1) A ~10-15 minute phone interview with an HR rep. Answered a few very basic questions regarding Java programming (e.g. "difference between a while loop and a do-while loop?") and SQL database management ("how would I return all records from table X?").
2) A ~20 minute phone interview with a technical lead. I was asked several of the exact same questions, but there were a few more and they were more detailed. Still fairly basic, though. Re: SQL there was "what is the difference between an inner join and an outer join" and re: Java, I think I was asked to explain polymorphism.
3) A ~2 hour in person interview with an HR rep, a tech lead, and a partner. I was flown out and put in a beautiful hotel the day prior and flown back home after the interview. When I arrived at the office, they gave me a written logic test. A lot of "what number (or shape) comes next in the sequence" type of stuff.
This interview has a blend of questions: some are similar to the above ones (some identical, again). One of the things I remember being asked was "what's the difference between passing an argument by value or by reference?"
I was also asked some logic test questions. For example, "You're pulling socks out of a drawer in the dark..there's 10 pairs of black socks, 10 pairs of white socks...how many do you have to pull out to guarantee you have a pair of any color?" (Answer: 3). There was 15-20 minutes of this. But they gave me a pad and paper, and I thought through the questions out loud - they would prod me in the right direction if I was thinking the wrong way.
The other kind of questions were the standard behavioural, situational type of thing. They asked me what my favourite and least favourite thing about my current job was. They asked me about leadership, working on teams, my school courses... my answers to these questions weren't amazing. They did ask me what kind of salary I was expecting and I gave a range. When I got an offer, it exceeded my expected range by a very substantial margin.
What I think clinched the interview for me is the fact that the interview wasn't rigidly structured. It became more conversational because I asked a lot of questions about their product and implementation. I think I demonstrated that I understood the SDLC and specifically government implementations and that put them at ease. I would recommend trying to do that if you're not 100% confident in your answers to the other questions. It will give you a chance to show them what you know.
