Enrique López Mañas - 100 questions and answers to help you land your dream iOS job : or to hire the right candidate!

Any source code or other supplementary material referenced by the author in this book is available to readers on GitHub via the books product page, located at www.apress.com/978-1-4842-4272-8 . For more detailed information, please visit www.apress.com/source-code .

In 2015, I resigned from my previous position without another job. At the time, it felt scaryI was quitting a comfortable and secure post to pursue a different lifestyle, which I could not even define exactly. In retrospect, it turned out to be the best decision I made. I could focus on other projects; it got me out of my comfort zone; and it enabled me to push beyond boundaries I was never aware of.

At that time, I was conducting interviews for prospective candidates, and for that purpose, I ended up creating my own list of questions and answers. I tend to quantify and write notes and ideas meticulously in a daily journal, and so I did with all the questions. I also documented whether the candidates were able to respond to my questions, which directions the conversation took after a particular question, etc. Later, when I found myself on the opposite side of the desk, I realized that all the notes that I had organized and collected were of enormous value to me and that I had gained insights from my previous experience.

Eventually, I found a client, one with a challenging project (this is among the perks offered by mobile developers today, for which demand, especially for senior developers, significantly exceeds the supply of available workers). After a few intense weeks, which elucidated my future career path, I acquired several ideas. One recurrent thought was whether anyone in my situation could benefit from a well-organized book of potential interview questions categorized by job level. Another was whether a potential employer could use such a book to interview prospective employees. I had some spare time and had already compiled a list of questions, so I decided to publish the book 100 Questions and Answers to Help You Land Your Dream Android Job .

It turned out to be a success, not financially, but I was rewarded in other ways. I began to receive messages from anonymous peers living in different parts of the world who shared real-life experiences. Thank you for writing the book, I got an interview and passed it partially due to your help! was one such message. Another was I am relocating to the Bay Area from India with my family, and this book helped me to put my ideas in place. That pleased me greatly! As a mobile developer for many years, I was used to having limited interactions with people using my libraries and applications or reading my articles, but suddenly a book I wrote was having a real impact on the lives of others and their families. I felt empowered and in possession of a mission. I felt an obligation to continue doing this. Making a positive contribution to the world became a huge priority.

I conceived of writing this book almost immediately, but starting my life as a freelancer made me rethink my priorities: I ended up writing code for a very challenging project, but my free time rapidly declined, owing to other endeavors and responsibilities. Yet, the desire to write 100 Questions and Answers to Help You Land Your Dream iOS Job intensified. So, day by day, I kept on writing (a question, an idea, etc.) until the book was complete. And, so, it is now in your hands or on your Kindle.

My purpose in writing this book is to help you land your dream iOS job, increase your knowledge of iOS, or help you, as an interviewer, to conduct effective interviews and make your life easier, in general. The questions are not very detailed, because this is not the purpose of the book. I do not think in an interview you need to go into extreme technical detail or be API-exact. Who remembers the parameters of a function? Or is knowing how to write compiling code in a whiteboard representative of any practical skills? I do not think so. I think an oral interview should be an informal discussion of APIs, a candidates experience with frameworks and views on their advantages and disadvantages, sketching code, and being able to identify risks in particular scenarios. (I always liked to ask prospective candidates how they could create a memory leak, but I did not expect them to write a Java compiling class with no boilerplate code in a whiteboard. I would probably not have been able to do this myself!)

Some questions include a follow-up paragraph. When I am asking questions, if a candidate seems excited, very confident, or particularly keen on a subject, I like to discuss it further. This is an easy way to delve into the strengths and weaknesses of a particular field. For example, if a candidate is able to define a concurrency paradigm rather quickly, I will follow up by asking him or her to describe a good scenario in which to apply it. And maybe later we can also talk about mutability or how to securely store information in a device, if the course of the conversation moves in that direction.

If this book can truly help you in any way, I would appreciate you letting me know. If you have any constructive criticism that you want to share with me, I would appreciate it even more. If you find that the book was not useful or a waste of time, send me proof of payment, and I will reimburse you from the royalties I receive. (Depending on the provider, they can vary. For example, if you acquire this book on Google, I receive 70% of the total price.)