28 Garmin Interview Questions & Answers
1. If hired here at Garmin to develop iOS and Android software, when would you use a fragment rather than an activity?
How to Answer
In the development of apps for both iOS and Android, using code to create an activity versus a fragment is a highly debated topic to this day. For this question, your interviewer is looking to hear that you understand what the differences between the two are and when you feel that using a fragment is the proper direction to go. Make sure to speak to the high level overview of what an activity does to an app versus fragments.
1st Answer Example
"As a best practice in my development of Android apps in the past, activities are really the complete screen that a user experiences as part of the app. Fragments are really small sub activities that take place within the activity. Because fragments within an app have their own life cycle and receive their own input events within the app, there are specific times where fragments make the most sense to use in development. In my experience, I always use fragments when the app is working with UI components that are going to be uses across multiple activities within the app. As well, fragments have also served very well when using swipe views within the app."
2nd Answer Example
"In the past year, I honestly don't recall designing a new app that ran solely on an activity alone. The fragments are almost necessary today to bring life to an app. I use retained fragments to persist across activity restarts within the app and this helps make a user friendly experience for our end users."
2. What experience do you have in the different types of software maintenance?
How to Answer
As a reputable company, Garmin takes their software maintenance processes seriously and your interviewer is looking to hear that you are familiar with the four different types of software maintenance. Talk to your interviewer about any work you have done in the past with corrective, adaptive, perfective and/or preventative software maintenance. Use specific examples and make sure that your interviewer walks away from your conversation knowing that you understand the importance of proper system maintenance.
1st Answer Example
"Being familiar with all four types of software maintenance, my most used method of maintenance in my current role is corrective. Based on bug reports from end users, I work through coding and logic issues to resolve issues in a timely and effective manner. In the maintenance I perform, I never hesitate to pick up the phone and contact customers to hear first hand about what they are experiencing. By doing this, they feel like they are an important part of the process and it reflects well on me and my organization."
2nd Answer Example
"In my current role, I'd definitely say that a majority of the maintenance work that I do is adaptive maintenance. Working in banking software that is used around the globe, I help perform system maintenance for changes in currency on a pretty regular basis. This work requires research and talking with end users to help adapt the programs for their use. If hired here at Garmin, I also have experience performing perfective, preventative and corrective maintenance on software as well."
3. At Garmin, we take security risks very importantly in our products. In your experience, what are the biggest security risks in software and what is your experience in any prevention methods?
How to Answer
As an expert in software industry, you are obviously aware of the many security risks that systems face in this day and age. For your answer to this question, talk knowledgeably about the security risks that you are most familiar with combating in your day to day work. Explain why the posed risk is important to combat against and talk about the methods you used to minimalize risk in the finished product.
1st Answer Example
"As I'm fully aware, cyber-security has become a very important issue over the past ten years. In my current role, our biggest security risk is injection of code used by hackers to access information in our web applications. To help prevent any risks associated with injection, we've implemented the use of a safe API and using specific LIMIT and other SQL controls within queries to prevent loss of records in case of an injection."
2nd Answer Example
"In the healthcare field where I currently work, broken authentication vulnerability has allowed attackers to hack into electronic medical records and gain control over those systems. This type of attack potentially puts hundreds of thousands of people at risk within a given system. We use many methods to prevent this type of security risk. First, we take the time to properly test the code before rolling out new updates to software. We also utilize very detailed external security audits. Other details we have implemented have been multi-factor authentication processes and recommendations to align password requirements with the NIST guidelines."
4. What software analysis and design tools do you have familiarity working with?
How to Answer
As a software engineer for Garmin, your interviewer wants to hear that you have experience in utilizing tools that you make you more proficient in your work. Dig back on your past experiences and talk openly about your experiences with the different analysis and design tools that are available to help you be better in the work that you do. In the end, make sure that your interviewer understands that you are proficient in the use of these tools and open to learning and using new tools as well.
1st Answer Example
"As my career and experience in software engineering has grown over the years, I've come to really appreciate and utilize these tools that are available. A great example of this would be my recent education and use of Structured English for designing insurance claim software for a large auto insurer. The simplicity of the structured decisions in the program were a perfect example of a program that could utilize the tool and the end product ended up very functional for our customer."
