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Behavioral Interview Questions And Answers For Software Engineers

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Software Engineer Behavioral Interview Questions

All You Need To Know About Behavioral Interviews (for software engineers)

Woohoo! Its finally Friday, and you have plans. Grab a drink after work, and welcome the weekend in style. Your organization is looking for fresh talent, and you are in charge of interviews in the coming week. You know that after a restful weekend, youll be able to start formulating the software engineer interview questions for candidates.

Among these are software engineer behavioral questions that offer you deeper insights into how a candidate can perform when faced with various real-world situations at the workplace.

Prepping for a software engineer interview is no walk in the park. Fortunately, these behavioral interview questions and answers for software engineers can help guide the way.

While behavioral questions play a vital role in assessing a candidates skills, the following pitfalls tend to challenge building a high-performing engineering team:

  • The candidates get nervous, which reduces their responsiveness during the interview making you miss real talent.
  • The questions dont set the talent bar high, as most are standard and shared across the board.
  • They neither boost the candidates experience nor offer immediate, unbiased feedback.
  • They are inefficient and time-consuming.

Technical behavioral interview questions and answers might narrow down your search, but at what cost?

Non Technical Interview Questions And Answers For Software Developers

But wait theres 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:

  • How do you approach setting professional goals?
  • Describe your leadership style.
  • What is your ideal work environment?
  • What do you hope to accomplish in your senior role for our company?
  • How will your experience help you contribute to our goals?

Planning Priority Setting Time Management Behavioral Interview Questions

33. Tell me about a situation when you were responsible for project planning. Did everything go according to your plan? If not, then why and what kind of counteractions did you have to take?

34. Tell me about a situation when you were responsible for project planning. Did everything go according to your plan? If not, then why and what kind of counteractions did you have to take?

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Behavioral Interview Questions For Software Engineers On Teamwork And Collaboration

Teamwork and collaboration are important elements for the success of important projects. Letâs look at some commonly asked software engineer behavioral questions on teamwork and collaboration.

Q1. Tell us about a time when you had to coordinate with multiple teams to finish an important project.

Q2. Tell us about practical challenges you faced while collaborating with other teams to complete a project.

Q3. Tell us about a time when a coworker in your team wasnât cooperative. Did the project suffer? What did you do about it?

Q4. Tell us about a time when you supported a different team on a project that required cross-team expertise.

Q5. What activities do you think can boost team collaboration and team spirit?

These software engineer behavioral interview questions across various categories will help you understand what to expect at behavioral rounds of technical interviews. Make sure to devote adequate time forming answers to these behavioral interview questions for software engineers.

Software Engineer Interview Questions And Answers

Questions To Ask Software Engineer Interview

Interviews can be intimidating. You want to impress your interviewer, say the right things, and control your nervousness all at the same time. As is the case with most high-pressure situations, the process is far easier if you prepare ahead of time. But how can you know what the interviewer will ask before heading in? Here’s a breakdown of some of the most common software engineer interview questions, as well as questions you may want to pose yourself during your interview.

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How To Answer This Important Behavioral Interview Question

Can they talk about others and how they were impacted by them? How were they influenced by somebody else? What are the skills they picked up? Because thats what I want, said Cotten.

I want somebody that will be able to collaborate and see the good in each other. And we all have somebody thats kind of lifted us up and believed in us when we didnt a hundred percent believe in ourselves.

Many people may be tempted to make this question all about themselves. Try to strike a balance between talking about someone who inspires you while still relating your answer back to your approach to the role for which you are interviewing.

Conflict Management Behavioral Interview Questions

16. Tell me about a time when you had a disagreement with another programmer. How did you handle the situation? Were you able to reach a mutually beneficial resolution to that conflict? If not, why were you and your co-worker unable to reach a mutually beneficial resolution? If you knew then what you know now, what would you have done differently to either prevent the conflict, or to resolve it?

17. Tell me about a time when you had to work with a difficult person to accomplish a goal. What was the biggest challenge? How did you handle it?

18. Has there been a time on a project when you disagreed with someone? What did you do about it?

19. Tell me about when you had to deal with conflict within your team. How was the conflict solved? How did you handle that? How would you deal with it now?

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Can You Explain What Responsive Design Is

In the context of front-end design, this approach allows websites and pages to render on all devices and screen sizes. It means that the page will render automatically to any screen.

Your senior software engineers should be able to effortlessly give examples of the screens on which pages can be rendered, including smartphones or mobiles, tablets, desktops, or laptops.

Faqs On Behavioral Interview Questions For Software Engineers

Behavioral Interview – How to pass the behavior interview (for software engineers)

Q1. Why are software engineer behavioral interview questions asked in technical interviews?

