{"id":693,"date":"2016-12-06T15:39:14","date_gmt":"2016-11-16T05:07:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wayup.com\/guide\/?p=693"},"modified":"2018-06-29T14:12:29","modified_gmt":"2018-06-29T14:12:29","slug":"top-5-software-developer-interview-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/top-5-software-developer-interview-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 5 Software Developer Interview Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Being a software developer<\/a> is an exciting opportunity to gain exposure to the tech industry and learn about innovative technologies first hand. If you\u2019re considering a career as a developer, then you might be wondering what to expect from the interview and how you can set yourself up for success.<\/p>\n

Here are some of the most common questions you\u2019re likely to encounter during the interview process.<\/p>\n

1. How do you interface with a team?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

This question is considered a \u201cfit\u201d question<\/a> and it\u2019s designed to get a sense of the type of work environment you prefer to work in. Although culture fit questions are common in all types of interviews, the fit questions you\u2019re likely to encounter during a tech interview are generally targeted towards getting a sense of how well you work with other team members and how comfortable you are working on software engineering processes on a team \u2014 including things like code review, version control and communication. To answer this question effectively, it\u2019s important to talk about your prior experience of working with a team (either at a previous job or on a class project) and to explain how you approach working with others.<\/p>\n

2. Tell me about a time that you had to build something and then support it.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Another common question you\u2019re likely to encounter during a tech interview, this question is designed to test your understanding of the challenges engineers face when building technology for other people. The key to answering it well is demonstrating that you understand how to elicit feedback from end users and stakeholders, and that you know how to weave it into the product. From an engineering perspective, many employers want to see that you\u2019re \u201cthinking 100 steps ahead\u201d but \u201cbuilding 10 steps ahead\u201d \u2014 in other words, that you\u2019re thinking ahead but not overengineering today.<\/p>\n

3. Tell me about a project you worked on and explain how and why you chose to architect it the way you did.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

This question is designed to test your critical thinking and problem-solving ability by asking you to describe the path you chose to take when architecting a specific project. When answering this question, it\u2019s important to outline the steps you took in proceeding with the project and to explicitly state why you made certain decisions. For example, what tradeoffs did you consider when making those decisions? Mention this and be sure to justify why you chose the path you did. This will show the hiring manager that you\u2019re thoughtful about your decisions, aware of possible drawbacks and that you take calculated risks when necessary.<\/p>\n

4. What are some projects you\u2019re working on in your spare time?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Being a great developer involves building your skill set by continuously learning new things. The best way to do that is by exploring projects on your own. When hiring managers ask this question, it\u2019s because they want to know that you\u2019re passionate about the work you do and that you\u2019re learning about new technologies by working on one or more side-projects. A great way to answer this question is by referring to something you\u2019re developing (or have developed) and highlighting the reason why the project is important to you. Are you trying to solve a specific problem or excited to try out a new programming language? Mention that and explain how it connects to the work you\u2019ll be doing in the role you\u2019re interviewing for.<\/p>\n

Pro Tip:<\/strong> If you\u2019re not currently working on any projects of your own but you\u2019re collaborating on projects on an open source platform like Github<\/a>, be sure to mention that. This is a great way to demonstrate that you\u2019re involved in ongoing projects in the industry and eager to learn more.<\/p>\n

5. Tell me about a project that completely failed.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Talking about your failures<\/a> is never fun but being able to show that you\u2019ve learned from them is extremely important, particularly when it comes to being an engineer. This is because failure is a crucial part of the programming process and being able to demonstrate that you\u2019re resilient and able to iterate quickly will go a long way towards impressing the interviewer and showing them that you\u2019re able to work well in an agile environment.<\/p>\n

Interviewing for a job as a software developer might seem a bit intimidating at first but by knowing what to expect and how to prepare your answers, you\u2019ll be sure to impress the hiring manager and get one step closer to landing the job.<\/p>\n

