DOTNET FAQ-1

Introduction
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my kids Sanjana and Simran, whose dad’s play time has been
stolen and given to this book. I am thankful to my wife for constantly encouraging me and
also to BPB Publication to give new comer a platform to perform. Finally on top of all
thanks to the two old eyes my mom and dad for always blessing me. I am blessed to have
Raju as my brother who always keeps my momentum moving on.
I am grateful to Bhavnesh Asar who initially conceptualized the idea I believe concept
thinking is more important than execution. Tons of thanks to my reviewers whose feedback
provided an essential tool to improve my writing capabilities.
Just wanted to point out Miss Kadambari . S. Kadam took all the pain to review for the
left outs with out which this book would have never seen the quality light.
About the author
Author works in a big multinational company and has over 8 years of experience in
software industry. He is working presently as project lead and in past has led projects in
banking, travel and financial sectors.
But on top of all, I am a simple developer like you all guys there doing an 8 hour job.
Writing is something I do extra and I love doing it. No one is perfect and same holds true
for me .So anything you want to comment, suggest, and point typo / grammar mistakes or
technical mistakes regarding the book you can mail me at shiv_koirala@yahoo.com. Believe
me guys your harsh words would be received with love and treated to the top most priority.
Without all you guys I am not an author.
Writing an interview question book is really a great deal of responsibility. I have tried to
cover maximum questions for the topic because I always think probably leaving one silly
question will cost someone’s job there. But huge natural variations in an interview are
something difficult to cover in this small book. So if you have come across such questions
during interview which is not addressed in this book do mail at shiv_koirala@yahoo.com
.Who knows probably that question can save some other guys job.
Features of the book
√ Around 400 plus interview questions from live .NET interviews.
“Cheers to the true fighting spirit of IT professionals”
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√ Section wise .NET interview question coverage according to multinational
companies.
√ Short and to the point answers ( no hitting around the bush).
√ Every question is classified in to Basic,Intermediate and advanced category,
thus providing more focus to readers on specific category.
√ During interviews other than main technology (.NET, JAVA etc.) companies
expect other areas to be strong for example UML, Architecture, Database
etc. Other sections is the most strong point of the book, which makes
reader prepared for the unexpected questions.
√ Full range of interview questions right from junior .NET developers to senior
architects or project manager.
√ CD has sample resume, sample dummy project and sample code to understand
fundamentals..
√ Book covers important points like salary negotiations, resume making and
general points to be remembered during interview.
√ Recommended for .NET interviewers who are looking for what questions to
be asked to get better and decent .NET professionals
√ Recommended for Fresher and students who want to have a feel of what
.NET questions are asked in multinational companies.
√ Developers who are looking for Quick reference and FAQ.
I am sure after reading this book readers will have extra confidence and a better approach
for .NET interviews.
Introduction
When we look back at times of COBOL, PASCAL features provided by these languages
where minimal. More emphasis was on completing projects than on quality of code. As
features provided by languages where less, programmer had to code everything from
scratch. For example to write a simple sorting logic you have to write your own sorting
algorithm. As languages grew and started becoming mature, these logic where in-built
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feature of language. As feature list of languages started growing programmer’s became
feature specialist rather than specialist of whole language.
If a developer who is working for past two to three years on remoting is a remoting
specialist, but probably in ADO.NET he has minimal knowledge. Now after working day
& night and becoming specialist he is looking for a job. But the bad part of IT industry
today is that they do not look for specialist rather they look for developers who have fair
knowledge of over all feature of the language. This remoting specialist stumbles with
simple ADO.NET and SQL questions during interview. But guys that’s ok when you are
working and concentrating on one particular aspect it’s but obvious that you will forget
these fundamentals.
Software clients no more look source code as the only one deliverable, but even other
documents like SRS (System Requirement documents), SDD (System Design Documents),
Test Plans (SITP and UTP) etc. as a integral part of project. IT multinationals are now
looking from both technical and process aspect of the project. So going with pure .NET
technical fundamentals will only take you to a programmer position, but know how of
documenting project, UML understanding, SDLC cycle etc will take you to a better position
(Project Manager, Program Manager, Senior architect etc).
