15 Interview Questions The Developer Should Be Prepared For

Interviews for software development used to be rife with trick questions. When hiring for an IT position, most businesses are aware that they must go beyond a prospective candidate’s technical qualifications. Interpersonal skills and ambition, for example, are also critical considerations. To gather that kind of information, interviewers put the cv aside and create a thorough list of IT screening possible questions for applicants.

Each company has its interviewing system. It depends on the type and size of the firm, on the position, on the management methods, goals, etc. Some companies use the famous Google approach, while others rely on their models. When it comes to recruiting developers, clients look for professionals that are competent and have a high degree of training as well as respectable personal qualities.

It is never possible to predict the course of the interview, but we are here to help you to be as prepared as possible, feel confident, and desirably represent yourself.

Stand ready, your professional background will not be the only important thing. Your ability to work as a team member, management, and problem-solving skills are of big importance.

Professional experience

1. Tell about the project you are proud of and what you accomplished in it.

This question tests how you define success, your ambitions, whether you’re a team or a single player, your ability to be a leader and to work under mentorship. An interviewer will check out your work style here, including how you gather requirements, solve problems, manage user input, handle QA, and pay special attention to the user experience.

2. What about the project that disappointed you?

With this question, the interviewer tests your ability to be self-critical, so be as open and honest as possible when it comes to admitting past mistakes. Discuss the lessons you’ve learnt thus far. Basically, describe how you overcame your greatest setbacks and emerged stronger. It also allows understanding the example of how you work in crises and what conclusions you make after figuring them out.

3. What part of your job is the most difficult for you?

Be honest with your technical weaknesses, it is okay to have gaps in your knowledge, especially if you are a beginner. You may get a great chance to work on them under mentorship or maybe these or that skills are not that valuable in a special project.

4. What is your vision and approach to Quality Assurance?

Testing is an essential part of the software development process: manual testing of the program is one approach while building test suites for individual code modules is another. There are numerous schools of thought within these approaches. So this question allows the recruiter to make sure that you are comfortable with a Quality Assurance process to maintain the quality of the code in the company and you are aware of the various approaches that exist.

Read Also: Benefits of Software Testing

Technical questions

5. Describe your workflow when working on a project.

You can write your code in a variety of ways, and all of them are correct. The company you want to work for is likely to have a code writing standard, and your response will be compared to that standard.

This question tests your basic approach to coding and your organizational skills in general. You don’t need to dive into details but tell about the main steps you take, their order, connection, etc.

6. What kind of debugger do you use to find an error in your code?

The answer will depend heavily on the work environment. Furthermore, an interviewer may ask you to outline how you characterize bugs and the steps you’ll take to solve them. The important thing is to explain how to proceed in special cases. You may be asked to analyze one of the examples.

7. How do you organize yourself to share a code base with other developers and manage possible conflicts?

Here you will probably be talking about git, versioning changes as you go, and using branches. It’s how you deal with differences that matters. It’s also beneficial to discuss what you learned from resolving the conflict, such as how you’d avoid a similar situation in the future and what you’d do differently.

8. How do you consider other factors like UX, SEO, maintainability, performance, or security when building a web app?

The question tests your ability to take various factors into account and balance them out as best as possible, prioritizing those that matter to the project and those which can be neglected. Explain how you prioritize your actions in accordance with the organization’s needs. If your company handles confidential information, security will be a primary priority, buy if you’re running a medium-sized internet business, SEO and UX may be top of mind, and so on.

Read Also: 5 Ways to Boost Employee Engagement

Communication questions

9. Have you ever worked directly with the client? If not, are you ready for this?

This one tests your ability to manage a relationship with a person outside the company and optimize your time, assignments, and ability to understand the returns. Also, shows how you work with feedback, negative as well. How good are your negotiation skills and whether you can prove your point of view and advocate your decisions?

10. What soft skills (non-technical qualities) are important for you in your job? Why?

Communication, team and time management, prioritizing, willingness to learn, and others will be all assets for a full-time and a freelance developer. An interviewer may ask you to give examples of how you can demonstrate this skill, and use this to determine whether or not this fits the position. Which soft skills do you have on your list, which ones you are working on, and which you would like to adopt?

11. Tell about a non-technical problem solved during your previous work?

It could be the resolution of an internal conflict in the project, a helping hand given to a teammate that does not imply in any way your professional relationship. It is for testing your behavior and problem management and relationship building.

Read Also: Agile Development Lifecycle: Defenition, Benefits, And Use

12. You get stuck on a line of code or a technical problem. How do you find the answer?

What do you do in a crisis you can’t solve on your own? Whether you’re asking for help from a teammate or a project manager, turning straight to StackOverflow or forums. There is no right or incorrect answer in this situation. When faced with an issue, it’s interesting to examine whether you prefer to keep your head down or ask around. This question also indicates how you approach difficult situations and what kind of a problem solver you are. It also helps to understand in what conditions it will be the most comfortable for you to work.

13. What do you think of pair/group programming? Are you experienced in this, or would you be interested in trying?

It is not to force yourself to use this approach all the time but to check your ability and willingness to work as a team member on technical matters. Your response to this interview question will allow the employer to analyze not just your knowledge of this popular working practise but also your attitudes toward collaboration and communication.

14. How would you describe yourself as a part of the team?

This question tests the critical capacity and self-knowledge, essential factors to integrate into a team and create a comfortable atmosphere for everyone. Share your thoughts about the value of teamwork and being a contributing member of a group. Demonstrate to the interviewer that you realize that achieving a company’s goals requires a team of individuals, and that each person is a link of a chain.

15. How do you maintain your technological knowledge up to date?

Those things show your involvement and willingness to grow professionally. Reading blogs and forums, taking online courses, participating in hackathons, and working on own IT projects are all ways that tech workers keep their expertise up to date. This interview question is concentrated on measuring your interest in the field and initiate a discussion about professional development.

Besides these questions, you will need to do a test task, answer specific questions on your subject, etc. The questions test your general professional and technical skills, give you a chance to tell about your experience, point out your soft skills.

Usually at the end of the interview, employers leave some time to hear your questions. Be prepared for this section, as wrong questions may cause interviewers to doubt your skills or enthusiasm in the role. Ask questions that indicate both your business knowledge and your interest in the company’s technological operations, such as the tools they use and what standards they follow.

Now, when you are better prepared, check out our career page, since we are growing and have some interesting open positions. Send us your CV and see you at the interview!