Conquering the technical interview

"How to interview" books are almost as plentiful as "how to write a résumé" books. Most of the advice is generic, laden with tired platitudes and not worth the money. One book that breaks the mold is Ace the Technical Interview by Michael Rothstein (McGraw-Hill, $21.95). The subhead reads, "How to Get the Best Job in the Computer Industry," and "2000 Answers to Tough Questions."

The 493-page book is packed with solid information written by someone with more than 30 years of data processing experience and is targeted at the folks in the IT trenches. Rothstein began his career at Univac and has worked for Big Blue, Motorola, and Bankers Trust as a systems engineer.

Rothstein wrote the first chapter which is an overview of the technical interview that tells you what you need to know to succeed. The remainder of the book was written by experts, senior programmers, technical managers, and consultants.

In a nutshell, the book contains everything you need to know to ace the technical interview. The message is obvious and powerful. Interviews are job auditions. Like the actor preparing for a part, the more you put into the critical preparation phase, the better your chance of scoring a role. The harsh reality is if you mess up the interview, you don't get another chance. There are no callbacks on the career stage.

Beyond good advice, such as tips for managing uncomfortable situations, you'll learn how interviewers think and what kind of person companies are looking for. In "Interviewing Frameworks," Barry Glasgow, a technical manager, explains that interviews are not just a matter of delivering great answers and getting a job. "To facilitate hiring, many managers organize the informational needs of the interview into frameworks or categories of informational needs to efficiently organize, analyze, and collect data so that a hire/no hire decision can be made," Glasgow explains.

Glasgow uses three information frameworks: The Input-Analysis-Output (IAO) model, Evidence-Analysis (EA) procedure, and the Job Employee-Employer (JEE) model.

Complicated? You bet it is. IAO looks at your résumé, physical appearance, answers, references and appraisal of job skills, technical competency, work ethic, and more. EA verifies and validates your information and JEE assesses the particular requirements of the position.

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