Welcome to the Treehouse Community
Want to collaborate on code errors? Have bugs you need feedback on? Looking for an extra set of eyes on your latest project? Get support with fellow developers, designers, and programmers of all backgrounds and skill levels here with the Treehouse Community! While you're at it, check out some resources Treehouse students have shared here.
Looking to learn something new?
Treehouse offers a seven day free trial for new students. Get access to thousands of hours of content and join thousands of Treehouse students and alumni in the community today.
Start your free trial
Andy Wong
8,839 PointsHow to succeed in your job interview for a web/mobile developer role in a digital media agency company
I want to share this important discussion with people who's been in the media/web industry for a while or people who are keen to get into this industry for the first time in their career. Thus I want to pick some ideas on what are the common interview questions these agencies would love to ask for and how should we answering them well? As an experienced interviewee, I know that the typical interviewers are; one who's creative marketing person and the other who's a developer, usually senior one and I know the interview questions may comprise of both behavourial-based questions and technical programming questions, just like in other companies across different industries. But I never worked in this type of industry before, so I'm keen to hire from people in this forum what advice could you give in performing well for this specific "type" of job interviews. Look forward to hearing your thoughts on it.
3 Answers
Gavin Foster
135 PointsHi Andy,
Great question! I could write for hours but I guess the simple (rather easy) answer is be prepared. On of my designer friends didn't get the job he went for. The feedback he got was that he didn't demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of responsive web design. While he was proficient in building bootstrap-based responsive websites, the company didn't feel he had a firm enough grasp on responsive web design to be able to manage and build projects without a framework.
Much will depend on the job you're going for and whether it's a multi-disciplined role or more specialist. Being able to demonstrate your abilities with a few projects is often a good way to convey your experience. They don't have to be perfect, (especially if it's a junior role) but enough to show you're competent for the job.
Prepare as best you can, show some work, and relax and you should do just fine. Good luck!
Andy Wong
8,839 PointsThank you for your input on this Gavin!
And I'd find that in many digital agencies I applied for web/mobile developer roles, I notice these keywords pop up very often in every job/role description
- mobile development (Android/Iphone)
- E-commerce Plaforms
- Front-End development
- Social Media Integration
- Database Integration
- Responsive Web Design
- UI/UX experience
These keywords are universal so I reckon these are the key skillsets I must or would develop, and some of them I can gain through doing the materials at Teamtreehouse. I'm sure Teamtreehouse will give me some confidence in handling such questions revolving the above-listed items. But, to be realistic, I know I cannot expect to walk way with a job offer on hand just by having being a certified Teamtreehouse learner! The real world won't work like that. Unless I'm lucky enough to meet digital agency company that's keen to take on people who's keen to learn on the job and be willing to take the risk in hiring me, then I'm pretty much out of luck getting considered for roles other very experienced developers competing for it.
Hope I can run into companies that can give me the chance to shine.
Gavin Foster
135 PointsTea treehouse will definitely be a very good start. They've had lots of successes placing people by all accounts. Be wary of those advertising jobs that seem to ask for everything! Far better to be specialist in a few subjects with a firm understanding of everything else.
Here in the uk we have apprenticeships. I think the US call them internships. If money isn't an issue you might want to consider writing to companies asking for a temporary internship for experience. Great to put on your cv and helps you stand out from the crowd.
Rose Cass
16,323 PointsLove this question and the responses so far!
I know you stated that you were interested more in development, so I highly recommend checking out this video by Jake Goldman from 10up and the 10 questions I Ask Every Developer.
It is a WordPress based developer interview example, so if you are interest in becoming a WordPress dev this video is excellent. Even if you are not really interested in WordPress, it can still be informative to the questions and types of answers that are expected from good developer candidates.