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iOS Interview Guide

Inside iOS Dev Podcast

Previous Episodes

Episode 8 - Cloud and Backend Services For Apps

What makes interviewing iOS Developers special?

• Apple Design Patterns
  • Model-View-Controller
  • Delegation Pattern
  • Protocol Oriented Programming
• Special Background and Knowledge in Frameworks: UIKit, HealthKit, AVFoundation, WatchKit, etc...

Common mistakes employers make interviewing iOS candidates

• Not understanding their own app
  • Hiring a consultant to help estimate and understand what iOS knowledge is nessecary
• Not understanding the phase their app and whether general iOS developers are needed as opposed to iOS developers with specialties
• Algorithms and Optimization Interview Questions

Interview Questions about building a UI in iOS

• Finding out whether the applicant understands the pros and cons of various methods: Storyboards, Coding, etc...
• Make sure they are willing to work with the team

Common mistakes iOS developer applicants and candidates make

• Not having broad knowledge of various solutions an app may need: Data Storage, Networking, UI...
• Some Backend Knowledge

Full Transcription

Leo Dion (Host): Hey Alex

[00:00:01] Alex Bush (Guest): Hey Leo

[00:00:01] Leo Dion (Host): how are you doing, sir?

[00:00:02] Alex Bush (Guest): Great. How are you doing?

[00:00:04] Leo Dion (Host): Fantastic glad to have Alex Bush on from IOS interview guide and inside iOS Dev podcast. If you are interested in iOS development, you should definitely check his podcast out. Alex, what are you up to right now?

[00:00:21] Alex Bush (Guest): I am sort of getting up to speed after Microconf and vacation.

[00:00:27] Leo Dion (Host): I hear you. I'm in the same boat microconf and peers and vacation and starting a new contract. So I know where you're coming from.

[00:00:35] Alex Bush (Guest): Right and yeah, and I'm Contracting as well iOS so doing that getting up to speed on that

[00:00:42] Leo Dion (Host): Who are you working with right now?

[00:00:43] Alex Bush (Guest): Currently with Uber. Yeah, Silicon Valley, you know all the companies, around probably be looking for another gig soon enough.

[00:00:53] Leo Dion (Host): Yeah. If you are interested in architecture, definitely check Alex's podcast out like your specialty really is in helping iOS developers get jobs and specifically the interview process, correct.

[00:01:11] Alex Bush (Guest): Yes, that's sort of been my aim my focus lately last couple of years. Yeah, I wrote a book as you mentioned on the topic helping iOS developers get jobs right prep for interviews.

[00:01:26] Leo Dion (Host): Okay. So if you're like a company hiring iOS developers, what are some things that make interviewing a potential iOS Developer different from - I guess the biggest thing is web developers, right? So what makes it different from hiring your standard web developer.

[00:01:45] Alex Bush (Guest): That's a good question and it's sort of how the whole book thing and helping iOS devs interview started. I was at the time at a different consultancy helping them hire people for their iOS project. And as I was interviewing sort of same things will come up and I would kind of jot some notes take some notes on what to ask what to remember you get to ask and probe as I interview people and in general sort of when you interview, let's say a web developer or just a software developer right you go for a broader software topics, right?

[00:02:30] Roughly speaking algorithms and then design patterns and architectures, right but overall for software not specific for iOS and I think that's what's different when you're interviewing and hiring iOS people. The one thing i...