Got a call through a referral from an employee. The recruiter called me and set up a phone interview at a time of my convenience.
I never got the info on who the interviewer would be - so I did not get a chance to find out information about the person via linkedIn or other social n/ws. I do this so I know the background of the person interviewing me - this helps me to be better prepared.
Nevertheless, I was expecting the phone interview to be based on my experience, core CS fundamentals and some coding or problem solving (like most first phone interviews are).
I got the call at the scheduled time and the person speaking to me had a terrible English accent (he was definitely not a native english speaker - this made communication difficult). He only gave me his name and didn't really seem keen on introducing himself or the team he was a part of. It seemed like he was not really interested in interviewing me (he seemed to be fulfilling some obligation, than actually evaluate my skills)
What made it worse was - the shocking surprise I received when the interview questions were not at all about core CS fundamentals or problem solving. There was no coding involved. I was asked academic questions for which answers would be available through a Google search or in text-books.
Here are a few that I remember -
1. Explain the steps to configure HTTP on Apache Tomcat
2. List the various protocols used in SOAP
3. Explain how to write a basic SOAP HttpRequest
4. What are the various capabilities of Spring Framework?
5. What is the difference between ArrayList and Vector?
6. List the procedure to debug a deadlock in Java
I was taken aback by most of these questions. I could only provide answers based on my experience in using the technologies to all these questions except for the ArrayList vs Vector question (which also was from experience, but I felt I knew it well).
Yes, I know all these questions have answers in textbooks and the internet. But, these are not questions you expect in a technical phone interview (at least not the first round).
I never got a feedback from either the interviewer or the recruiter. Like, I said above, the guy seemed least interested in interviewing me. After about 45 minutes, he suddenly asked me if I had any questions for him - I asked him what team he was a part of and what would the next steps be - and he didn't really seem interested in answering as all he said was "I'm a software engineer here and the recruiter will let you know if you are selected".
All the best to anyone else who interviews with this company - I hope others get a better interviewer - who provides decent feedback.