This book covers the other aspect of .NET interview’s by providing chapter like
Architecture, UML, SQL SERVER, Project Management, General Interview questions
etc.
I hope this book takes you to a better height and gives you extra confidence boost during
int erview’s.Best of Luck and Happy Job-Hunting.............
How to read this book
If you can read English, you can read this book....kidding. There are some legends which
will make your reading more effective. Every question has simple tags which mark the
rating of the questions.
These rating are given by Author and can vary according to companies and individuals.
(B) Basic Questions
Basic Grade means according to the interviewer it’s a fundamental question and should
be answered. Example What is a CLR ? Guy’s stumbling on this question will rarely pass
interviews.
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(I) Intermediate Questions
These are Mid-level questions and will be expected to be answered if you are looking for
a decent position in the company.
(A) Advanced Questions
These are advanced level question which are expected when they are looking for specialist
in the field.
(P) Psyche Questions
These level of questions do not judge anything for a candidate but see it as a attitude
problem of the interviewer.
* Marked Questions
These are general questions asked in IT world. Example “What’s your expectation ?” You
will see these question’s as you keep reading. There are no direct answers to these question
but they do affect a lot during job search. Be ready with some decent answers.
Note
While reading you can come across section marked as “Note”, which highlight special
points of that section.
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Software Company hierarchy
Figure :- 0.1 IT Company hierarchy
Its very important during interview to be clear about what position you are targeting.
Depending on what positions you are targeting the interviewer shoots you questions.
Example if you are looking for a project manager position you will be asked around 20%
technical questions and 80% management.
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Note:- In small scale software house and mid scale software companies there are chances
where they expect a PM to be very much technical. But in big software houses the situations
are very much different, interview are conducted according to positions.... Unless the
interviewer changes the rule.
Above is a figure of a general hierarchy across most IT companies.
Note:- There are many small and medium software companies which do not follow this
hierarchy and they have there own adhoc way of defining positions in the company.
So why is the need of hierarchy in a interview.
“Interview is a contract between the employer and candidate to achieve specific goals.”
So employer is looking for a suitable candidate and candidate looks for a better career.
Normally in interviews the employer is very clear about what type of candidate he is
looking for.But 90% times the candidate is not clear about the positions he is looking for.
How many times it has happened with you that you have given a whole interview and
when you mentioned the position you are looking for...pat comes the answer, “ we do not
have any requirements for this position”. So be clarified about the position right from
when you start the interview.
Following are the number of years of experience according to position.
√ Junior engineers are specially fresher and work under software engineers.
√ Software engineers have around 1 to 2 years of experience. Interviewer expects
software engineers to be technically at a medium level.
√ Senior Software Engineers have around 2 to 4 years of experience. Interviewer
expects them to technically be very strong.
√ Project leads should handle majority technical aspect of project and should
have around 4 to 8 years of experience. They are also indirect architect of the
project. Interviewer expects them to be technically strong and in terms of
architecture to be decent. Interviewer also expects them to have people
management skills.
√ Project Manager are expected to be around 40% technically strong and should
have experience above 10 years plus. But they are more interviewed from
aspect of project management, client interaction, people management, proposal
preparation etc.
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So now judge where you stand, and where you want to go..........
Resume Preparation Guidelines
First impression the last impression
Note :- A sample resume is provided in “SampleResume” folder.
Before even the interviewer meets you he will first meet your resume. Interviewer looking
at your resume is almost a 20% interview happening with out you knowing it. I was
always a bad guy when it comes to resume preparation. But when I looked at my friends
resume they where gorgeous. Now that I am writing series of book on interviews I thought
this will be a good point to put in. You can happily skip it if you are confident about your
resume. There is no hard and fast rule that you have to follow the same pattern but just
see if these all check list are attended.
√ Use plain text when you are sending resumes through email. For instance you sent
your resume using Microsoft word and what if the interviewer is using Linux he will
never be able to read your resume. You can not be sure both wise, you sent your
resume in Word 2000 and the guy has Word 97…uuhhh.
