How To Ask Good Questions In Your Job Interview
Whenever you are being interviewed for a job, the interviewer always asks this question at the end Do you have any questions?
A lot of people are confused about what to ask and what not to ask. Some people do not ask any questions at all.
Well, this is a good opportunity to learn more about the project, the team, and the company. So, you should ask your interviewer as many questions as you can.
Here are a few suggestions from my end.
Utilize The Best System Design Interview Preparation Resources
Some of the best system design interview preparation resources include:
More Interview Preparation Courses
Great Learning Academy Free Online Certificate Courses
Great Learning Academy, an initiative taken by Great Learning to provide free online courses in various domains, enables professionals and students to learn the most in-demand skills to help them achieve career success.
Great Learning Academy offers free certificate courses with 1000+ hours of content across 500+ courses in various domains such as Data Science, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, IT & Software, Cloud Computing, Marketing & Finance, Big Data, and more. It has offered free online courses with certificates to 4 Million+ learners from 140 countries. The Great Learning Academy platform allows you to achieve your career aspirations by working on real-world projects, learning in-demand skills, and gaining knowledge from the best free online courses with certificates. Apart from the free courses, it provides video content and live sessions with industry experts as well.
Great Learning Academy
Weve sent an OTP to CHANGE
We see that you have already applied to .
Please note that GL Academy provides only a small part of the learning content of Great Learning. For the complete Program experience with career assistance of GL Excelerate and dedicated mentorship, our Program will be the best fit for you. Please feel free to reach out to your Learning Consultant in case of any questions. You can experience our program by visiting the program demo.
Read Also: Womens Outfit For Job Interview
Read Also: Cfo Interview
When Would You Use A Nosql Solution Instead Of Sql
The default database for small projects and startups in the last 5 years was to start with a NoSQL solution such as MongoDB or Couchbase. After some years of use, the industry is much more aware of both the advantages and limitations of NoSQL solutions.
This question lets you know if the senior software engineer candidate is aware of those advantages and drawbacks. It can tell you how much the candidate knows about when to select a particular database design, and which database to select for a particular scenario. It also gives you another chance to see how they present their ideas and take into account the risks and persuasiveness of the solution.
Microsoft Software Engineer Interview Questions And Practice Problems
In this section, we have listed some of the frequently asked questions at Microsoft Software Engineer interviews.
Microsoft Software Engineer Phone Interview Questions:
Microsoft Software Engineer Coding Interview Questions:
Related read:
You May Like: Prepare For System Design Interview
What Are Hash Tables And How Do They Work
Hash tables are effective for searching.
Hash tables are key-value data structures that contain three parts:
- Arrays,
- Linked lists,
- Hashing functions
The hashing function component of a hash table transforms the key. The key is a piece of data that is transformed into an array index by the hashing function.
The reason for this is the array index is used for efficient lookup.
Ultimately, this array index then becomes the hash table.
How Do You Determine A Projects Success
While releasing high-quality software is vital, software that doesnt address the needs of the user and the business produces little value. Employers want to know that you are thinking beyond the technical aspects and aim to solve real-world problems. This often comes down to identifying a metric to improve and creating a testable hypothesis of your expected project impact.
Example:”Before a project is even started, success metrics are laid out. I will identify the key performance indicator that we are hoping to impact and begin gathering information to formulate ideas. These ideas are stated as a falsifiable hypothesis. For example, We believe that reducing checkout steps will increase sales conversion. An increase of 2% will be considered a positive signal. This keeps the team focused on the impact of our projects on the businesss bottom line.”
Also Check: Mailscoop Io
How To Prepare For An Engineering Manager Interview
Hey there! Engineering Management Interview Course
Engineering manager interviews are some of the toughest in the tech industry. Not only do you need to demonstrate your technical prowess and experience with designing complex systems, you also need to showcase your soft skills in people management.
Unfortunately, engineering manager interviews can often be quite opaque – EM interview questions can range a wide spectrum, and it’s usually unclear what good preparation looks like. We sat down with engineering manager interviewers from some of the top tech companies including Google, Facebook, Stripe, and more to clarify what’s actually asked in the engineering manager interview and how to prepare.
