The vast nature of the world of programming is quite daunting; a budding programmer can be dissuaded by the hundreds of programming languages that we have (at the time of compiling this article, they number close to 500, with more coming up every year).

I too was almost dissuaded by this, but I later came to learn that you do not have to know everything; know what you need to get the job done and forget about the others until they are needed

Need I introduce myself?

I did that already in my other post, click here to see.

My first 10 months of programming was challenging; learning to program requires a lot of hard work. If you are already a programmer, you certainly get my point; if you are just starting up, you will understand soon.

Earlier this year, I was invited for an interview for an internship placement in a company that works on health software and systems. I applied as a Java developer (so was the vacancy according to advert ), but what transpired in the interview was quite different. This thought me a lot of lessons which I will share with you in this article.

I had prepared for a Java interview. I had all the interview advice of, look the interviewer in the eye, dress in a commanding way, always have your head high, bla bla bla intact, but it turned out that the person who interviewed me was less concerned about that; I think he actually didn't care if I had come for the interview without clothes.

giggles

Also, I downloaded a book on common Java interview questions, you will later see from how the story went down that the book was useless.

What I was expecting (what everyone would expect) at the beginning of the interview was for the Java questions to start coming in so I can smash them on the head; that was not the case at all, the interview took a whole different twist.

Curious about what transpired? Read on.

The first question that I was asked was this,

“So you say you program in Java?”

My answer was affirmative, then his next question broke the ice,

“What have you actually done”

Oh yeah! He asked me what software I have written in Java.

You must be thinking I got stuck given I was still a beginner?

Sure I was, but thanks to a friend who advised me to build my portfolio; I didn't understand the importance of what he meant until that moment. And luckily for me, I hearkened to his advice and had taken on two projects (which were not yet completed), those two incomplete programs saved the day.

Lesson 1: Build your portfolio:

Programming is all about solving problems. A programmer who just reads about a language and does no actual problem solving is merely filling his head with ‘useless’ information.

So have a list of project to work on as you learn; learning how to code is not to fill your brain with syntax and concepts, rather, it’s to know what to use to solve real life problems.

I presented my projects (my incomplete projects, and at the time of writing this article, I am yet to complete them ha-ha-ha), and explained how it worked. My putting my hands to work saved the day.

I was still expecting the Java questions; I was getting set to awe him. The next set of questions took me by surprise;

“What other languages do you code in, are you only a Java guy?”

Strange right?

Wasn't this a Java interview, why ask me if I code in other languages?

This would have ended the day for me but luckily, few weeks before the interview, I had taken up JavaScript, HTML, CSS on SoloLearn. I responded that I knew these four languages also but I had no projects on them yet.

Lesson 2: Do not be a one-language guy (or lady):

Inasmuch as you should be very good in a particular language, you have to spread your wings and get your hand and fingers dirty with other languages. No matter how efficient or nice you think your ‘buddy language’ is (for me it’s Java), you still have to learn how to work with other programming languages. Programming is all about solving problems; one day, you might be faced with problems where your ‘buddy language’ cannot help or be the best to solve that problem.

As I stated, I had started learning JavaScript, HTML and CSS. Though still a beginner (actually was still at the lowest level of being a beginner). This saved the day.

He went further to ask about my experience with other software packages and web frameworks that I had zero ideas about. Believe me when I say I had no experience using PHP, bootstrap, use of WordPress, Joomla, XAMP, MySQL, Python, servers, database management system, CMS etc. but he didn’t care; he simply left my forte –Java- and concentrated on things I had no idea about.

Lesson 3: Be Vast:

Inasmuch as you do not have to learn all the programming languages in the planet (at least not in one lifetime), endeavor to know what they do and what they are used for; this shows your interest and level of study and exposure to new things.

Common! This guy totally left my forte (Java) and concentrated on what he did not even request for on the vacancy advertisement. This was where it hit me, I had no idea about all of these things. I however simply indicated my ignorance whenever he asked what I had no idea about.

Lesson 4: Be honest:

Don’t try to explain what you have no idea about, no one is expecting you to be an encyclopedia.

Do not try to explain what you do not know, you will only complicate the issue; know when to attempt and when to bail out- and bailing out is the best thing to do when you have no idea about a thing. But make sure to state your readiness to learn those things.

In spite of the unexpected outcome of the interview, I got the internship placement, (as a quick reminder, we never discussed Java as I expected).

Being a programmer is fun and challenging, if you want to get into a corporate organization, the above lessons are mindful to pass most programming interviews; build a portfolio, spread your wings and be honest.

Try as much as possible to take these lessons into consideration and apply them, you might not be as lucky as I was.

Have you been in any interview as a programmer before, what were your experiences, are they similar to the ones I stated, or were they different?

I need your feedbacks and comments, and if you have a question, I am more than eager to respond to them.

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