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7 Software Engineer Interview
Questions and Answers
Whether you are preparing to interview a candidate or applying for a job,
review our list of top Software Engineer interview questions and answers.
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What programming languages have you used in the past? What
are your top two programming languages?
This question allows you to see how many programming
languages the candidate knows and whether they are familiar with a
language you commonly use at your company. What to look for:
Applicant's programming knowledge
Applicant's fit for your company
Level of proficiency
Example: "I'm proficient in Java, C++, Ruby, C and Ocaml. I having a
passing knowledge of SQL and Perl. My two best programming
languages are Java and C++."
How much are you coding on a daily basis? If you do not code on
a daily basis, what is typical in your role?
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Since coding is a big part of being a software engineer, if a
candidate isn't spending much of their time coding and they aren't in a
management role, it may be a sign of problems with their coding skills.
What to look for:
Commitment to coding
Applicant's coding ability
Role in previous job
Example: "I code at least 30 hours a week. The rest of my time at work
is spent working on design reviews, scrums, meetings and other tasks
to keep projects moving forward."
How comfortable are you in a startup environment, or do you
prefer working in a more established company?
Working in a startup is very different than being at a more
established company. You want to make sure a candidate is a good fit
for your company environment and expected workload that comes with
working in a startup. What to look for:
Company fit
Ready for startup life
Understanding of expected workload
Example: "There is something to be said for the predictability of
working in a more established company with it's set goals and office
hours. However, I must say I really enjoy the unpredictability and
excitement of working at a startup. Yes, the hours are long and
everything moves at a breakneck pace, but there's nothing quite like
building something from scratch and seeing where it goes."
What distinguishes a great software engineer from a good one?
Do you feel you have those qualities?
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It helps to understand how a candidate feels about what makes
someone the best in their career and how they feel about their skills
and what makes them a good or great software engineer. What to look
for:
Thoughts on software engineering
Their idea of greatness
Honesty and introspection
Example: "A great software engineer has a healthy balance between
perfectionism and pragmatism. Too often engineers want their code to
be perfect, while losing sight of the overall goals of the project. A great
programmer also learns not to fall in love with their own code, to keep a
healthy skepticism until it's been thoroughly tested, making sure it is
the right choice for the project at hand. And yes, I believe have the
qualities of a great programmer, though working on my need to be
perfect is an ongoing battle."
What's the most important thing to look for or check when
reviewing another team member's code?
While there's no definitive right or wrong answer to this question, it
is designed to test an applicant's knowledge, how well they articulate
their debugging process, and whether they're a victim of tunnel vision
or can they keep their focus on the project at large. What to look for:
Attention to deal
Debugging skills
Problem-solving ability
Example: "Some things you want to look for when reviewing a team
member's code is its functionality and how readable it is. Is it secure, or
are there obvious flaws that would cause security problems and make
it easy to hack? Is the code simple, or are there a lot of unnecessary
line of code that needs to be removed or rewritten? Does it meet the
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regulatory requirements in place for the project, and is it optimized to
not be resource-heavy?"
In your opinion, what are the principles of good software
engineering? What are some basic principles everyone should follow?
There are different opinions on what makes good software
engineering, and those opinions guide a company's culture. This
question will allow you to see if the candidate's philosophy on
engineering matches your own. What to look for:
Thoughts on software engineering
Applicant's coding philosophy
Critical thinking skills
Example: "I think one of the main principles of software engineering,
and one I try to live by, is to keep things as simple as possible. You're
often already dealing with complex algorithms and design concerns, so
no need to make things even more difficult with overly complicated,
resource-heavy code. Your code should be simple, lean and easy to
read. If you start there, the rest will follow."
If needed, how would you go about designing scalable
applications? Walk us through your process.
This question is designed to test a candidate's knowledge and
thought processes when it comes to design and solving common
project specific problems. What to look for:
Test applicant's knowledge
Problem-solving skills
Understand their approach to design
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Example: "You design scalable projects by writing as little code as
possible. You also want to reuse as much code as you can while not
over or under doing your design. Then break things down into modular
sections that can run on multiple or separate systems."
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