Behavioral interview questions for software engineers are mostly asked to understand how you respond to work-related situations and how you handled challenging projects in the past.

Q2. What are the common types of software engineer behavioral interview questions asked in technical interviews?

Behavioral questions asked at technical interviews are mostly around workplace ethics, leadership, collaboration and teamwork, productivity, past projects, and work-life balance.

Q3. When are behavioral interview questions asked in technical interviews?

Software engineer behavioral interview questions are asked during On-site interview rounds at top companies.

Q4. Is it compulsory to appear for the behavioral round at technical interviews?

Yes, regardless of the position youâre applying to, youâre mandatorily required to appear for the behavioral round. In fact, not preparing well enough for the behavioral interview can potentially lead to rejection.

Q5. Do behavioral interviews carry more weightage for senior positions?

Yes, if youâre applying for a senior developer or managerial role, youâre very likely to appear for more than one behavioral round. Interviewers prioritize behavioral rounds while interviewing candidates for senior developer and managerial positions.

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How To Answer This One

No one is perfect, and if you pretend to be, youll be giving a recruiter a reason to distrust your answer. Rather than give a non-answer Im too organized make an effort to walk through a project that went wrong, what you learned in the process, and how youve overcome your shortcomings.

Recruiters are looking for candidates that are responsible, open to feedback, and can learn from their mistakes. Perhaps give a time when you struggled with cross-cultural communication on a remote team and how you handled it, for example.

Additional Sample Lockheed Martin Behavioral Interview Questions

Go through the following Lockheed Martin interview questions to boost your interview preparation:

  • Tell us about your biggest regret.
  • Tell us about an experience that shows your communication skills.
  • Can you explain when you took firm action and solved a practical problem?
  • Give us an example of when you successfully confronted a person with a negative personality.
  • How did your time management and planning style help you cope with unexpected emergencies in your organizationâs environment?
  • What is your leadership experience?
  • Do you think you have progressed in your career as per your expectations?
  • What do you want to contribute to Lockheed Martin?
  • Why did you apply for this job at Lockheed Martin?
  • What is the unique challenge you have faced?
  • How often do you consider innovations that can develop your performance?
  • What is something that you are proud of? Why?
  • Did you ever come across a time when you had to change your behavior at work? How did you do it?
  • Are you still friends with your previous co-workers?
  • How would your colleagues at your previous job generally describe you?
  • How can you compensate for your lack of experience?
  • Have you ever made an impact in the lives of your previous colleagues?
  • How do you manage meeting multiple deadlines?
  • What did you like the most and least about your previous job?
  • What type of people are you most comfortable working with?
  • Tell me how many golf balls you can fit inside a limousine.
  • Would you call yourself a people person?
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    What The Interviewer Is Looking For

    Answer this question honestly!

    This common interview question is one where the only wrong answer is no answer at all. The interviewer wants to get to know you better. Obviously, some answers are better than others , but as long as you can talk passionately about something you do outside of work hours, you should be in good shape. For example, you could talk about how you continue learning in your spare time even with a busy schedule.

    Behavioral interviews can be intimidating, but at the end of the day, recruiters are looking for authentic, honest answers.

    If you cant think of any specific situation or challenge in response to a behavioral question, say so and explain why. Humility, openness, and professionalism will go a lot further than trying to make something up to sound impressive.

    For more advice, insight, and tips for finding a software development job, head back over to the Arc blog!

    How Do You Explain Technical Challenges To Stakeholders Who Do Not Have Technical Knowledge Or Backgrounds

    Raytheon software engineer 1 interview questions

    Businesses form software development teams to solve problems for real people. Being deeply immersed in development, its easy to forget this. While some engineers may wish to be provided software requirements and work uninterrupted on a project until its ready, its important to remember that stakeholders in non-technical departmentslike customer success and marketingmust plan around the development. Unforeseen obstacles often present themselves in one form or another, requiring a conversation on how to best solve the problem. Employers want to know that you are able to clearly communicate these obstacles to non-technical stakeholders, ensuring all parties are fully informed when decisions are made.

    Example:”When confronted with an obstacle, I dont feel it is my job to unilaterally alter the project scope or tell stakeholders that something cant be done. The quality of software is often a matter of balancing scope, cost and time. That balance is a business decision as opposed to a technical one. Rather, I come up with some potential alternatives and present their impact on that balance. For example, if an impediment may significantly push delivery beyond what was projected, I might present an alternative that can meet the current timeline with much of the same scope but will likely diminish the quality and degrade the user experience.

