

How to apply for a job and ace the interview - lowglow
http://pitchandpixel.com/2010/11/how-to-apply-for-a-job-and-ace-the-interview/

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phamilton
I've never been on the hiring side, but something I always try to do is be
unique. When asked design questions, use something less conventional. Tell
them you know it's less conventional, and make a simple justification for it.
A simple question I've gotten was designing a deck of cards in C++. Instead of
assigning a suit value of 1,2,3, or 4 I chose to use 1,2,4, and 8. While the
point of the exercise was to demonstrate OOP, I wanted to spice things up and
show I was also comfortable working at the bit-level, using shifts and masks.
It probably didn't amount to much in and of itself, but I felt it made me more
unique and that much more memorable.

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hasenj
The best way to get a job is to make yourself a person of great value, so that
companies would want to employ you, instead of you wanting them. If you want
it too much, you probably won't get it (because chances are, if you want it
too much, you're not good enough).

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lowglow
I'm going to have to slightly disagree. I think there is a balance, and
ambition and eagerness are great assets in a start-up environment in addition
to technical prowess.

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hasenj
What I mean is that it's pointless to talk about how to ace an interview if
the person in question isn't even capable of the job.

Such guides tend to be more along the lines of "how to hack the hiring
process".

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lowglow
Literally the fourth sentence in: "I’m also going to presume that you have the
set of skills the particular job requires."

Nothing about this guide is about circumventing the natural ways people find
jobs (save for one step, and perhaps the lengths of which I'm asking people to
try), but illuminating what has worked for me, and reiterating some tried and
true methods of success. I feel you didn't even read the article, yet felt
compelled to comment.

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redgirlsays
Really insightful and helpful.

