New engineering managers understandably focus on the technical interview when hiring. They know that identifying software development candidates with top-quality engineering skills can determine the future of their team and the company as a whole. But finding the right candidate for the right position is always a two-step process, with successful engineers moving on to the behavioral interview. Show
To confuse the two or try to combine them, as many online interview tools do, can short circuit the hiring process. Technical assessments must be given on an appropriate platform and supplemented by an evaluation of results by senior engineers. Fortunately, much time can be saved by screening developers early and only having behavioral interviews with qualified, pre-vetted candidates. Your software engineer behavioral interview questions and answers can result in discussions that reveal:
Woven is here to help! In addition to using our online coding test to screen your engineers, consult this list of software developer behavioral interview questions and answers to help shape your late-stage interviews. Behavioral interview questions to ask in 2022Technical assessments always require that your company’s senior devs and IT executives invest time in interviewing. The most useful behavioral interview questions are open-ended (because yes or no answers and terminology explanations are for entry-level engineers and covered by tests) and also specific enough to rule out answers that are mere generalizations. Some examples of interview questions for developers:
There are many resources you can use to find free sample behavioral interview questions and answers. Below are examples from one such site, which provides the top 36 situational interview questions and answers for engineers:
Tip: Use our list of software engineer technical interview questions to find more sample questions and explanations about what a candidate’s answers might mean for your team. Software engineer technical interview questionsThe behavioral interview and the technical interview both play an important part in identifying the right candidate for your open role. Technical interviews screen candidates for requisite engineering skills; behavioral interviews tell you if an employee is the right match for your team and existing company culture. Admittedly, these two areas are not entirely distinct. Woven’s challenges include an evaluation of skills in technical communication as well as specific software engineering skills like systems thinking and debugging. But as a rule, questions in the technical assessment interview focus on knowledge and skills specific to the field of software engineering and its different roles (Junior/Mid Fullstack Engineer, SRE DevOps Engineer, and so forth). At their most effective, these assessments go further than typical software engineer coding interview questions and dive deeper into a candidate’s ability to define and solve real-world problems. Indeed categorizes the following as in-depth questions
Non technical interview questions and answers for software developersBut wait – there’s more! A subcategory of the behavioral interview involves non technical interview questions for engineers. These are questions that the HR department might use during a phone screen, even before the technical interview or the behavioral interview, and might include non coding technical interview questions. Here are examples of scenario based interview questions for software developers:
Entry-level software engineer interview questionsIt’s important for engineering managers to maintain a clear distinction between entry-level software developer interview questions and questions for senior engineers. The technical interview for junior software engineers includes entry-level coding questions. Candidates are expected to have code writing skills from computer engineering courses and programming in code is their main responsibility. A few examples of entry level software engineer coding questions include:
Behavioral interviews are also used on entry-level candidates and often revolve around why do you want to be a software developer interview answers. Here are more examples of behavioral interview questions for junior devs:
Note: These questions are non-technical, but they are situationally specific to the field (software engineer), the nature of the position (in a development team), and the company. Senior software engineer behavioral interviewsNext up we have senior devs. It’s important to emphasize, again, the contrast between interviewing entry-level candidates and mid- or senior-level candidates. The distinction applies to the behavioral interview as well as the technical interview. Woven’s technical assessment platform, for example, evaluates engineering knowledge and skills at appropriate levels, but with a consistent emphasis on their application to real-world problem solving. We test for nine key roles on the software development team: Mid/Senior Fullstack Engineer; Junior/Mid Fullstack Engineer; Engineering Manager; SRE/DevOps Engineer; Mid/Senior Frontend Engineer; Junior/Mid Frontend Engineer; Mid/Senior Backend Engineer; Junior/Mid Backend Engineer; and Mid/Senior Generalist Engineer. A candidate’s results, which are evaluated by two senior engineers in our network, are reported and interpreted for you (the engineering manager) and others involved in hiring. This sets the stage for the behavior interview with candidates already screened for technical skill. Your team’s senior engineers can now focus on the behavioral interview and the expectations for the position being filled. Here are examples of behavioral interview questions for senior software engineering candidates. It can be useful for your team to formulate your own specific questions along these lines:
All of these senior software engineer interview questions should be considered as initiating a conversation. For instance:
If you’re ready to try the Woven approach, start a free trial of our tech interview platform. You can take a real-world simulation from our library and see how our tech interviews set you up with qualified software engineers. Get in touch with us today! How should a software engineer prepare for a behavioral interview?How to prepare for behavioral interviews. Learn the STAR answer format.. Prepare your answers to commonly asked questions.. Prepare experiences to showcase fit to the company's culture / core values.. Try out mock behavioral interviews.. Use structured courses.. What are the 10 most common behavioral interview questions and answers?Behavioral Interview Questions and Sample Answers. Tell me about how you worked effectively under pressure. ... . How do you handle a challenge? ... . Have you ever made a mistake? ... . Give an example of how you set goals. ... . Give an example of a goal you reached and tell me how you achieved it.. What is a behavioral interview software engineer?A behavioral interview is one that focuses on your past experience. Hiring managers use the behavioral interview, along with a coding test or technical interview, to assess whether your past performance will help you succeed in this new role.
How do you answer a technical behavioral interview questions?How to Answer Behavioral Interview Questions. Situation. Describe the situation or set the scene. ... . Task. Describe the issue or problem you were confronted with.. Action. Describe the action you took to intervene in the situation or solve the problem. ... . Results. Describe the results your action generated.. |