2nd Answer Example
"I have great working knowledge in creating and reading data flow diagrams. To help with both our own sales staff and with customers, DFD's have been super helpful and I consider myself very proficient in creating them. I've also recently been introduced to decision tables to aid in product testing. I was working on a new system that involved some very complicated business rules and the decision table helped outline everything perfectly for our testing."
5. What do you feel are the primary features and benefits of the Java programming language?
How to Answer
As a company that utilizes Java, Garmin and your interviewer want to make sure that you have an understanding of the Java programming language and they do so by asking this question. Obviously a language packed with unique features, talk about the features that you can speak the most knowledgeably about and tie your direct experience to.
1st Answer Example
"When I started working with Java three years ago, the first huge benefit was the fact that the Java syntax was based on C++. At that time, I had a great working knowledge of C++ and my transition to Java was absolutely seamless. The other amazing feature that I've come to appreciate with Java is how robust the memory management is in exception handling and automatic garbage collection."
6. If hired for this position here at Garmin, would you be comfortable handling overall project manager responsibilities for new software development?
How to Answer
As a skilled software engineer, you have all of the necessary tools in your bag to be a successful engineer at Garmin. This question is allowing your interviewer to get a better sense of your project management skills and people skills if you were to join the team at Garmin. In your answer, talk about your ability to estimate the time and cost of a project, the staffing needed and the overall scope of planning for a particular project. If you have direct experience in being the lead on a large development project, be sure to discuss that experience with your interviewer.
1st Answer Example
"Looking to join the team here at Garmin directly out of college, I feel very confident in my abilities to manage the entire scope of a new development project. I have leadership experience as my campus' president of the software engineering club. In that role, I developed skills that would help me utilize staff and resources in the best way possible. During my internship, I was exposed to the planning stages of new projects and I have a very good feel of estimating the budget and length of time needed to have a fully functional system."
2nd Answer Example
"I would absolutely be comfortable if tasked with project manager duties here at Garmin. In my last two roles, I have led successful projects that started with great planning and budgeting process and went through to completion with great people and processes in place under my leadership. While it's not a regular duty for me in my current role, I always welcome leadership duties."
7. How do you feel cloud computing has positively impacted the software industry?
How to Answer
While the reasons are plentiful as to how cloud computing has had a direct impact on developing and refining software for organizations, your interviewer is looking to hear which reasons you are willing to speak most passionately about. However you answer this question, try to either focus on the ease and accessibility for end users or cost savings for organizations in your answer.
1st Answer Example
"Being in the software industry for over 20 years, I feel like the biggest impact that the cloud has had reflects directly to our customers in the software industry. In days of yore, we spent years working through software updates and releases. And now, I look to how we are continuously rolling out small scale, yet impactful, updates through the cloud and end users are able to see that impact the next day!"
2nd Answer Example
"One commonly overlooked area where I feel cloud based systems have brought a major improvement is in analytics. Ten years ago, it took a lot of time and resources to pull relevant data to build analytics and visualization tools. Today, information can be automatically built to pull in the snap of a finger and that is something that I never take for granted in my work."
8. Who would you say inspires you?
How to Answer
Your life's inspiration can come from a book, a mentor, your family, a celebrity, author - literally anyone! Talk to the interviewer about who has inspired your life and why.
1st Answer Example
"I find inspiration in a variety of people and things. I would have to say that the person who has most greatly inspired me has been my grandmother. She always had a smile on her face no matter how hard she worked and she loved everyone. She was well respected and always gave more than she received. I try to live like her as much as I can."
2nd Answer Example
"I am continually inspired by the books that I read! Whether it is the author, or the characters themselves, I love to get lost in a good novel for inspiration."
9. What programming languages would you consider yourself fluent in?
How to Answer
While this question gives your interviewer insight into the diversity of your programming language experience, they most importantly want to know that you are adaptable and able to learn on the fly if needed. Talk about the different languages that you consider yourself fluent in and, if possible, do as much research into Garmin as you can prior to your interview and try to speak to the specific languages that they work with.
1st Answer Example
"From the start of college, where software engineering grew into a passion for me, I've become very fluent in Java, JavaScript and C++. My current role has me working primarily with C++, but I pride myself on my ability and passion to learn new programming languages and would be able to do so if hired for this role with Garmin."