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    How To Answer This Behavioral Interview Question

    Use the STAR approach to talk about a time when you had a different opinion or received some tough feedback. Calmly explain your perspective and show how you worked to find a compromise. If youre interviewing for a leadership role, try to pick an example where you helped others on your team work through a conflict and collaborate better.

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    Why Do You Want To Leave Your Current Role/company

    There can be nnumber of reasons why you want to leave your current role, starting from compensation to culture. One thing that you should keep in your mind is that, no matter how legit your reason is, you dont want to talk negatively about your current employer.

    This will become a major red flag for the employer, as it shows that you were not willing to maybe adjust or keep it confidential. You should rather focus on convincing the interviewer that your current role is absolutely fine, its just that the new job would benefit you in your career. Show that your current role has nothing new that could add value to your profile no more.

    Obviously, if your reasons are genuine like if there are layoffs in your current company, etc. You could raise that.

    Example:

    Ive been working here for 2 years now, and this place is a very fast-paced environment. I was lucky to be part of this team at the start phase of this project. We have built-up the system that handles all the critical activities, but now the time has come when I am ready for a new challenge.

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    How To Nail Your Next Tech Interview

    Behavioral interviews are a crucial part of the FAANG interview process. Developers applying to positions across the board – from junior to managerial – go through a mandatory behavioral round where hiring managers seek to evaluate their mental balance, specific behavioral traits, interests, and characteristics of their personality in general.

    Preparing oneself for behavioral interviews is extremely important, especially given that a lot of experienced and accomplished programmers often fall short in this round. Recruiters at Google, Facebook, and other tier-1 companies often ask tricky and challenging questions to see how candidates respond to situations involving team collaboration, work-life balance, relationships with coworkers, and dealing with clients, among other aspects.

    If your next interview is just around the corner, this article will give you a good idea of what to expect at behavioral interviews in FAANG and tier-1 companies.

    The Behavioral Interview With Software Engineers: Questions And Answers

    Cracking the Behavioral Interview for Software Developers

    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.

    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.

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    Describe A Time When You Received Insightful Feedback Why Was It Useful And How Did It Change Your Approach To Future Tasks

    Candidates might give examples of feedback in the form of a peer code review, an annual evaluation or informal feedback they received from a coworker, and which helped them strengthen their skills.

    For example, they might mention a time they were advised to better adhere to stakeholders requirements and requests.

    Senior candidates must be able to incorporate the feedback into their coding process. Stand-out answers will show how the quality of their work was enhanced after incorporating the feedback they received.

    Behavioral Interview Questions For Software Engineers

    The Indeed Editorial Team comprises a diverse and talented team of writers, researchers and subject matter experts equipped with Indeed’s data and insights to deliver useful tips to help guide your career journey.

    Related: How to Spot Behavioral Interview Questions

    Taylor, explains why employers ask behavioral interview questions with tips on how to identify them in an interview and be prepared with great answers.

    When interviewing for a job as a software engineer, you may answer both technical and behavioral questions so that the employer can gain a better understanding of your capabilities. However, behavioral interview questions allow the hiring manager to learn more about how you would perform in a variety of workplace scenarios and situations. Preparing for behavioral interview questions may help you answer these questions more confidently, which can help a hiring manager better assess your skills. In this article, we list 10 common software engineer behavioral interview questions with sample answers for you to review.

    Related:What Is Software Engineering?

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    Write The Situations Down & Flesh Them Out

    After youve brainstormed relevant work experiences, write them down and flesh them out so that you’re not stumbling to remember some of the details amid the questioning. Make sure to write them down according to the STAR method, as well, to make sure your answers are both concise and fully developed.

    Describe A Difficult Bug You Were Tasked With Fixing In A Large Application How Did You Debug The Issue

    Network Software Engineer Interview Questions

    Bugs usually appear in new applications and software programs, and it’s a software engineer’s responsibility to locate and resolve these issues. Difficult bugs are often the result of an unusual alignment of conditions. Hearing your experience of resolving bugs explores several aspects of your skills including critical thinking and how well you handle stress and pressure.

    Example:”I received a bug report from our DevOps team about one of our databases being stressed from an expensive query being called excessively from the UI. I first checked the logs to find out when the trouble started. This gave me the rough commit range in which the bug was introduced. I was able to reproduce the bug on the latest piece of code, but only in production. I ran a git bisect to isolate the specific commit that introduced the bug and pulled the branch. However, I was not able to reproduce the issue. I went to the UI to debug using the browser devtools. Sourcemaps are not available in our production environment, so I had to map the minified JavaScript code to the source CoffeeScript code.

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