Wrapping Up And Next Steps
Now that you know how to prepare for your Netflix interview, its time to get the pedal to the metal and get that dream job.
To help you grok your interviews, weve created Interview Prep with Educative. Here, youll find all our interview prep resources in one place, from courses and learning paths to free tutorials and educational blog resources. We cover all the bases, from coding questions to system design questions and answers.Now go show them what youve got, and dont forget us little people when you become a Netflix employee.
Happy learning!
Recommended Reading: Best Interview Attire For A Woman
Interview Process And Timeline
What’s the Amazon software development engineer interview process and timeline? It takes four to eight weeks on average and follows these steps:
What Are Your Thoughts On Declarative Vs Imperative Paradigms Such As Functional And Object
Programming paradigm is a broad categorization for languages as either declarative or imperative. However, it is useful to consider these general programming styles rather than concrete language directives. While certain approaches may be cumbersome in some, there are many that are not as rigid. Languages such as JavaScript and Java allow either approach to be taken, even if they lend themselves toward one approach over another.
With questions like this, employers want to gauge your familiarity with more abstract concepts in software engineering. There are many approaches for writing high-quality, maintainable software. Intelligently implementing a programming paradigm requires knowing at least some of the benefits and trade-offs of each.
As with any subjective question, there can be strong opinions on the topic. While answers should be stated confidently and with supporting experiences, it is very easy to slip into speaking negatively about your less-favored approach. The interviewer could have the opposite opinion, creating avoidable tension. Focusing on objective obstacles you face with the approach will avoid the situation and potentially open a friendly dialogue on the pros and cons of each.
Recommended Reading: Preparing For System Design Interview
How To Prepare For A Technical Interview
Some elements of coding interview preparation should ideally start well before you even land the interview. Other job interview preparation steps can be accomplished closer to the day itself.
So, here are some of the most important coding interview preparation tips to master in the days, weeks, or months leading up to your job applications and interviews:
1. Prepare a 30-second to 1-minute elevator pitch for the tell me about yourself question
Its important that you go prepared to talk about non-coding topics like your employment history, career goals, past projects, etc. The technical interview could just be one part of many if youre at a company with a long interview process, and youll probably have to answer some version of this question when you meet new interviewers. Its a great time to demonstrate soft skills and passion.
2. Before you go, study up on the most important CS fundamentals
Dont stress yourself out like youre cramming for an exam and trying to learn everythingbut do dedicate extra preparation time to key technical interview skills.
Parker advises narrowing your focus to two main areas: Fill the gaps in your knowledge of data structures and algorithms. Run a lot of practice problems.
Start with these must-study topics:
3. Pick one programming language and know it really well
Check out these LTCWM resources for places to go to brush up on your coding skills:
Stacks And Queues In Your Technical Interview
During your interview, it’s best to use a queue when your problem requires you to process items according to the order received.
Stacks are used when items need to be received in reverse order.
Stacks and queues are often used in graph search algorithms, web crawlers, and storing application history.
Recommended Reading: Interview With Cfo
Senior Software Engineer Interview Questions On Distributed Systems Design
Systems design is an important part of senior software engineer interviews. In fact, these interviews carry higher importance than coding interviews for senior developer positions. You can take a look at some tips to crack a system design interview.
Senior software engineer interview questions on distributed systems design are usually around the following concepts in design:
- Object modeling
Here are some sample systems design interview questions to expect at your technical interview:
Take a look at the five must-have Qualities to Become a Senior Software Engineer here.
Faqs On How To Become A Senior Software Engineer
Q1. How many years does it take to become a senior software engineer?
It usually takes at least 5-6 years of experience in a relevant software engineering field to become a senior software engineer.
Q2. What areas are evaluated in senior software engineering interviews at FAANG+ companies?
At FAANG+ interviews for senior software engineers, the fundamentally evaluated areas include coding, distributed systems design, behavioral psychology, and leadership. For domain-specific roles, an additional domain round will consider your expertise in the corresponding domain.
Q3. How many years does it take to become a senior software engineer if you stay at the same company?
