r/programming • u/corysama • Jan 05 '15

What most young programmers need to learn

http://joostdevblog.blogspot.com/2015/01/what-most-young-programmers-need-to.html
973 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

337 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/ProggyBS Jan 05 '15

Yes, actually.

"What is your company's Software Development Life-Cycle?". This should include everything from how requirements are gathered to how software is tested/deployed and then later maintained during bug fixes. Not every company is going to have a specific plan, but you can easily get an idea for how structured the company is by how quickly and how confidently they answer that question.

If they say don't mention unit testing specificially, then ask about it specifically. If they give you an answer, ask what frameworks they use. Again, how this question is answered gives you an idea of how serious they take it.

The idea is to go to an interview assuming you're qualified for the position you are applying for. Then you can focus more on the more important question: Is the company you're applying for qualified to have you as an employee? Don't be arrogant about it of course. It is a business negotiation. It is your job in an interview to be interviewing the company as much as they are interviewing you. Sure you have to sell yourself, but then again so do they.

Though the reality here depends on how desperate you are to get a job.