2nd Answer Example
"During my training to be an engineer and then in my current role since graduating, a majority of my experience falls within Python. My current role delves deeply into artificial intelligence and Python is awesome with this advanced technology. As I understand it from talking to another engineer here at Garmin, a requirement would be for me to learn Scala. Though I haven't worked directly with Scala, I believe my experience and willingness to learn would have me up and running in no time if hired for this role."
10. In your current role, how would describe your ability to communicate and coordinate with the developers, testers and architects that you work closely with?
How to Answer
At Garmin, teamwork is of utmost importance for the system analysts to perform their job well. Talk to your interviewer about your most comfortable methods to communicate with others on your team and give examples of how you've contributed to a team based atmosphere. Be sure that your interviewer walks away from your conversation without a shadow of a doubt that you will be a team player if hired for this position.
1st Answer Example
"As you can see from my resume, my current job is with a worldwide software development organization. Because of our reach, a lot of my colleagues that I work with are in different locations than me. Most communications are in email and I consider myself great at communicating clearly through email. We also utilize Skype for video meetings when I need to get face to face with my engineers and testers on my projects. While not having someone in an office next door can be difficult at times, especially when looking to coordinate high needs tasks, being organized and timely in communications is key to success."
2nd Answer Example
"I consider myself excellent at coordinating activities among my team of colleagues and keeping lines of communication open with them as well. In my current role, I lead a bi-weekly huddle where our testers, architects, engineers and analysts can get together in a room for 30 minutes to discuss high needs items as a group. All of the individuals involved in these meetings have been very thankful for my coordination of them because of the eventual time that is saved through elimination of email chains and one-off conversations between people."
11. At Garmin we take pride in our ability to stay one step ahead of our competitors. How will you contribute to this trend?
How to Answer
It is critical that you research Garmin and their most vigorous competitors, before your interview. What does Garmin do best, and who is trying to do it better? Speak openly with the interviewer about your ability to work competitively and how you plan to contribute to their continued success.
1st Answer Example
"I believe the best way to stay ahead of your competitors is to pay a big amount of attention to the fine details. When you put out a great product, others will try to mimic your work, but they will cut corners because they will feel rushed to get it out on the marketplace first. I will contribute to the success of Garmin by committing my most attentive work to you every day."
2nd Answer Example
"I think that the best way to stay ahead of competitors is to keep your projects as simple as possible while remaining innovative. People want simple, easy products, which they can understand. What I've seen from my competitors lately is that they overcomplicate their products. I offer clean and consistent work that your buyers would relate to."
12. When would you utilize a trigger within Oracle to execute a function automatically?
How to Answer
To answer this question, it is important to first have an understanding of what a trigger is within Oracle. Simply defined, a trigger is a named block stored within the database that executes on its own when a certain even takes place. While you talk about your understanding of what a trigger is, be sure that you explain that you understand how to create a trigger in Oracle and that you understand that proper situations to utilize them in.
1st Answer Example
"In the current work that I do in Oracle, I utilize triggers to prevent invalid transactions within the software that I am working with. I have a full understanding of how to write create trigger statements using declaration statements, executable statements and exception handling statements to set the appropriate triggers. If hired for this role here at Garmin, you could have full confidence in my ability to utilize triggers within Oracle."
2nd Answer Example
"With my two prior years spent working on Oracle, I have written database triggers using insert, update and delete statements that are issued against a table. These database triggers allow our end users to be able to reap the benefits of the triggers. The instances that I've utilized database triggers have been for pulling statistical information from the tables within the system."
13. Here at Garmin, we utilize feasibility studies with our customers to consider all impacts of a new system for them. Do you have familiarity working with feasibility studies in your work as a software engineer?
How to Answer
To properly answer this question, make sure you understand the reasons why feasibility studies are important. In essence, a feasibility study helps to determine if conditions are right to implement a project. The study looks at economic, operation, legal and technical aspects of the project to determine if moving forward with the project is best for all involved. If you have experience in the studies, talk about a specific time that you utilized a study, the steps you took and explain why it was important to do in the end. Make sure that your interviewer walks away from the interview comfortable with your ability to utilize feasibility studies in your work.
