Option Explicit

So I went for a job placement interview at AllStaff today. Since I'm looking for IT jobs they actually gave me a short written test. It covered 3 areas - SQL, web programming, and Visual Basic. I obviously flunked the web programming part but I crapped the best I can for the theory questions. Database questions were thankfully do-able, while the VB questions forced me to remember some ancient code.

However, one of the questions that made me smile was:

What is the purpose of Option Explicit in VB?

I chuckled to myself because that was a very popular question in my foundation VB course.

A question I had a harder time with was the error handling mechanism for VB. I have been dealing with try/catch for so long that I don't really remember how VB error codes and GoTos work.

Anyway, during the proper interview I explained a little on my final year project. She then offered to apply for several suitable positions - one of them being Analyst Programmer. I actually like the job function as it is the kind of work I want to do, but the MNC's factory is located on the mainland. Crossing the bridge everyday is a no-no for me, thank you.

One particular thing I don't like about recruitment agencies is how they will hide the identity of the company until the very last minute. The other two positions I applied for through AllStaff, web programmer and business analyst, come from MNCs somewhere in Penang.

Well, we'll see how it goes but I'm really hoping to score with Agilent first. About an hour after I finished the AllStaff interview, they called again. This time, another manager would like to interview me for the post of R&D Engineer. Not wanting to let any chance slip away, of course I said "yes". He then said I will be given a written test during the interview and asked me to bring my scientific calculator (uh-oh). He then asked me to revise my 1st and 2nd year subjects, such as (insert Electronic & Electrical Engineering subjects here).

My mind immediately blanked out because I had no clue what those words were at all. I quickly interjected him and said that those topics were not my field of study. He then said, "Oh, what about VB, VC++, and C#?"

I heaved a sigh of relief.

Relief or not, I have even more work to prepare. Not only do I have to read up about Agilent (still blur about them), I also have to brush up my dusty and non-existant skills! Can someone please explain how to use memory pointers? We Java programmers have no idea how to use those ampersands(&) properly.