Well, I just got done with my first interview. I admire you guys who say you don't get nervous before interviews, because that is certainly not the case with me...lol.
Anyhow, it was the usual chit-chat to begin with. A bit on my background, telling them about what sort of things I've done, etc. I think a struck a good middle ground between presenting myself/strengths in a favorable light, but not being arrogant or snobbish. After that, we did some coding on paper. The first problem was essentially fizzBuzz, I think, or similar to it. I'm pretty sure that went fine, although I definitely double-checked to make sure I didn't shoot myself in the foot. After that, they asked me to implement a custom modulus operator to fulfill the same purpose. I blanked out for a minute (felt like ten, god I hope it wasn't that long), but I used a useful technique to get myself back in the game...basically talking out loud and telling them my intentions, so they knew I wasn't totally devoid of ideas, and verbalizing the thought seemed to kick something in gear and I came up with a solution that (I think) they were pleased with. Then, we did some abstract problem solving where they asked me to measure the room with nothing more than what was present--in an essentially empty room. That went okay, I felt.
On the whole, I felt it was a positive experience. I'm glad I've lined up several of these, because I think the only way I'm going to get comfortable is just to throw myself into the fire as often as possible, so I don't find the experience so daunting. It's a little embarrassing to put myself out here, be it success or failure, but this could turn into an informative thread yet...letting some other apprehensive people in on the experience.
