SOFTWARE ENGINEER Interview Questions & TOP SCORING ANSWERS! (1)
Hello, my name is Richard McMunn from the interview training company PassMyInterview.com, and in this tutorial, I am going to teach you how to pass a software engineer interview.
It does not matter which company or organization you have your software engineer interview with, please do make sure you watch this from beginning to end, because, as always, I promise you, it will make a huge difference to your preparation and your performance at the interview!
And this is what I will cover to make sure I achieve that objective.
I will give youa number of tips for passing your software engineer interview.
I will also give you example software engineer interview questions and also suggested answers to the more common type of software engineer interview questions.
I will also tell you three questions that I think you should ask at the end of your software engineer interview.
And I will also give you further resources to help you be the standout candidate during your software engineer interview.
There are five really good reasons why you should watch this from beginning to end.
Now, before I get in to the tutorial, a very warm welcome to the software engineer interview training tutorial. My name is Richard McMunn. That's me there in the center.
I've been helping people for about 20 years now to pass their interviews and I always do that by giving you top scoring answers to the interview questions.
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OK. Let's get into the training, those Software engineer interview questions and answers.
The first question I want you to prepare for is, tell me about yourself and why you want to become a software engineer?
My tip for answering this question positively is, in your answer to this interview question, provide a list of skills and qualities you possess that will enable you to perform to a very high standard in the role of a software engineer. Here is my suggested answer to the interview question: Tell me about yourself and why you want to become a software engineer?
“Before applying for this software engineer role with your company, I spent time reading the job description and the person specification. I wanted to make sure I was both properly qualified for the role, and that I also had the appropriate experience and skills to help drive the company forward.
I am hard working, driven, technically astute and someone who will work closely with people within your organization to achieve your commercial and financial objectives.
I want to be a software engineer simply because it is a role that I am extremely passionate about, and also one I get immense job satisfaction from, especially when I get to see first-hand the positive contribution my work makes to the organization I am working for.
If you hire me as your software engineer, I will not only work hard to deliver consistent positive results, but I will also use my developing, researching, analytical and technical skills to help the company continually thrive and develop.”
So it is a very positive answer, and it gives some really good reasons why you want to become a software engineer and also about yourself and why they should hire you.
Let us now take a look at another software engineer interview question, one that I want you to prepare for.
Why do you want to work for our company as a software engineer?
So this is pretty much guaranteed to come up during your software engineer interview.
My tip for answering this question positively, is to show the interviewer you have conducted some research into their organization.
My advice is to be complimentary in your answer and talk about what makes their company unique.
So let's take a look at the suggested answer to the interview question: Why do you want to work for our company?
“For me, the company I work for is very important.
I believe that, to be able to perform your duties and responsibilities as a software engineer competently, you need the support of your employer, and you also need to work with like-minded people who are all working towards a common goal.
During my research into your organization, it soon became apparent that you are not only a leader within the industry, but you also continually look for ways to grow and develop.
You also clearly hire some of the best people available, and this means I'll be working with other professionals who all genuinely care about the work they produce.
I am someone who is ambitious; I don't like to sit back and just do the bare minimum, and if you hire me, I feel confident you will be impressed with my work values, ethics and high standards.”
That's a great answer!
You are giving lots of valid reasons why you want to work for their company.
You are being complimentary and most importantly, it shows that you've conducted some research before applying for the position.
Let's take a look at another software engineer interview question.
How would you deal with a member of your team who disagreed with the work you carried out as a software engineer? Now, my tip for answering this question.
This interview question is subtlety assessing your teamworking capabilities.
Do you put the needs of your team and the organization first, or are you more concerned about your own reputation and your competence?
Here is my suggested answer to the interview question: How would you deal with a member of your team who disagreed with the work you carried out as a software engineer?
“I have a lot of experience as a Software Engineer, and I feel the work I produce is to a very high standard.
Having said that, I am also aware that when I do work as part of a team, it is important to listen to other people as they may have valid contributions to make.
