#116090 - QuantumDoja - Sun Jan 21, 2007 9:34 pm
Hi, I just thought I'd share a telephone interview I had for an Investment Bank in London, it was quite an odd interview, but i Guess the question was created to get the most out of my knowledge......it turns out I didnt get the job, but heres the question and my answer:
Question:
"How would you go about programming Monopoly"
Answer:
I'd have a abstract 'square' base class, that holds, ID, Name{optional} etc, then 3 derived classes 'land type' - we can build on this and has a house collection, a 'pickup' class for chance etc and a derived class for 'other' like start or in jail.
Id then have a level class that contain 'square' objects, a player object can move to squares etc...
...then we started to talk about transacting moves to the database etc....
I did fail to mention 3 teir architecture....I hope that wasnt my downfall...
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what are your thoughts on this type of question? could you answer it in a 40 minute interview? - pure theory...
_________________
Chris Davis
#116092 - keldon - Sun Jan 21, 2007 10:02 pm
First you need to know the requirements; are there going to be extra features? Customizable cards? The prospect of AI players? How much time do we have to develop this version of the game? Developing with a team or as an individual?
I would then begin to investigate the entities of the situation; what bodies exist in the world of monopoly. We need to make decisions on the design patterns made use of somewhere along the line and ensuring thread safety. But wait a second, interesting that an investment bank asked about a monopoly game. They may have wanted to see you apply the ACID properties in the context of a game!!!
Remember that the first thing you need to do is ask yourself how an answer could relate to them.
#116093 - QuantumDoja - Sun Jan 21, 2007 10:21 pm
thanks, these:
| Quote: |
| Remember that the first thing you need to do is ask yourself how an answer could relate to them. |
and
| Quote: |
They may have wanted to see you apply the ACID properties in the context of a game!!!
|
have been commited to memory :-)
_________________
Chris Davis
#116111 - ScottLininger - Mon Jan 22, 2007 1:21 am
Hmmm. Was it a programmer who was doing the interview? And even if it was, was this your first interview?
I've asked questions like that when interviewing programmers, and I was often looking for a more "human" response about identifying the dev team, understanding the audience, etc., etc. It's possible they were more interested in the kind of response you would give rather than the actual response.
But that's just my conjecture. :)
-Scott
#116114 - Lynx - Mon Jan 22, 2007 1:49 am
Interviewing sucks.. I had a 20 minute phone interview, then they called me in for an interview that was an hour and a half long, and then called me back in for a 2nd interview that was just about 2 hours long.. And I still don't know if I am going to get the job.. :/
_________________
NDS Homebrew Roms & Reviews
#116414 - sgeos - Thu Jan 25, 2007 12:38 pm
| Lynx wrote: |
| Interviewing sucks.. I had a 20 minute phone interview, then they called me in for an interview that was an hour and a half long, and then called me back in for a 2nd interview that was just about 2 hours long.. And I still don't know if I am going to get the job.. :/ |
I wish I could do that. It is days or weeks between interviews in Japan.
-Brendan
#116431 - Lick - Thu Jan 25, 2007 6:26 pm
I want to work in Japan as well.. Seems nice.
_________________
http://licklick.wordpress.com
#116437 - Lynx - Thu Jan 25, 2007 7:23 pm
| sgeos wrote: |
| I wish I could do that. It is days or weeks between interviews in Japan. |
Those were weeks apart.
_________________
NDS Homebrew Roms & Reviews
#116485 - sgeos - Fri Jan 26, 2007 6:30 am
| Lynx wrote: |
| sgeos wrote: | | I wish I could do that. It is days or weeks between interviews in Japan. |
Those were weeks apart. |
In that case, I guess interviewing sucks everywhere. =)
-Brendan
#116488 - HyperHacker - Fri Jan 26, 2007 7:24 am
For me, it's just "OK we'll call you back in a few days" and I never hear from them again.
_________________
I'm a PSP hacker now, but I still <3 DS.
#116514 - sgeos - Fri Jan 26, 2007 2:26 pm
| HyperHacker wrote: |
| For me, it's just "OK we'll call you back in a few days" and I never hear from them again. |
I guess that means you didn't get the job.
-Brendan
#116592 - tepples - Sat Jan 27, 2007 5:47 am
| HyperHacker wrote: |
| For me, it's just "OK we'll call you back in a few days" and I never hear from them again. |
Tip from a recruiter I'm working with: You're supposed to send a thank-you card the next morning, and you're supposed to call back one week after the interview. This reminds the interviewer of your name, putting your resume at the top of the pile twice.
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.
#116650 - gauauu - Sat Jan 27, 2007 10:43 pm
| tepples wrote: |
Tip from a recruiter I'm working with: You're supposed to send a thank-you card the next morning, and you're supposed to call back one week after the interview. This reminds the interviewer of your name, putting your resume at the top of the pile twice. |
Well said. The more you can get people to remember you (in a good way), the better. I've never actually sent a thank-you card for an interview, but all of the jobs I've gotten, I've taken initiative to follow up with the hiring manager instead of waiting for them....
#116683 - sgeos - Sun Jan 28, 2007 10:08 am
One time I did call back and they basically said that they'd been meaning to get back to me and asked when I could start.
-Brendan