Interview Questions for Software Engineers2 min read

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When hiring Software Engineers you are looking for people that have strong analytical and problem-solving skills. A software engineer will always want to actively seek to learn new technologies and have outstanding communication and interpersonal skills. Software engineers must be intrinsically motivated and have experience with various programming languages. The interview questions you choose when hiring software engineers should reflect these requirements to help you find the ideal professional.

Check 201 Interview Questions for every occasion.

What Traits to Look for in Software Engineers

For highly skilled competencies like software engineering, you want to recruit candidates that exhibit proficiency in core skills and an understanding of the industry in which your company operates.

Best Questions to Ask When Interviewing Software Engineers

• Tell me about the software lifecycle at your last job. What did you like about it? What would you change if you could?
• Give an example of a sandbox. Have you ever used one before? What is their purpose and what alternatives exist?
• Tell me what refactoring is, in your own words. Why is it important and when have you ever had to do it?
• Which of the following is most important in a project: customer happiness, best practices, budget, or time? Order them according to importance and then explain why.
• What advantages are ushered in by best practices like continuous integration, automated testing, and code reviews? What disadvantages do they bring?
• What can you say about the concept of convention over configuration? Give an example of this concept.
• What is your strategy for designing, developing, and debugging applications? What are your preferred tools? Why are these your favourites? Have you tried using others before?
• What do you not like about our product/service/website? How would you improve it and which of those changes would likely have the heaviest customer benefit?
• Tell us about a website that you really like. What makes it great?
• Outline the structure and content of a design document. What would you define as the minimum amount of information necessary before development starts building something?
• Tell me about a time when you did not have enough information to kick start a project, or when you had too much information.
• Create a scenario and design a product.