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Updated Apr 29, 2012 – Interview questions and reviews posted anonymously by interview candidates.

Difficulty Rating [?] Based on 8 ratings

2.5

“Easy” Interview

Interview Experience [?] Based on 8 ratings

Positive	12%
Neutral	50%
Negative	38%

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2.0

Easy Interview

Overall Neutral Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Dec 2011 in Burnaby, BC (Canada) (took 2 weeks)

There wasn't really a structure, just came in, had a chat, technical stuff, my experience with it, and done. Lots of pre-screens though.

Interview Questions

Where do you see yourself in 5 years

View Answers (1)

Other Details

I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a 1:1 Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Negative Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Jan 2012 in San Diego, CA (took 6 days)

Was contacted the week between Xmas and New Years.Phone interview consisted of speaking with two gentleman. One would have been the s/w team's manager and the other was his boss. This took place right before the New Year weekend. Phone interview went well, at the end of the interview the manager said they normally get together and talk and then tell HR the results of their discussions but, he thought it went so well they wanted me to come for a site visit. and could I possibly be available in the next two weeks. On the day being observed as the national holiday for New Years I received an email asking if I could fly out the following day. In order to show my interest and get it done attitude I said I could do it. I received flight confirmation at 9:30 p.m. that evening along with the itinerary for the interviews. It was required that you submit the answers to an online security questionaire and employment application before the interview. I spent four hours filling this out before the flight. (Note: they want salary history for the last seven years, this is marked as mandatory), addresses of all compainies, the name of your supervisor, the phone number, etc.. The flights they picked required me to take three days off of work. Amongst the many red flags starting to appear was the fact that the interview was less then two hours long. It consisted of talking to the main s/w manager, the two managers I phone interviewed with, and an HR person. (no team members, no tour of the facilities) I arrived at the hotel at 2:00 a.m. and arrived for the interview 10-15 minutes before the start of the interview the next day. After checking in with the frontdesk per the instructions, I waited. Finally, the HR person apologized and asked the status (he had walked by a few times as I was sitting in the lobby, waiting and waiting). I said I had checked in and was waiting for the first interviewer. He acted as if he didn't even know I was supposed to be there and asked if I had a copy of my itinerary. I told him I had it with me in electronic format but, then proceeded to give the names and times of each interviewer on the itinerary from memory, which seemed to impress him. He went searching for gentleman number 1. He came back later and said "well, you were supposed to talk to me second but, why don't we talk now while waiting for gentleman number 1". So, he went through his 15 minute talk and then we talked some more, and talked, and waited, and talked. Finally, he said, "I don't know what happened "gentleman number 1" is never late". (after I got back home and described the interview to a friend he said the one liner that pretty much summed up this whole ordeal; "gee, you would think Nokia would have heard of cell phones and they might have tried calling the guy"). So, the HR person starts walking me back out to the lobby, (to wait) but while on the way the HR person runs into the manager who I had spoken with on the phone a few days earlier. They huddle together for awhile and decide I might as well talk to him. So, we turn around and head back to the interview room, after about 10-15 minutes in strolls "gentleman 1". Since, he's the head of s/w, the attention goes to him, then about ten minutes later, the second gentleman from the phone interview strolls in. Now, there are all three of the gentleman there, about ten minutes later "gentleman 1" leaves. Things wind down and I'm asked if there are any questions. I ask him what if anything might be a concern to him, so I can possibly address it. He says, my lack of mobile phone development experience. I paused and was taken aback because I had asked about this during the phone interview. I brought it up and wanted to make perfectly clear how much mobile development experience I had. It was discussed during the phone interview and was not a problem at that time. I'm thinking to myself, I took three days off of work, flew 1,500 miles, and have been putting up with this disorganized interview and now you tell me this, after we discussed it earlier and it wasn't an issue three days ago. In hindsight maybe I should have said exactly what I was feeling at that time. Maybe, if you are currently not working (as the HR person said was the status of many current candidates) the disrespect I was shown due to their disorganization, would not be a big deal. Maybe, if you are local to the area then wasting an afternoon sitting around the Nokia lobby would not be a big deal. But, I flew 1,500 miles and took three days off of work due to their scheduling. My impression of the two gentleman whom I spoke with (phone interview and in person briefly) are that they would be quite impressive on a personal level. Bright and hard working. But, the disorganized, haphazard method which this was conducted left me feeling disillusioned with Nokia and disrespected.