1st Answer Example
"I do have familiarity with feasibility studies throughout my career as a software engineer. On a current project that I am working on, we utilized a study to analyze if the project we were tasked with could use current technologies available to us while meeting a timeline for completion. On my end, I had to spend time researching the resources that were available, gauge their functionality and come up with a plan for action based on that. Where the project stands today, we are on pace for delivering a revolutionary system for a large security industry customer."
14. What skills do you use to cope with the day to day stress and pressure on the job?
How to Answer
In modern technology industries, consumer demand has led to high volume of work and high pressure situations to work on tight deadlines. To prove that you are able to handle high stress, high pressure situations on the job, your interviewer is looking to hear first hand how you handle this type of environment in your own words. As you answer the question, try to turn potential perceived stress into a positive by highlighting your personal skills that enable you to perform well in those situations. If possible, try to use specific examples in your answer.
1st Answer Example
"Where many others get overtaken by stress to the point that they can't function in this field, high pressure situations sharpen my focus and that helps me work through them with ease. Last year, I was assigned a high priority, short notice project for a high profile customer. My manager gave it to me because of my proven success in those situations. From the start, I created a timeline for completion and mapped out a plan to make it happen. While staying in communication with my leaders and the client, I was able to create a great system update in just a few short weeks."
2nd Answer Example
"I am confident in high stress work situations because of my ability to adapt, communicate and be organized in my work. These skills came in very useful a few weeks ago when our support staff were experiencing an extremely high volume of help desk calls. My adaptability helped me go with the flow and handle items on at a time. My communication skills enabled me to quickly and efficiently call on needed support. My organization skills helped me be prepared for anything on that day and enabled me to work through tickets in a quick and efficient manner."
15. How do you ensure that you have a healthy work-life balance in your career?
How to Answer
In the fast paced world in software and technology development, heavy work loads and potential on-call duties have created a lot of burnout in professionals. Your interviewer is looking to hear that you are cognizant of the risks of burnout and that you do what is necessary to maintain your own personal health and well being and that of your family as well. While you can use this time to talk about personal interests or hobbies outside of work, try to focus on how these items help keep you refreshed for the work that you'll be doing for Garmin.
1st Answer Example
"As I am passionate about my career as a UX designer, I am also passionate about my family. Any moments outside of work are spent coaching my kids traveling baseball teams in the summer months and then spending as many weekends as possible on the ski slopes. These activities help keep me active, physically fit and keep my mind centered on what it truly important in my life when work weeks get stressful."
2nd Answer Example
"Having watched many of my senior colleagues over time suffer from work burnout that has caused marital issues and health issues, I make it a priority to maintain a healthy balance between my work and my home life. My free time is spent in the outdoors with my wife, whether that be on the lakes and rivers fishing or biking around town. I consider myself fortunate to be considered for a position here at Garmin because I know that you put a focus on your employees maintaining this healthy balance because the organization realizes how important this is to be productive."
16. If you were asked to review a colleague's code that they had written, what key things would you look for?
How to Answer
For this question, your interviewer will obviously be looking to hear that you have adequate knowledge when it comes to coding processes. But most importantly, your interviewer will be looking to gauge your ability to be a team player and focus on the bigger picture when working on a project. In your answer, focus on your attention to detail and your ability to help others when needed.
1st Answer Example
"As an experienced software engineer, I fully expect my colleagues to reach out to me for my insight and I never hesitate to provide open and honest feedback. When asked to do this, my main focus is ensuring that the code is readable and functional. If there are lines of code that need to be removed, I don't hesitate to let my colleague know that while also giving them feedback on why I feel it is unnecessary."
2nd Answer Example
"When I'm asked to do this in my current position, my main focus is on regulatory requirements that were put in place for the project and security issues. I work with a team of great engineers that are very efficient coders and these two areas are most often overlooked."
17. What is one unique personality trait you possess that would help you be successful in this role with Garmin?
How to Answer
This question is allowing you to have the floor during your interview to wow your interviewer with something they might not know about you yet from your resume or time so far during the interview. Think about a strong, unique trait that you have that has led to prior success in your field and explain in detail how this will help further you in your career with Garmin. If possible, be very unique in your answer to draw a direct line between your personality and success in this role.
