to go online and look up "computer science interview questions" (which usually are just on the border of "puzzles" and "trick questions"); there's going to be a decent chance that whoever you're talking to did the exact same thing to figure out what to ask you ;-) Depending on what language the place works with, be sure to brush up on all the obscure corner cases/tricks/hacks in that language, since those are perfect from an interviewer's perspective - tricky but doesn't require any knowledge to administer. If you're going to be talking to someone who doesn't suck, I'd be prepared to speak knowledgeably about the most common data structures and algorithms, and algorithm analysis, and such things. Discrete math/probability is another favorite, but I don't think they'll be able to hit you with anything too involved over the phone.
This is very good advice. Most recruiting managers in smaller company IT google for their questions (or used to).
This. Plus they will most likely throw in some questions revolving around debuging. So make sure to brush up and be knolageable in this (like if faced with a crash, how would you go about to find the problem, etc..). Also don't be a jack ass, if you don't know the answer to something. Simply tell them and don't try to bullshit.
If someone in an interview tells me "Sorry, I don't know" then waits for the next question, it's pretty much over. If you actually say you don't know, you better at least attempt to answer the question. BSing can actually be a useful skill, as long as you can think fast and make the best of a bad situation. Don't lie, but don't just say you don't know.
I really wouldn't attempt to BS anything you dont know about plus its likely if you try to they will more on the subject and you will end up looking worse. If you really don't know something then just say so and then follow up with something positive about how your there to gain knowledge and experience. It is after all a internship and your there to learn and they wont expect you to know everything they ask.
