Computing & IT Interview Questions & Answers

I had an initial telephone interview with one of the graduate recruiters, which took about 5-10 mins. They asked me basic questions like what I knew about the company, why I wanted to work there, she also asked me about my experience on my CV.
At the assessment centre we had three 5-minute interviews on a rotational basis. The first one was quite competency based where they asked questions like describe a time you've had to solve a problem at work and what would you do to build a relationship with someone at work. The second interview asked me questions about my background and my CV so questions like why I picked my degree and my dissertation topic and if I could change my degree what would I do instead. The third interviewer asked me questions like why I wanted to work for the company, describe my best day at work, what success meant to me and a time I had used IT for a solution.

The most difficult question asked was why I wanted to work for the company because I don't come from an IT background, but I just gave an answer about the opportunities the role would bring.

Make sure research the company, and show passion, enthusiasm and willingness to learn because they accept people from all backgrounds so their just looking for people with that extra spark.
Also, brush up on your mathematical skills if you haven't used maths since GCSE because they say the numerical test is GCSE level, however I found it quite hard and I did Economics at degree level. Also, do some research about IT because there are few basic IT questions like what is HTTP, SQL, and some coding stuff aswell.

There was a group of about 21 of us, at the start of the day we each had to stand up and introduce ourselves to the group, we were then taken into a room where we watched a video about the company and then a woman came to talk about the company and asked us if we had any questions and we were given a chance to read a sample contract. After that were split into two groups where one group would have the interviews first and then the tests later then we joined together to do a venn diagram test together.

This was the telephone interview which was split into three parts; technology questions, competency questions and then logistics.
So for the technology questions I was asked about what I knew about Capgemini and why I wanted to work there, company values, there clients or 'alliances' and what were the latest developments or like current trends in IT and I would affect businesses.
Then for the competency questions I was asked about communication skills and a time I delivered good service. I was also asked about a time I worked successfully as part of a team. And then I was asked about when something didn't go as planned and what I did.
For logistics, I was just asked about being able to work in Worthing where that stream is based and how I found out about the role.

The most difficult question was about the current trends and developments in IT and how they affected business. Although I had done my research the way the question was worded (I can't remeber exactly,) really threw me off.

Just do as much research as you can on the IT industry, and the company and what they do. Also, because it is a telphone interview you can just write all your knoweledge on a word document and just read it when asked. But good research and knowledge of the IT industry is most important.

have not heard back as to whether I am going to be invited to the assessment centre. Wish me luck! x

My initial telephone conversation was a brief chat to talk to me about the role. It was Zurich who contacted me.

In the official interview, I was asked various competency based questions and expected to respond in the STAR format. This is Situation, Target, Action and Result. After this I was asked what I'd expect of such a role and then further more to discus my 2/5/and 10year career aspirations. Make sure to keep these as relevant to the role as possible.

Talk about a time when your suggestion to management did not work out.

A second one was talk to us about a time where you failed and why you think this was the result?

Answer both of these as quickly as possible making sure to move onto how you resolved the issues and talk more about what you learnt from the mistakes and anything you would do differently next time. Make sure to finish the question on a positive whilst still answering.

Definitely research the role as much as possible. Show why you would want to work at this company. Although I was contacted and I passed all the required exams and interviews I was not selected at the assessment centre stage. I was given very detailed feedback on my performance and was informed I did not show enough enthusiasm for the role itself. Although I may have fit the role and been suitable I failed to get across my actually desire and drive to work at Zurich.

Revise for the numerical assessments. They are not hard but without adequate practise/ preparation YOU MAY FAIL. Take time to get used to completing these. remember 80% of IT candidates fail numerical reasoning tests by Zurich (stats from the HR themselves). REVISE REVISE PRACTISE!!

Take a close look at Zurich Values. Integrity, Long term sustainability, Customer Centricity etc...

If a company contacts you, It is usually double edged. This can be bad because a lot of other candidates have proven through persistence, that they really want the role. So make sure you demonstrate to the prospective company the real desire and intent to become part of their team. Otherwise, unfortunately much like myself, you will just be seen as 'down for the day' or maybe - 'unlikely to stick around for more than your contract'. Remember you are an investment and a potential asset to a company. They want to know you will stay with them.

The assessment was started off with an initial interview, going through my CV and asking me more about why I wanted the role.

To be absolutely honest I was not clued up on the role itself and was not abel to give the best answers. Most definitely research the company and the role you are pursuing. It definitely shows at this stage. Be confident in your responses and try to stay as relaxed as possible.

