Is it considered a good idea to bring along a programming portfolio of your previous work when attending a programming job interview?
By portfolio I mean a collection of screenshots, brief description of the product and maybe a couple of code examples. Obviously the code examples would need to be of non-private works.
Yes.
Interviewers will be interested in what kind of work you have done before (whether for a programming job or more generally). If you are the sort of person who gets a bit nervous at an interview, and might forget to mention something in the heat of the moment, a portfolio provides you with a handy reminder of what work you have done, to talk about.
Images showing your past work (e.g. screenshots, for a programming interview) are a particularly good idea to include, if your work had a suitable visual depiction. From the interviewer's perspective, seeing an image depicting the work can really help to quickly get an overall picture of what the interviewee is talking about. Also, if you end up explaining some technical point about the work, an image might be handy to point to, to illustrate.
If you are not sure whether to include a screenshot (or another document) or not, try imagining yourself in the shoes of the interviewer and ask yourself whether this would help the interviewer see what you have to offer better. I find it hard to imagine whether examples of code would help, unless an interviewer has specifically requested them.
A portfolio also makes you look well-prepared and keen, an added bonus!
Yes, of course. The interviewer's job is to evaluate you in order to determine if you can get things done. A proof of that is if you show him past things that you got done. Actually, since we're talking about programming, there are TONS of ways you can do this:
The things you present will spark good healthy conversations. If you have more than 2 - 3 projects to show, you can be pretty sure that you won't run out of things to talk about.
In conclusion: software companies look for passionate employees. For most of them, this means someone who works on his own personal projects outside of the regular job. Maybe this is a fair assumption/expectation, maybe not; it's just there. Show them you're passionate by showing them your portfolio, it always helps :) .
Yes, I think it's a great idea. I would also recommend including items in the portfolio that demonstrate your expertise in all areas of the software development lifecycle.
Show that you don't just code, you know how to communicate effectively as well. That's important.
Yes, I did exactly that. I sent in a portfolio with short descriptions and screenshots with my application. I also print it out and brought my App to the interview. Every interviewer I talked to responded positively to it.
I handed my tablet to the interviewers, got up and walked around the table to look at the screen with them and explain them what they see. That seemed to make a good impression, too.
