UPDATE: I got the internship!
Got the call yesterday, it starts this summer and I’ll be working with their other web devs on their most recent projects, very exciting stuff! I am not sure I would have done well with out the help here at FCC.
The interview itself wasn’t too difficult, it kind of helped that my interviewer was my age which made me more comfortable. It started with a few basic questions like “tell me about yourself” and “whats your favorite part about programming”. I was a little concerned that I didn’t have anything to showcase besides my portfolio, but I don’t think it was a big deal since I explained that in addition to being a full-time student and employee, I also do alot of self-learning here at FCC and told him a little about what we do.
The questions were pretty basic, a few questions about object-oriented and UI design principles, the difference between === and ==, what does “FALSE” === true result in, etc…
I was asked to write two simple programs, one of them the “fizzbuzz” challenge, the other to write a function that determines if a number is prime or not. Nothing outside the scope of the beginner algorithm questions here.
There were a few questions where I fumbled the answer, and simply ended up saying “I don’t know”, which may be necessary rather than trying to BS your way into an answer.
At the end I asked a couple questions like “how does our work in development impact our business and customers” and “what skills should I be preparing myself for”. It is important to know how the work you will be doing will affect everyone in the business and how it will help their customers, this also shows you are interested in the “big picture” and want to contribute and not just be a code monkey lol.
My only advice would be to demonstrate your interest in the work you do, express your goals when you get a chance (mine was to become a full-stack developer and contribute to the whole development process). Relax, be confident, and don’t be intimidated at all by any questions you might not know, even if you don’t show that you are willing to struggle and work your way through a problem piece by piece and ask questions when needed. Also, don’t think of it as an interrogation, think of it as a two-way conversation about technology between two people.
This may have been easier that most interviews being an internship position, and I’m sure there are much more difficult challenges for other jobs, but stick to the basics. Practice what you put on your resume, show confident and friendly demeanor, ask questions, show a love for learning, and have fun! I hope this helped!