√ Attach a covering letter it really impresses and makes you look traditionally formal.
Yes, even if you are sending your CV through email send a covering letter.
Check list of content you should have in your resume :-
√ Start with an objective or summary, for instance, “Working as a Senior Database
administrator for more than 4 years. Implemented quality web based application.
Follow the industry’s best practices and adhered and implemented processes,
which enhanced the quality of technical delivery. Pledge to deliver the best technical
solutions to the industry.”
√ Specify your Core strengths at the start of the resume by which the interviewer can
make a quick decision are you eligible for the position. For example :-
• Looked after data mining and data warehousing department independently. Played
a major role in query optimization.
• Worked extensively in database design and ER diagram implementation.
• Well versed with CMMI process and followed it extensively in projects.
• Looking forward to work on project manager or senior manager position.
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This is also a good position to specify your objective or position which makes it clear to
the interviewer that should he call you for an interview. For instance, if you are looking
for senior position specify it explicitly ‘looking for this job profile’. Any kind of certification
like MCP, MCSD etc you can make it visible in this section.
√ Once you have specified briefly your goals and what you have done its time to
specify what type of technology you have worked with. For instance RDBMS,
TOOLS, Languages, Web servers, process (Six sigma, CMMI).
√ After that you can make a run through of your experience company wise that is
what company you have worked with, year / month joining and year / month left.
This will give an overview to the interviewer what type of companies you have
associated your self.
Now its time to mention all your projects you have worked till now. Best is to start in
descending order that is from your current project and go backwards. For every project try
to put these things :-
√ Project Name / Client name (It’s sometimes unethical to mention clients name; I
leave it to the readers).
√ Number of team members.
√ Time span of the project.
√ Tools, language, RDBMS and technology used to complete the project.
√ Brief summary of the project.
Senior people who have huge experience will tend to increase there CV with putting in
summary for all project. Best for them is to just put description of the first three projects
in descending manner and rest they can say verbally during interview. I have seen CV
above 15 pages… I doubt who can read it.
√ Finally comes your education and personal details.
√ Trying for onsite, do not forget to mention your passport number.
√ Some guys tend to make there CV large and huge. I think an optimal size should be
not more than 4 to 5 pages.
√ Do not mention your salary in CV. You can talk about it during interview with HR
or the interviewer.
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√ When you are writing your summary for project make it effective by using verbs like
managed a team of 5 members, architected the project from start to finish etc. It
brings huge weight.
√ This is essential very essential take 4 to 5 Xerox copies of your resume you will need
it now and then.
√ Just in case take at least 2 passport photos with you. You can escape it but many
times you will need it.
√ Carry all your current office documents specially your salary slips and joining letter.
Salary Negotiation
Ok that’s what we all do it for money… not everyone is right. This is probably the weakest
area for techno savvy guys. They are not good negotiators. I have seen so many guys at the
first instance they will smile and say “NEGOTIABLE SIR”. So here are some points:-
√ Do a study of what is the salary trend? For instance have some kind of baseline. For
example what is the salary trend on number of year of experience? Discuss this
with your friends out.
√ Do not mention your expected salary on the resume?
√ Let the employer first make the salary offer. Try to delay the salary discussion till the
end.
√ If they say what you expect ?, come with a figure with a little higher end and
say negotiable. Remember never say negotiable on something which you have aimed,
HR guys will always bring it down. So negotiate on AIMED SALARY + some thing
extra.
√ The normal trend is that they look at your current salary and add a little it so that
they can pull you in. Do your home work my salary is this much and I expect this
much so whatever it is now I will not come below this.
√ Do not be harsh during salary negotiations.
√ It’s good to aim high. For instance I want 1 billion dollars / month but at the same
time be realistic.
√ Some companies have those hidden cost attached in salary clarify that rather to be
surprised at the first salary package.
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√ Many of the companies add extra performance compensation in your basic which
can be surprising at times. So have a detail break down. Best is to discuss on hand
salary rather than NET.
√ Talk with the employer in what frequency does the hike happen.
