It’s essential to understand the candidate’s experience in an extremely competitive job market. A candidate’s answer to an interview question can be designed to highlight something original. The hiring team can gain valuable insight into a candidate’s approach to the software development life cycle, technical skills, and even their fit within a company.
An interview focused on problem-solving aims to understand how a candidate gathers data, analyzes a problem, and finds a logical solution. Interviews for software engineering positions include both technical and non-technical components. Make sure potential new hires understand your company’s service, product, vision, and values by crafting strategic questions.
A list of 7 interview questions that require problem-solving
- How does the agile software development process work? What are its advantages and disadvantages?
Software development companies often tout agile methods, but they aren’t suitable for all companies. Besides being able to discuss how these tools enable this process to run smoothly, the right candidate will be able to explain how this approach to development adheres to its main principles. In their answer, candidates can mention a variety of project management tools.
- Could you briefly describe the method you use to test and fix bugs?
Software engineers should explain how they break down apps and websites into components, prioritizing certain components that may be at risk. An app should undergo testing and assessments throughout its development lifecycle.
- How would you improve the performance and load time of a website?
We are looking for candidates who are creative and problem-solving-oriented to answer this question. There are many ways to answer this, including limiting HTTP requests, utilizing CSNs, optimizing files, browsing caches, applying CSS3 and HTML5, etc.
- If you have a Java array containing duplicate characters, how would you remove them?
An array is a data structure that has a fixed length and is static. To delete duplicate characters, use the first non-repeated character, and create a new array, recopying the content into it. The software engineer must devise a strategy to reduce the number of temporary arrays created if there are multiple duplicates.
- Are you involved in open-source projects?
Software engineers often work together on passion projects in their spare time. A helpful way to learn new skills or contribute to the industry in another way is to know what the candidate is working on to hone their programming languages. Furthermore, hearing about how they solve a real-world problem instead of just serving their business interests can give you a better understanding of what they do.
- Do you have any experience working with difficult clients? How did you handle it?
During an interview with a software engineer, you can learn how they handle pressure and stress. Beware of candidates who speak negatively about brands or clients. During the interview, interviewees should focus on how they resolved the situation and how they used problem-solving skills. Your business doesn’t want to work with someone who could share negative information about it in the future.
- Are there any questions you would like us to answer?
A candidate looking for a new boss should be prepared with questions to demonstrate their interest. The questions a candidate asks about the company and its position may provide insight into what concerns them most. There are many factors to consider, including the ability to work remotely or the rate of growth of the company.