wise altera acing technical interviews

7/28/2019 WISE Altera Acing Technical Interviews

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Acing the Technical Interview

October 19, 2012 University of Toronto

Inmar Givoni, Terry Borer,Scott Brissenden, Adrian Ludwin,

2012 Altera CorporationPublic

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Altera Corp.


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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,

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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. Understand the process and what is expected


2. Recognize your weak spots and work on them3. Practice, practice, practice

Interviews In general

Technical interviews Coding problems

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Doing your homework - research

Eliminate uncertainty

Ask around dont be shy!

Find people whove interviewed, ask them about the process, thedetails, what material to know, will they require you to code? onpaper, on whiteboard, on desktop? Do they ask brain-teasers? Howmany 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

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Some resources:

1. Books1. Programming Interviews Exposed; Secrets to landing your next

job by John Monagan and Noah Suojanen2. Cracking the Coding Interview by Gayle Laakmann McDowell

2. Algorithms / data structures :


. .tutorials&d2=alg_index

3. Wesbites: http://www.careercup.com/

4. Lots more, do your homework!

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Doing your homework - preparations

Be ready for a dialogue this is not just aboutanswering 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

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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 haventheard


s r en s an am y mem ers o oo ormannerisms 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

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The Interview

Introductions Technical evaluation

Problem solving and analytical skills

Coding

Programming depth, technical breadth

Communications & teamwork skills

About the com an


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 forfeedback! The worst that can happen is theyll say they dont provide feedback

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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


Prepare a few interesting tidbits about yourself, practice 3-5 times

Example: Instead of showing you are a hard worker, show itthrough story

Show interest, enthusiasm, but not overly so

If you are from a different cultural background, this may requiresome preparation!

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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 youa hint / lead you in the right direction!


s s w y t s mportant to eep on t e scuss on even you on tknow 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!

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Recipe for technical code question1. 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. Think out loud how to solve the problem Share bad solutions! Share why you think they are bad

3. 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. Check by running through the example

5. 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 checklist11


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Mock Interview


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Thank You


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 andTrademark 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.13

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