Next, get more career tips for internships and entry-level jobs such as How to Be Effective in a Remote or Virtual Job<\/a>\u00a0and find answers to common interview questions such as Tell Me About Yourself<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Being a software developer is an exciting opportunity to gain exposure to the tech industry and learn about innovative technologies first hand. If you\u2019re considering a career as a developer, then you might be wondering what to expect from the interview and how you can set yourself up for success. Here are some of the … Continue reading “Top 5 Software Developer Interview Questions”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,129,133,21,83],"tags":[44,46,70,136,197,198,199,210],"class_list":["post-693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-major","category-science-math-technology","category-technology","category-interviewing-101","category-skill-based-interview-questions","tag-entry-level-job","tag-interview","tag-full-time-job","tag-technology","tag-underclassman","tag-postgrad","tag-senior","tag-cs-it-math"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTop 5 Software Developer Interview Questions | Career Advice & Interview Tips | WayUp Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Some of the most common questions you\u2019re likely to encounter during the interview process.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/top-5-software-developer-interview-questions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Top 5 Software Developer Interview Questions | Career Advice & Interview Tips | WayUp Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Some of the most common questions you\u2019re likely to encounter during the interview process.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/top-5-software-developer-interview-questions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Career Advice & Interview Tips | WayUp Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/wayupinc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-11-16T05:07:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-06-29T14:12:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/guideassets.wayupcdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/recent-grad-interview.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"355\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"wayupstudent\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@wayup\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@wayup\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"wayupstudent\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/top-5-software-developer-interview-questions\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/top-5-software-developer-interview-questions\/\",\"name\":\"Top 5 Software Developer Interview Questions | Career Advice & Interview Tips | WayUp Guide\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/top-5-software-developer-interview-questions\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/top-5-software-developer-interview-questions\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/guideassets.wayupcdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/recent-grad-interview.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-16T05:07:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-06-29T14:12:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2fe332dd1dccf78959bfd26713c1532f\"},\"description\":\"Some of the most common questions you\u2019re likely to encounter during the interview process.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/top-5-software-developer-interview-questions\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/top-5-software-developer-interview-questions\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/top-5-software-developer-interview-questions\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/guideassets.wayupcdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/recent-grad-interview.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/guideassets.wayupcdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/recent-grad-interview.jpg\",\"width\":355,\"height\":200,\"caption\":\"recent college grad interview\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/top-5-software-developer-interview-questions\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Top 5 Software Developer Interview Questions\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/\",\"name\":\"Career Advice & Interview Tips | WayUp Guide\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2fe332dd1dccf78959bfd26713c1532f\",\"name\":\"wayupstudent\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ec3d0815a25c47f1342fc07241e3a3c35573d54cd862bacbb7b5abc6ec4a2955?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ec3d0815a25c47f1342fc07241e3a3c35573d54cd862bacbb7b5abc6ec4a2955?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"wayupstudent\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/author\/wayupstudent\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Top 5 Software Developer Interview Questions | Career Advice & Interview Tips | WayUp Guide","description":"Some of the most common questions you\u2019re likely to encounter during the interview process.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/top-5-software-developer-interview-questions\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Top 5 Software Developer Interview Questions | Career Advice & Interview Tips | WayUp Guide","og_description":"Some of the most common questions you\u2019re likely to encounter during the interview process.","og_url":"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/top-5-software-developer-interview-questions\/","og_site_name":"Career Advice & Interview Tips | WayUp Guide","article_publisher":"https:\/\/facebook.com\/wayupinc","article_published_time":"2016-11-16T05:07:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-06-29T14:12:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":355,"height":200,"url":"https:\/\/guideassets.wayupcdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/recent-grad-interview.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"wayupstudent","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@wayup","twitter_site":"@wayup","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"wayupstudent","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/top-5-software-developer-interview-questions\/","url":"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/top-5-software-developer-interview-questions\/","name":"Top 5 Software Developer Interview Questions | Career Advice & Interview Tips | WayUp Guide","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/top-5-software-developer-interview-questions\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/top-5-software-developer-interview-questions\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/guideassets.wayupcdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/recent-grad-interview.jpg","datePublished":"2016-11-16T05:07:35+00:00","dateModified":"2018-06-29T14:12:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2fe332dd1dccf78959bfd26713c1532f"},"description":"Some of the most common questions you\u2019re likely to encounter during the interview process.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/top-5-software-developer-interview-questions\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/top-5-software-developer-interview-questions\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/top-5-software-developer-interview-questions\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/guideassets.wayupcdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/recent-grad-interview.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/guideassets.wayupcdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/recent-grad-interview.jpg","width":355,"height":200,"caption":"recent college grad interview"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/top-5-software-developer-interview-questions\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Top 5 Software Developer Interview Questions"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/","name":"Career Advice & Interview Tips | WayUp Guide","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2fe332dd1dccf78959bfd26713c1532f","name":"wayupstudent","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ec3d0815a25c47f1342fc07241e3a3c35573d54cd862bacbb7b5abc6ec4a2955?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ec3d0815a25c47f1342fc07241e3a3c35573d54cd862bacbb7b5abc6ec4a2955?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"wayupstudent"},"url":"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/author\/wayupstudent\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wayupstudent.wpengine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}