Suppose you want to scale up your career by landing a senior software engineering role at the same company youâre at. In that case, it should take you anywhere between 5-7 years of experience as a mid-level developer.
Q4. What is the most important skill to become a senior software engineer?
Of youâre looking an answer to the question, âhow to become a senior software engineer,â then the most essential skill to have is the analytical problem-solving. Senior software engineers are expected to be excellent problem solvers as theyâre required to provide solutions to real-world problems. That said, expertise in distributed systems and engineering design are also key to succeeding in the role.
Q5. How much does a senior software engineer make in the US?
Q6. How to grow as a software engineer in the US?
Read Also: Best Interview Clothes For A Woman
How Do You Refactor Classes For Parallel And Concurrent Processes
Similar to refactoring classes for easier unit testing, your ability to refactor classes for parallel and concurrent processing shows the interviewer your understanding of working with non-deterministic programming. In your answer, give examples of how you used threads, background jobs and sub-processes when implementing solutions to support improvements in software designs.
Example:”When refactoring classes on a recent build, I applied asynchronous processing to manage my organization’s financial databases. By designing parallel and concurrent processing features, I was able to improve the functionality and speed of data retrieval of various user applications. Since the size of the data structure was so large, multiple background processes previously hindered the system’s processing speeds. With concurrent processing, however, my team was able to apply solutions more effectively when updating system data each accounting period.”
Can You Give An Example Of A Time You Needed To Solve A Conflict Within Your Software Engineering Team What Approaches Did You Use To Achieve This
Conflict often occurs when communication is not clear, and solid conflict resolution skills are essential to diffuse tense situations.
Senior software engineer candidates might cite examples where written communication has gone awry or where a code review has caused tension within the team and explain how they have stepped in to resolve this.
Perhaps they encouraged team members to jump on a video call and acted as an intermediary between them. They might have encouraged their team members to think with an open mind or request the input of other team members and ask them to weigh in.
Don’t Miss: System Design Interview Prep
Most Common Graphs And Trees Technical Interview Questions
What are Stacks and Queues?
Stacks and queues are two high-level data structures used for storing a list of elements.
Queues operate along the lines of first-in, first-out behavior.
This means that elements are enqueued and dequeued in the same way they arrive, as the name suggests. The first element in is the first one out.
Stacks, on the other hand, operate oppositely. They use a last-in, first-out procedure.
This allows elements to be recovered in the reverse order they arrived.
Imagine stacks like stacks of pancakes. The top-most pancake, the first one to be retrieved, was the last to arrive.
Stacks and queues are typically executed alongside a linked list or array.
Stacks and queues are critical components of many basic algorithms in software engineering.
What Are Your Most Vital Leadership Skills
Senior software engineers are considered an integral part of a team and should have excellent leadership skills.
Your candidates might mention that they can work well within a team, but they should also give examples of their interpersonal skills in action.
They might show how their active listening skills and their capability of intrinsic validation have assisted them. Candidates may also demonstrate that they can use their communication skills to work on project tasks with junior software engineers and senior management.
They may also show that they are interested in the organization’s business side and that they proactively aim to learn more about the product or software that is being developed.
Don’t Miss: What Should Females Wear To A Job Interview
Prepare The Right Interview Questions
Video interview or not, the face-to-face interview should feel like a conversation for senior software engineers. Be transparent about what the recruitment process looks like and dont let interviews drag on. Ask interview questions about software design, architecture, and behavior. Here are some examples:
- When would you use a NoSQL solution instead of SQL?
- How would you deal with scaling a monolithic web service such as a Django or Ruby on Rails app?
- How do you stay up-to-date on new technologies related to full stack web development?
- What technologies, programming languages, and frameworks would you use if you had to develop a project from scratch in only one month?
- What are the benefits and drawbacks of working in an Agile environment?
- For a public facing application, what security concerns would you have? And how would you address them?
- How would you document your work on an application so that others coming after you can understand why the system is the way it is?
Remember that its pointless to ask senior software engineers to complete a simple algorithm or data structure test some havent dealt with that stuff for years. Instead, ask them to share a few work samples or other documentation that can speak to their technical skills.