1st Answer Example
"From what my parents have told me about me as a young child, passion has been a personality trait that has driven me my whole life. When I tackle something in life, I need to be passionate about it for it to be a success. From my time as a young child up to today, I have been passionate about physical fitness and this has driven me to participate in running and biking races across the country. This same passion in the pursuit of excellence has translated into my career as a software engineer. From tinkering with computer hardware at a young age and learning the internal components of a system to learning how to create and design software, you'll quickly find that my passion to engineer the most unique software here at Garmin will be extremely beneficial to your team."
2nd Answer Example
"I would have to say that my humility has been instrumental in getting me to where I am at today in my career. Having worked with one of the largest software companies in the world, egos were certainly high with a lot of my teammates and I have always used my humility to let my work do my talking for me while remaining a friendly and curious colleague to all."
18. Talk about a recent successful project that you worked on that required you to navigate some troubled waters during the project. What were the roadblocks and how did you overcome them?
How to Answer
While your resume and your past experiences can easily show your interview that you have the technical abilities for this position with Garmin, your interviewer needs some insight on your problem solving skills. This question allows your interviewer a chance to see how you handle adversity by using resources available to you. In your answer, talk about your ability to think critically and leverage people and resources to the advantage of beating a roadblock in your work. Make sure that your answer provides an example of a project that ended in success.
1st Answer Example
"A couple of years ago, I was the lead architect on a new software package that we were developing. As in any project, I was tasked with reviewing and approving the code the would be enveloped in the software. Because the final code impacted our potential clients and this was certainly a unique package we were developing, I proposed putting together a focus panel of existing clients to discuss potential needs out of a new system. My senior leaders were very reluctant to do this as they didn't want any word getting out about the program in its infancy. Knowing that we really wanted their feedback to start the coding process, I worked with our sales staff to build a list of our most dedicated customers. Then, I approached out leadership with this group and they approved without reluctance. After putting together the focus panel and gathering their thoughts, we built a phenomenal program that exceeded all of our sales and performance expectations."
2nd Answer Example
"I know that a large part of my success in the software architecture field is due to my ability to work collaboratively with others and provide mentorship to those on my team. On a recent project, I faced a design engineer that was very rigid in their ways and was unable to conform with new requirements for a system we were designing. In one of our first planning meetings, it became very evident that he would be unwilling to change in his ways. Being a person that wants to talk things out before escalating things further, I invited him to my office to talk one on one. I used a very educational approach to explain why we would be using the process we would be and I encouraged his participation in that approach. He hesitantly agreed. As we moved from design phase to the implementation phase, the engineer went right back to his old way of doing things and not embracing our new process. Rather than upsetting the entire project time, I immediately approached the engineer with a your either on board the ship or off the ship approach. Rather quickly, he asked that his seat on the team be reassigned to another engineer. In doing that quickly, our project was back up and running with success."
19. Do you have experience working with data in a cloud computing environment?
How to Answer
Over recent years, more and more companies are converting to cloud based computing services because the conversion allows them to save money and have better auditing trails. As a prospective data engineer with Garmin, your interviewer will be looking to hear that you are at least familiar with the concepts of working with cloud based data. Talk in details about the experiences you have while keeping your mind open to working with more in the future if hired with Garmin.
1st Answer Example
"My current organization has been using Apprenda, a PaaS, that allows us to develop, test and maintain our software projects. I also have experience mining and converting data off of public, community and private cloud networks. If hired here at Garmin, I think I would bring a wealth of cloud based experience to the data engineering team."
20. Do you have experience writing a custom exception in Java?
How to Answer
As a Java expert, you will hopefully have the ability to inform your interviewer that you do have experience in writing custom exceptions in Java. As a reputable software company, the engineers and architects with Garmin often need to demonstrate the ability to do just this. While talking about the experience that you do have, be sure to discuss your thought process in initially determining the need for writing a custom exception above and beyond the standard Java exceptions.
1st Answer Example
"Yes, I certainly do have experience writing custom exceptions in Java in my time in the financial software industry. Because some of the business logic and workflow needed customization, I was tasked with extending the exception class and all subclasses in standard Java to create the custom exceptions needed."
21. If you can, please provide your thoughts on the function of managed object context in developing iOS apps and software.
How to Answer
While the core data framework and the managed object context may seem pretty easy to comprehend and simple from a first look, a deeper look into managed object context shows that it can be misused to the point where obscure bugs can enter the system. Give your interviewer your own personal insight into the purpose of managed object context and how it works behind the scenes to help an app properly run.