Interview Questions

Design a system that would contact a caregiver if an elderly person would be in need of help. Then, would locate from a list of helpers the one closest to the person in need of help.

View Answers (1)

Other Details

I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview and a Group/Panel Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

View Comments (2)

Inappropriate?

2.0

Easy Interview

Overall Negative Experience

Received and Declined Offer

Interviewed Dec 2011 in Berlin, Berlin (Germany) (took 2 weeks)

One phone screening interview with the group manager and 5 onsite 1:1 interviews with other swes and pms. 3 out of 5 interviewers asked technical questions. HR failed to organize the process and the overall interview experience made it even clearer that I shouldn't join their company.

Interview Questions

I was asked to design from ground up a ML system. The problem was the same I would have to solve if I was to accept the job offer.

View Answers (1)

Reason for Declining

They told me I aced the interviews but still offered me 20% less than my current compensation.

Other Details

I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a 1:1 Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

2.0

Easy Interview

Overall Neutral Experience

Received and Declined Offer

Interviewed Sep 2011 in Brisbane (Australia) (took 1+ week)

had a phone interview, answered some personal interests related questions and some easy c++ questions. then they booked me a ticket to go to their office for interview, it took 5 hours for the whole on site interview, some panel interview type of talk with the hr, the boss and the hiring manager. it is then followed by 2 rounds of technical tests, including a coding test and a code review test.

Interview Questions

describe abi issues

Answer Question

Other Details

I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a Group/Panel Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Negative Experience

Received and Declined Offer

Interviewed Oct 2011 in Bangalore (India) (took 2+ months)

Interviewing process is long drawn, Nokia HR going for an hibernation during the period between interviews before communicating the outcome (take an average 10+ days). Underwent 2 telephonic tech interviews, then 2 panel interviews (each having a gap of atleast 10-15 days). Very unprofessional HR managers lacking basic etiquette of calling the candidates promptly or planning multiple interviews together. You can make out unrest in the company. Totally not recommended if you have a stable career already.

Interview Questions

Create a data structure having a key and multiple value pairing without using any inbuilt java collections.

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Outline how to create a custom messaging queue service from scratch.

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Reason for Declining

HR manager I was in touch with me, offered something to me and quit Nokia in the meanwhile. After his exit the other HR manager offered much reduced salary package, stating miscommunication by the former. Now I know why Nokia is struggling. Apart from this the people who interviewed me looked unhappy and somehow their body language conveyed unrest within the organisation.

Other Details

I got the interview through a Staffing Agency and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview and a Group/Panel Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

2.0

Easy Interview

Overall Neutral Experience

Received and Accepted Offer

Interviewed Jan 2008 (took a day)

2 interviews, each with 2 engineers. One with manager/HR.

Technical questions mostly. Interview last about 45 minutes. The degree of technicality varies with who interviews you.

Culture is very laid back Planning is not a strong suit of the company. Things can be pretty disorganized. Terrible development tools. Great benefits.

Agile development methodology followed loosely. If you have a good manager you can do well here else not so much, Also lots of people who have been in the company for years, can be hard for newcomers to break into the cliques. Lots of oldtimers also means people haven't a clue how things are done elsewhere and assume theirs is the best way.

Positives. Great benefits. Company treats people fairly. No long hours. Good work life balance.

Interview Questions

Asked to explain the last work project

View Answers (1)

Negotiation Details

No negotiation done, the offer was fair.

Other Details

I got the interview through a Recruiter and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a Group/Panel Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Neutral Experience

Received and Accepted Offer

Interviewed Apr 2010 (took 2 weeks)

Submitted resume via a friend. got a call from the hiring manager for phone interview. on-site interview is scheduled a week later. got offer a week after.

Interview Questions

what is your strongest point?

Answer Question

Other Details

I got the interview through an Employee Referral and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a Group/Panel Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed May 2009 (took 4 weeks)

I had a phone interview to discuss my past experience and how I could improve their product.
Three weeks after I was invited to their offices (they pay for that) and had 5 interviews, mostly about project management. At the middle of every interview they usually asked me to make questions. Only one of the interviews was really technical.

Interview Questions

advantages and disadvantages of each software development methodology

Answer Question

Other Details

I got the interview through a Recruiter and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview, a Group/Panel Interview and a Skills Test.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

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