During my CIS495 class, Professor Maxim had mentioned how taking our documentation to any interviews would be an asset. For whatever reason, I did not take that advice, until an opportunity to interview with Compuware came about. This was one of my top three companies to work for, so I decided to pull out the stops. I put together a document that included my proposal, software management plan, the design document and my test plan and validation info. The project manager was very impressed. During the interview he commented that in his twenty years in the field, he has found that most CIS students do not learn, or promote their knowledge of the software lifecycle, or the other details involved in a project from start to finish at professional level. The department I interviewed with has a QA, testing/validation, and a configuration section. I was able to answer questions regarding these subjects and interject some of my own experiences from the CIS 375 and 495 classes. This was very much a factor in their offering me a job. He stated that he wished more prospective employees had this background. I thought you would like to hear about this, and maybe pass it on to current/future students.
Sincerely,
Dave Hinkle