We were then split into a group activity where we were given 10mins to study a case study relevant to the company and come up with possible solutions through an organised presentation. Ensure you are heard here and if you are usually quiet try to make it seen that you are having active input.

The third step was a presentation on a case study. Here you really need to study up on the Zurich values and understand what they mean to the business. The presentation should incorporate all of those and make them relevant to the case study. make sure to use SWOT analysis. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

Finally an 'informal' speed dating style interview with multiple employees. Make sure you keep this concise and relevant. although it is not 'assessed', it most definitely is. So be alert and give educated responses.

The intitial telephone interview and the first one and one interview were simple enough - standard competency based interviews (Can you give me an example of when you have had to.../have demonstrated skills... and often followed by "what would you do differently if you were to do it again?") and questions about why you want to do the particular role and some questions about the company.

"Can you give me an example of when you have had to influence someone?"
"Can you give me an example of when you have had to deal with confrontation?"

Prepare.
Find out a lot about the company - what it does, its history and information about its products. You may be asked what you know about certain products.
Practise competency questions and lots of them. The majority of questions during interviews are competency based, asking about your skills and previous experience. Be specific when giving an example, remembering to use the STAR technique (Situation, Task, Action, Result). Also think about what you could have do differently regarding your examples - they want to see your analytical skills.
Especially give examples pointing out your strengths which match the requirements of the position you are going for.
Think about why you want this particular role.
Be patient and be polite.

There were 8 candidates and we began with a group based exercise involving working together and making a decision on a scenario where we had to distribute a grant to certain companies.
We then had a test, using cards, which was essentially about spotting patterns and using your analytical skills.
We then were to prepare a 15 minute interview regarding a technical project we had undertaken.
Finally there was a 1 hour interview with a senior person from the role which you are applying for and someone from HR.
Assessment centre is in Abingdon and transport and accommodation is paid for by the company.

First of all was the phone interview. It lasted roughly half an hour including my questions on the end. They were the typical competency based questions along the lines of 'Why do you want to work for Accenture' etc...

I was told that i would find out the results of my intervew within 5-10 days but i was actually called the morning after which was fantastic.

The face-to-face interview was scheduled for the following week in the London offices. It was a 2 hour interview which consisted of 1 hour with an HR representative and one hour with a Technical representative.

The HR interview was a development of the phone interview with more questions on my knowledge of Accenture such as: What Accenture does, What does the role entail and who are their main competitors.

The Technical interview comprised of questions that asked me to describe situations that demonstrate i have the technical skills to fit in with Accenture.

Both interviewers were very calm and made me feel so comfortable. Overall from the point of me applying online to hearing my final result was less 3 weeks!

The most difficult questions were definitely for the technical interview such as: 'Describe a recent experience in which i had to use problem solving skills to solve a problem within a team task'

Make sure you are well equipped to answer questions about your past experince as that is key.

But also make sure you dont get caught out on small questions such as: 'Who are Accenture's main competitors?'

No Assesment centre for technical role

Telephone Interview around 30 mins - This consisted of a set of comptency questions which I had to give real (and different) example. Example questions.. Tell me about a time when you had to adapt to a new situation? Have you ever had to persuade a team to do something? How did you achieve this? Why did you choose Capgemini? Who are Capgemini's competitors? I was also asked about my degree and what I enjoy ouside of work/study.

Assessment Centre- This started with a meet a current grad where we could drill them for questions. We were then split in to two groups. One set went to do their presentations and interviews whilst the others did a verbal reasoning test. We then change round. After lunch we did a group exercise where we were watched and assessed by the people who interviewed us.

What do I think the most annoying thing about consultancy would be?
Give me an example where something hasn't gone right and what you did?

Make sure you do your research about the company and make sure you get involved with the group activity without taking over. For the presentation remember they are looking for solutions and as long as you can justify why you're doing it, it doesn't matter if it turns out to be wrong.

Assessment center ran smoothly, it was based in Woking and all expenses were paid. The staff were easy to talk to and the questions were not too hard. I found it quite fun.

My personal experience did not involve a physical interview. It involved the two online assessments that IBM use to select their top candidates. I submitted my CV (IBM have their own CV guidelines and template you must follow). I was given 7 days to complete 2 online assessments which I have described in the assessment centre section.

Numerical test questions were difficult due to the time limit and seemingly irrelevance to the job. I'd applied for a job elsewhere and they asked IT/Project Management questions. IBM have their own way of doing the exams and you need to be able to answer mathematic questions, quickly.