√ Take everything in writing, go back to your house and have a look once with a cool
head is the offer worth it of what your current employer is giving.
√ Do not forget once you have job in hand you can come back to your current employer
for negotiation so keep that thing in mind.
√ Remember the worst part is cribbing after joining the company that your colleague is
getting more. So be careful while interview negotiations or be sportive to be a
good negotiator in the next interview.
√ One very important thing is that the best negotiation ground is not the new company
where you are going but the old company which you are leaving. So once you have
offer on hand get back to your old employee and show them the offer and then make
your next move. It’s my experience that negotiating with the old employer is easy
than with the new one….Frankly if approached properly rarely any one will say no.
Just do not be aggressive or egoistic that you have an offer on hand.
Top of all some time some things are worth above money :- JOB SATISFACTION. So
whatever you negotiate if you think you can get JOB SATISFACTION aspect on higher
grounds go for it. I think its worth more than money.
Figure :- 0.2 Salary Card for India
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Figure :- 0.3 US Salary Card
Note: - The above US Salary card is based on my experience and some talk which I had
with my friends who are staying on longer term basis outside. In case you are finding
discrepancies please do mail me at shiv_koirala@yahoo.com probably we can standardize it
better for the community.
The score card shown above is completely derived from author’s experience and interaction
he had in his circle. It is not an approved score card by any authorized body as such and
should be taken only has bench mark to measure your success. Also note that these rates
are applicable for medium and large software companies. Small company rate cards are
very irregular and governed by a single owner of the company. So the above rate card is
not applicable for small company. Many people do get mind blowing salaries even with
small experience which again the score card does not reflect.
Points to remember
√ One of the first questions asked during interview is “Can you say something about
yourself ”?
√ Can you describe about your self and what you have achieved till now?
√ Why do you want to leave the current company?
√ Where do you see yourself after three years?
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√ What are your positive and negative points?
√ How much do you rate yourself in .NET and SQL Server in one out of ten?
√ Are you looking for onsite opportunities? (Be careful do not show your desperation
of abroad journeys)
√ Why have you changed so many jobs? (Prepare a decent answer do not blame
companies and individuals for your frequent change).
√ Never talk for more than 1 minute straight during interview.
√ Have you worked with previous version of SQL Server?
√ Would you be interested in a full time Database administrator job?
√ Do not mention client names in resume. If asked say that it’s confidential which
brings ahead qualities like honesty
√ When you make your resume keep your recent projects at the top.
√ Find out what the employer is looking for by asking him questions at the start of
interview and best is before going to interview. Example if a company has projects
on server products employer will be looking for BizTalk, CS CMS experts.
√ Can you give brief about your family background?
√ As you are fresher do you think you can really do this job?
√ Have you heard about our company ? Say five points about our company? Just read
at least once what company you are going for?
√ Can you describe your best project you have worked with?
√ Do you work on Saturday and Sunday?
√ Which is the biggest team size you have worked with?
√ Can you describe your current project you have worked with?
√ How much time will you need to join our organization? What’s notice period for
your current company?
√ What certifications have you cleared?
√ Do you have pass port size photos, last year mark sheet, previous companies
employment letter, last months salary slip, pass port and other necessary documents.
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√ What is the most important thing that motivates you?
√ Why you want to leave the previous organization?
√ Which type of job gives you greatest satisfaction?
√ What is the type of environment you are looking for?
√ Do you have experience in project management?
√ Do you like to work as a team or as individual?
√ Describe your best project manager you have worked with?
√ Why should I hire you?
√ Have you been ever fired or forced to resign?
√ Can you explain some important points that you have learnt from your past project
experiences?
√ Have you gone through some unsuccessful projects, if yes can you explain why did
the project fail?
√ Will you be comfortable with location shift? If you have personal problems say no
right at the first stage.... or else within two months you have to read my book again.
√ Do you work late nights? Best answer if there is project deadline yes. Do not
show that it’s your culture to work during nights.
√ Any special achievements in your life till now...tell your best project which you
have done best in your career.
√ Any plans of opening your own software company...Beware do not start pouring
your bill gate’s dream to him.....can create a wrong impression.