I'm sorry, but that's very important. You can ask about responsibilities, taking-some-work-home policies, privacy policies, whatever. Coming up with questions is a work too, and employers want to see that you did the work, and you are really interested in their company, and not just doing "shotgun" seeking.

Moved to Breaking In.

Quote: Original post by szecs

Quote: Original post by Ameise
Clever questions in what way? If their name were Rabid Goat Interactive, would a clever question be 'What are you guys... RABID about?'

Now that's the problem about your attitude. You won't get the job this way (any jobs).

QFT. Ame, you should go on the Rabid Goat website and research all their games. Google their name and see if you can find recent news articles, especially about their upcoming games...

Q1. Any chance that I'll get to work on the CuredGoat series?
Q2. I'm looking forward to meeting the designer of CuredGoat III, I loved that game and its innovative headbutt targeting system.
Q3. Do you guys use an iterative production methodology, or are you always fighting a tight schedule?
Q4. Do your designers write paper documents or do you use a wiki or networked version control system for your designs?
Q5. What version control system do you guys use?
Q6. How many people are on the design team?
Q7. How come you have an opening right now...
Q8. ...And how do you see me fitting into it?

...Just off the top of my head.

BTW, I wonder which forum this had originally been posted in, and why there instead of here.

You should be polite. And it's possible to be both casual AND professional. Always stay professional. Never get unprofessional, period.

Quote: Any advice on how I DON'T be overbearing and cocky? Or just seem like a good candidate?

The easiest way to not be overbearing and cocky is to realize that as good as you are, you're probably in the same room (or on the phone with) someone who has more experience and ability than you have. Never assume otherwise. Even if this is not the case, as good as you are in your circle of friends, there are better programmers out there. Even if you're not talking with someone technical they probably deserve your respect as they are in a position to be hiring you and that likely means they are very adept at their job.

Be aware of your place in this universe as an insignificant spec of tissue alive only for a fraction of a fraction of a moment in the scheme of things. Don't let it get you down too much, just don't take yourself so seriously.

Humility is not only an appealing trait, but also the best excuse to genuinely want to improve and learn.

With that said, humility is not enough, and alone it may not underscore your positive attributes that make you qualified to do the job. You need to bring real enthusiasm, you need to be completely honest both verbally and with your body language, and you need to actually want to do this. Make sure to answer questions with a smile (if you can't smile, find a job you can interview for that makes you want to smile.) Even over the phone smiling can be detected in your tone of voice. Don't be afraid of getting excited and passionate when describing some of the projects you've tackled, people like to see this.

If you're asked a question and cannot think of a satisfactory answer, don't be afraid of asking for a hint or example. If you have a guess make sure to qualify it as something you are guessing at instead of presenting it as fact. The ability to be honest about your limitations is just as important as your ability to solve tough problems.

I've recently taken a number of technical and personal interviews (sometimes a mixture) and have had to pick between two offers, so this advice has worked well for me.

Quote: I went via their CEO who told his underlings to interview me.

This kind of language kind of indicates you don't think much of the people who were interviewing you. The comment even rubbed -me- the wrong way and I don't have any stake in it. Leave the haughty attitude at the door, you work at radioshack last I checked. There isn't really anything wrong with this, but you aren't coming in with years of industry experience so you probably aren't in a position to act superior. You have some really neat projects on your portfolio (as far as I skimmed before writing this I thought the reverse engineering project sounded pretty darn awesome) but you need to be cool about it.

[Edited by - M2tM on May 2, 2010 3:01:46 AM]