Make sure you are quick at answering mathematics questions in order to get to the interview stage. This company is looking for a certain level of mathematics ability in a student and unless you have it, you will not get the interview and not be allowed to apply to IBM for a year.

Whilst I didn't make it to a physical interview, I managed to get to stage 3, which was, for me, online testing. I was advised by IBM's email that I should have a pen and paper ready and that the test was NOT a test of your academic ability, however, I found that the numerical test was very much a test of mathematical ability and felt rather pessimistic from the outset. You are given 2 minutes to spot a pattern of numbers, work out the pattern, then select the correct answer from the multiple choice list given below. Whilst some answers are incredibly easy, some take a little bit more working out and with a countdown timer and maths not being your strongest point (afterall, this is an IT job, not a banking sector job) I failed to see the relevance of this, although IBM insist it's a worthwhile testing scheme for them.

The second part of the test is a numerical reasoning test where you are given a questions which contain a list of numbers for objectA, objectB and you have to work out the answer. I found this section of the test slightly easier than the previous test, however, it's mathematics and unless you're really up to speed with maths, it'll be a tough slog to finish the questions confidently. Needless to say - You are also timed on these questions, 2 mins only.

Unfortunately, I didn't meet the minimum amount of points and my application was sadly, cancelled. Something you should know about IBM is that you can only apply once per year. I'm now in a situation whereby I have to wait until Jan, 2015 if I want to apply to IBM again. Good luck!

Standard online application, aptitude tests and an interview divided into two parts. One was competency based and the other was technical.

The interview was held at the Cheltenham office (expenses covered). Before I got invited I was asked to bring along a credit check report which is basically needed to perform a background check if you get selected, kind of escalating the process really.

What would you like your job to not include?

Make sure you ask questions and show that you are interested. Do your research beforehand and be prepared.

On the day, I had two interviews with two different people. The first interview was around competency based questions (interpersonal skills, core skills, transferrable skills etc.) This was easy and was based around example on my CV. The technical interview was slightly harder, they asked me questions around networking and drilled down my understanding on networking concepts. Although it was hard, it went pretty well. I was able to answer most of the questions as they were logical.

There were different stages before the final offer gets made. Initial online application, included several 250 word answers to questions about me, my skills, cover letter and their relation to the healthcare industry. Then I had to complete two aptitude tests online. Once that was through, I had to attend a telephone interview, but I was abroad at the time so it was conducted via Skype. It was really nice of them to accommodate this need. I was invited to an assessment day.
It was a two day assessment centre. This by far the most grueling assessment centre I have been to and was completely knackered by the end of it. Every one was really nice and helpful and they really go the extra mile to woo you.

The most difficult questions in the interview revolved around thinking about previous situations in which I thought I had been successful and I was asked to consider what I would have done differently to have been even more successful. For instance if I had been asked to think of an example where you led a team to complete a task, the follow up question would be what could you have done differently to complete the task more efficiently?

Use STAR technique to answer the questions. It's a big deal. So research it online and make sure you've got some solid examples from your own experiences to refer to.

This will help with the trickier competency based questions that they throw at you.

So the assessment centre had following stages:

A Group exercise - Given a scenario, we had to come up with a solution while assessors observed,. After abut 20 minutes, we had to present and this is when they asked really stupid, smart, difficult questions. Those who didn't answer any questions were specifically spotted, probably not a good thing.

Role Play - I was given a situation and I was told that I was going to lead the team and there was a problem which I had to solve as the leader of the team. I got given 15 minutes to prepare and another 15 to ask what I needed to solve that problem.

Presentation - In formation as given beforehand and had to present my information relating to the brief that was given on the day to two assessors. This was followed by a 10 minutes Q&A session where I had to answer questions about my chosen subject and why I made the decisions you did.

Interview - Same as telephone interview, competency based questions and the motivation to work for the company.

1. Online Application very wordy,
2. Online test (IPAT)
3. Online test for English comprehension
4. Phone interview
5. Assessment center ??? lots of tasks

What salary are you looking for?
What are your weeknesses?

No tricks in the Interview, just a chat over your application form. Maybe be prepared for 'What value would -you- bring to the organization?

The final assessment center started with a software engineering test that was mainly decision mathematics. You then have various tasks and teamwork activities to complete. This includes a presentation about yourself, a group logic puzzle, a reading task, where you have a large amount of information to read and are then questioned about what you have read, a group interview where you are asked about a fictional scenario and what you would do about it. For the group exercise, we were split into two in the morning and business presentation and one-to-one interview was in the afternoon for me. The one on one interview is where they ask about your application form, why IBM, what your long term goals are.