1st Answer Example
"In my current work, I work with both main queue and private queue manged object contexts. It is important that I avoid non user related data processing on the main queue of an app that I am developing. In times where this has happened in the past, the user interface becomes unresponsive and crashes. As well, I work to avoid instances passing between the main and private queues to avoid corruption of data within the app."
2nd Answer Example
"Knowing that a managed object context's job is to manage a number of records within an app, my job is to successfully manage each object within the app and assign it to a correlating context within the app. I have to consider the persistent store coordinator and code the app to fetch requests from the correct one."
22. What would you say is your top non-technical skill that will help you succeed in this role here at Garmin?
How to Answer
As a software architect at Garmin, you will be relied upon to be the bridge to between the business and technical side of the organization. Your work my be relied upon to work within many silos of the organization. Because of this need, your interviewer is asking you to dig deep inside of yourself and talk about what you feel is your greatest skill to help you do this that is outside of your technical ability. As you prepare for this question, there are many ways that you can answer. No matter how you answer, be sure that your answer relates to your ability to work with other people in some way, shape or form.
1st Answer Example
"As I grew in the software development field over my career, I was best suited to be a architect because of my ability to be a great project manager. If hired for this role here at Garmin, you'll quickly find that I have the ability to lead others, negotiate, budget and oversee a project from idea to final delivery."
2nd Answer Example
"From a self introspection point of view, I think that my ability to be empathetic towards others that I work with has led to a huge amount of my success in the software architecture field. While I do have the technical skills to do great things here at Garmin, my ability to learn from others, see their point of view and become a great teach to them when needed will really set me apart from others that you are interviewing for this position. If given the opportunity to work here, this skills will greatly improve the team atmosphere."
23. Here at Garmin, we strive for continuous delivery and continuous deployment with our software. Are you familiar with these processes in your current work?
How to Answer
In the industries that Garmin works in, updates to software are vital to end users for them to stay at the forefront of their business. To ensure that updates happen as quick and smoothly as possible, Garmin utilizes continuous delivery and continuous deployment for their customers. For this question, talk about what you know about these processes as a software architect, why they are important and what experience you have with them.
1st Answer Example
"In my current role, we utilize a 100% continuous deployment process with our end users when we role out new changes to existing software. We use automated testing in our process to validate that code changes are correct and able to be deployed without issue. Once validated, changes are automatically rolled out to our end users. Having once utilized a continuous delivery system, I am very appreciative of working in an environment utilizing continuous deployment as it negates any need for human intervention in the roll out."
2nd Answer Example
"In my current position, we've slowly grown from a continuous integration process to a continuous delivery process. I love the automated testing process when we are looking at rolling out new changes to existing software and my role as the architect for our projects puts me in the drivers seat for sending out these changes. If hired for this role here at Garmin, I'd be very intrigued at learning and working with continuous deployment practices as well."
24. At Garmin we value organization. Tell us about a time when you were particularly effective on prioritizing tasks and completing a project on schedule.
How to Answer
An interviewer needs to hear that you have a plan in place to keep yourself organized. Start off by mentioning that you are typically an organized person. From here, dive into a recent time-consuming project that you were involved with.
You might say, 'I recently was involved with a project that required 30 hours of my time in a two week period while I was also in the middle of several other projects.'
Tell the interviewer that you started off by ensuring you had your schedule mapped out before you dove into your workload. Discuss if you made a to-do list, updated your calendar, or created a color-coded agenda. Share whatever organization method worked for you! Next, tell the interviewer how you prioritized the work. You may share that each day you sat down to determine the urgent needs for that day and marked them with a letter A. Perhaps you identified anything that would be nice to get done that day with a letter B. And, maybe you just left everything else that could wait for another day unmarked. Tell the interviewer how you diligently stuck with this plan for the duration of the project and how it allowed you to complete the project on time without any stress successfully.
1st Answer Example
"Last week I was asked to lead our team while our manager was away. I created a checklist of things that needed to be completed to reach our deadlines. I gathered the team to discuss our goals and asked for input and ideas to get us there. It was a great experience for me because not only was I able to exercise my leadership capabilities; I was also able to learn more about prioritizing, from my team."
