Software developer interview questions: The soft part

Soft is not a short from software here. Inthe previous article we went through technical aspects of Java developer jobinterview. This time we are going to explore the non-technical part or softpart or HR part or however you want to call it (it’s not just Java developernow, of course, but software developer in general). Sometimes you will talkwith your potential team leader, project manager, line manager, other kind ofmanager, someone from human resources department or just a guy from dev team(hey, they can talk too!). They will try to find out if you will fit theorganization, project or, in general, if you are the guy they would like towork with. I feel that developers tend to trivialize this part and think thatif they are technically strong, nothing can stop them. However soft skills andpersonality plays a decent role in the recruitment process. After all, no onewants to work with an asshole, even if it’s technically brilliant asshole.

 

Up to the point

 

           So, I’m going to try to recollect these types of questions I’ve beenasked on my recent interviews. As before, I’m not going to answer them, partlybecause I’m lazy and partly because sometimes there is no right or wrong answer.

 

Why are you changing job?

Name your three greatest advantages anddisadvantages.

How would you describe your perfectworkplace?

What do you expect from your futureemployer?

What motivates you?

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Describe a conflict situation you were inand how was it resolved?

What was your greatest fuckup in work andhow did you handle it? (the choice of words may differ of course…)

How would you organize a newly formed teamas a senior developer?

How would you react if your teammate islate with his tasks all the time and does private stuff or just nothing duringwork hours?

How would you convince me in one sentencethat you are the right guy / gal for the job?

What do you know about our company?

Do you like to work in SCRUM? Why yes / no?

Imagine that at the end of the sprint amanager (or better: high manager) storms into devs room and demands some lastminute feature to be included in the release. You know it’s too risky to dothat, how would you react?

What software development book have youread recently and you can recommend?

How do you keep up with latesttechnologies, trends and stuff in the industry? What’s your main source ofinformation?

Do you have some private software projectsor contributions to open source? Tell me about it.

Brainteasers

 

Some people in this part like to give youabstract questions, brainteasers or puzzles to solve or just to see how youwould approach solution, how creative you are and if you can think outside thebox. Some examples:

 

What can you do with a drinking glass? Yougot one minute.

How many golf balls would fit in a bus /this room?

How many gas stations are in this town?

How would you measure the height of [tallbuilding name]?

Burning Rope Problem (how original…)

Communication

 

If you are not native English speaker, youwill usually be tested for your language skills. Typically they will ask you todescribe your work experience, talk about your hobbies, or perhaps answer someof the previous questions in English. You might want to review that too.

 

Is there more?

 

Again, internet is full of questions andanswers.

 

Books I’ve mentioned in previous articleare mostly focused on technical side, but some of them contain a “soft” sectiontoo.

 

Besides I’d like to point out oneparticular book relevant to the subject. The Clean Coder: A Code of Conduct forProfessional Programmers by Uncle Bob, not to be confused with Clean Code(worth reading too).

 

The Clean Coder tackles softwarecraftsmanship from different angle than Clean Code. It cover ethics, attitude,prioritizing things (not only backlog items), dealing with pressure, corporatebullshit, different types of difficult people and other stuff. Go for it.

 

At least one more!

 

I have at least one more recruitment topicI’d like to cover. We talked about questions you might be asked as developer,we should talk about question you should probably ask your potential futureemployer. They want to check you, you want to check them. Symmetry.

 

See you next time :)

from:

https://howtotrainyourjava.com/2016/07/28/software-developer-interview-questions-the-soft-part/