On that basis, I would certainly be open to listening to why they felt the work I wascarrying out could be altered or improved. At the end of the day, we are all working for the same organization, and if it means changing the way I do things for the benefit of the team goal, I will certainly do that.”
That is a really good answer, and it shows that you are more concerned about the organization and the team objectives.
I've got lots more questions to run through, but when you are ready, if you would like to download a copy of these slides to save you having to write things down, you can CLICK THE LINK in the top right hand corner of the video.
It will take you through to my website where you can download a copy of these slides.
Let's move on to the next question.
In your opinion, what are the skills and qualities needed to be a software engineer?
So, this is a question that gets asked a number of times during software engineer interviews.
This question is clearly assessing your understanding of the role of a software engineer.
And the best way to answer this, is to give them a DEFINITIVE LIST of the skills and qualities that are needed to excel in the position.
Here is my suggested answer to the interview question: In your opinion, what are the skills and qualities needed to be a software engineer?
And there is a clever way of answering this.
Here we go. “Whilst there are numerous skills and qualities needed, there are 9 in particular that are essential to becoming an effective Software Engineer.
In no particular order, these are TECHNICAL COMPETENCE, COMMUNICATION and INTERPERSONAL SKILLS whilst dealing with clients and internal team members, EXCEPTIONAL ORGANIZATIONAL AND PLANNING capabilities, a level of COMMERCIAL AWARENESS, and also an understanding of how important it is to MAINTAIN COMPETENCE in your role through professional development.
You also need an ability to EXPLAIN TECHNICAL INFORMATION in a simple and concise manner so people understand it, an AWARENES OF CURRENT ISSUES impacting the industry you are working in, and also strong ANALYTICAL and ATTENTION TO DETAIL skills.”
What I like about our answer is you are starting off and saying there are numerous skills needed, but there are 9 in particular that are essential.
That shows that you really do know your role inside out, and then you can list those 9 skills and qualities.
And if you want to add some yourself, feel free to do so.
The next software engineer interview question that we want to prepare for is: tell me a time when you worked as part of a team to solve a complex task?
So this is a behavioral type interview question.
And as such, my advice is to use the STAR technique to create your answer.
So the question is, tell me a time when you worked as part of a team to solve a complex task?
You have to give a specific situation you have previously been in to score this answer highly.
Use the STAR technique.
What is that?
Well, it is situation, task, action and result.
You start off with your answer and you describe briefly the SITUATION you were in.
You then move on and explain the TASK that needed to be done.
You then detail the ACTION you took to achieve the task, and you finish off your answer by revealing the RESULTS following your actions.
It's situation, task, action and result. Let's take a look at a sample answer using the STAR technique to that interview question: Tell me a time when you worked as part of a team to solve a complex task?
Here we go. “I was part of a multi-agency project building a software application for an important client. Towards the end of the project, we encountered a number of bugs and problems with the software application, and time was against us to get everything fixed before the official handover date.
I felt it was my responsibility to come up with a solution to get the issues fixed.
I stayed behind late that evening with two other experienced team members to come up with a plan that would ensure the bugs were not only fully rectified, but that a support system was in place to respond to any future issues if they were to arise, post-handover.
We started off by CREATING A LIST of all bugs and issues.
We then attempted to RECREATE EACH BUG so that we could assess what was causing the issue.
We managed to recreate all of the bugs and it was then my task to CREATE A TIMESCALE for rectifying and testing each issue. Once we had a PLAN IN PLACE, we could then allocate tasks to team members based on their area of technical competence the following morning.
By creating a plan of action, and by working closely together as a team, we were able to tap into the combined team expertise and competence to not only provide a time-sensitive solution to the problem, but to also implement a support mechanism for our client.”
That is an organized answer.
It is concise and logic in the way you are answering it, by using the STAR technique of situation, task, action and result.
And don't forget, if you want to click the link in the top right hand corner of the video, you can DOWNLOAD THESE SLIDES to save you