25. The software we develop here at Garmin requires you to have working knowledge of both privileges and roles within Oracle. Can you talk about your knowledge and experience of both within Oracle?
How to Answer
On the development end of software, your role at Garmin will require you to have knowledge of the differences between user privilege and role. Your role will put you working with end users on the two roles and explaining your knowledge of the two will be important to your interviewer. Give a basic understanding that privilege relates to the right to execute SQL statements and another user's objects as defined by Oracle. Then talk about roles being created by administrators to grant privileges to their users.
1st Answer Example
"In my current role, I have great working knowledge of both role and privilege within Oracle as I work with the system administrators of our end users very closely. I work with them on using the grant and revoke commands to define the roles or their users and grant permissions within their system. To do this, I have to gain strong knowledge on the different people that are allowed access to the system and what they will be doing with their access."
2nd Answer Example
"As you can see from my resume, it has been a few years since I've worked directly with Oracle but I do have great working knowledge of the system. To best explain my knowledge, privileges control the ability to run SQL statements with the database and my role has been to outline those privileges for our end users. Then, roles group together different privileges for each end user. In my past work, I'm most familiar with creating the different roles within the system and then working with key decision makes with our end users to grant the privileges to the roles we defined."
26. Do you have any unique skills or past work experiences that we can't see on your resume that would benefit the team here at Garmin?
How to Answer
This question is providing you the opportunity to potentially set yourself apart from your competition for this position. To do just that, it will be important for you to make sure that the unique skill or experience that you discuss matches with a critical need for Garmin and the position that you are interviewing for. Whether you talk about a unique skill or experience, your research on this job will prove vital in your ability to make sure that it impresses your interviewer.
1st Answer Example
"In my current role as a data engineer, I have gotten the opportunity over the last five years to work with clients in many industries. One of the industries that I've worked most closely with has been the private insurance industry. This experience and my gaining of insider knowledge in the insurance industry would benefit me greatly if brought aboard the team here at Garmin."
27. Do you have experience working with different CASE tools? If so, what do you have experience with?
How to Answer
The world of software engineering has greatly benefited from advancements in computer aided software engineering tools. Because Garmin is at the forefront of the industry, your interviewer will be looking to hear which tools you have experience with. Make sure not to concern yourself with providing a correct answer here, but rather focus on your flexibility to learn new aides when needed while explaining what you have experience with.
1st Answer Example
"In my current role, I regularly utilize both diagramming and web development tools. The diagram tools assist our software projects by outlining the system data and components in a graphical form for us and this saves us a great amount of time while also being very reliable. The web development tools greatly help me visualize site changes that I am making because I don't have a deep background in web development. If hired for this position, I'd look forward to learning other CASE tools for prototyping, quality assurance and maintenance."
2nd Answer Example
"During my career and in my experience with CASE tools, most of my experience is in the lower CASE elements that focus on coding and testing the software after initial development. CASE tools have certainly made life as a software engineer more efficient and effective and I'd look forward to learn any new CASE tools if hired for this position here at Garmin."
28. If you were working on a project here at Garmin that came with frequent changes in user requirements, how would you handle that situation?
How to Answer
For a system analyst, situations like this can bring stress into the work equation very easily as it can feel like work that is being done is useless for the end user. Rather than looking at it from the pessimistic point of view, try and steer your answer toward the positive by highlighting how you could improve any future processes or learn from the situation moving forward. Make sure that you are very open to the fact that you are an open communicator and don't hesitate to do so when needed.
1st Answer Example
"I am a realist and know that in the software world, user requirements change on a very routine basis. But, if I were to notice that changes were happening in an out of line manner, I'd first look at our own internal processes to see where we can improve. If a requirement document needed updating, I would work with my engineering team to ensure that was done. Then, I would pick up the phone to speak with our customer that put through the request to get firsthand knowledge about the situation. In my experience, this is the best way in ensuring that user requirements changes are effective on the first try."
2nd Answer Example
"Having recently been in a similar situation, my first step was to document all email communication surround the changes that had taken place up to that point. By getting all of the conversations in one spot, I was able to document all of our known requirement changes and I sent them to the key decision maker from the customer to both sign off on and prioritize the changes we were to be making in the near future. This gave the customer the ability to provide direct feedback and feel a part of the direct process while also outlining our priorities moving forward."