Define Criteria Or Things To Consider Producing A Good Solution
Every business owner wishes he could know whether their idea would become the next great thing. As a good Technical Solution Engineer, the interviewer wants to see how you come up with solutions.
Sample Answer
I generally look for these five things Depth, Intelligence, Completeness, Empoweringability, and Elegance. In conclusion, the optimal solution is one that is fully featured , demonstrates that you understand customer demands , includes assistance , empowers clients , and is simple to use . I normally ask myself as I create solutions that if they are deep, intelligent, complete, empowering, and elegant?
Top Engineering Manager Interview Questions
Related: Top 6 Common Interview Questions and Answers
Jenn, an Indeed Career Coach, breaks down the intentions behind employer’s questions and shares strategies for crafting strong responses.
A software engineering manager is a tech professional who has worked as a software engineer and advanced to a management role. If you’re interviewing for this technical role, there are a variety of interview questions you may encounter, including questions about your management style and technical experience.
In this article, we cover the top engineering manager interview questions with several example answers to help you prepare so you have the best chances of succeeding in your interview.
How Do You Describe The Technical Aspects Of A Project To Individuals Who Don’t Have Technical Backgrounds
Engineer managers work with diverse people across many teams and departments, including clients. Highlight your communication skills by describing how you break down complex topics and explain them to non-technical individuals.
Example: “I try to give examples of the design and engineering elements in a software project in terms that are easy to relate to. For instance, if I’m speaking with a client who requests an e-commerce application, I try to describe the development process in terms of a sales funnel or a transaction to help them understand the complex aspects that go into a feature of the application.
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What Is The Biggest Challenge That You Foresee In This Role
Your company has addressed one of the biggest challenges that I have encountered in my career, which is a huge employee base. Managing several employees effectively is not easy. However, I have observed that your employees are grouped into teams, with management at the team level. Once this has been solved, I believe that any other challenge is minor and, with the help of the management, can be effectively solved.
How Best Can You Manage Remote Engineers
If your company has some engineers that work remotely, you will need to know how your potential engineer manager can motivate them despite not being in physical contact with them. How your candidates answer this question will give you an idea of whether they know what it takes to manage a remote team and the tools they need to do it.
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In What Ways Have You Upgraded The Skills Of Your Team
Good engineering managers look for ways to train their team. Great engineering managers look for ways to train their team in new skills so that new opportunities for the business can open.
This question gives you an indicator of whether the engineering manager candidate is a run-of-the-mill manager or a genuine leader. If they have had past experiences in providing their team with mentoring and coaching, they are more of a leader than a manager.
If the candidate tells you that they never had time to upgrade the skills of their team, this could be worrisome. An engineering manager should be making room for their team to grow and learn new skills or improve their knowledge of programming languages, libraries, and frameworks.
What Do You Know About The Product What Is One Flaw That Youd Improve If Hired
It may go without saying, but your engineering manager should have at least a base knowledge of the companys services or products. Ultimately, an ill-informed engineering manager can not effectively lead without this knowledge. Additionally, the hiring manager can determine which candidates enthusiastically went out of their way to learn about the company, and which ones are just trying to get by.
The second part of this question is optional. However, it can lead to an interesting conversation about the candidates innovative ideas and thought process.
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What Kind Of Safety Procedures Do You Have In Place For When You Check Your Engineering Work For Mistakes Do The Procedures Ensure That You Dont Overlook Any Mistakes
This question gives you the chance to show how serious you are about safety measures at work and how you would minimize potential issues. A good answer will explain your knowledge of safety standards for your engineering specialization and will show your drive to keep projects safe.
Example:My engineering solution has features to constantly check for mistakes or errors, and I always triple-check any measurements or math that Im working with. Whether Im rushing to meet deadlines or not, I get a fellow engineer to check my work before marking it as complete. Implementing these steps makes it easy to ensure there arent any mistakes.
Companies have different policies and values, and an interview should be beneficial to you. The questions asked in the interview should give you a good idea if that company is the right place to work for you. When youre done answering the interviewers questions, ask a few of your own questions before accepting the position.
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In this video, we offer 4 key strategies to answering tough questions. These strategies come with examples, explanations and more on leaving a last impression.
What Is Your Approach To Hiring Top Developers
One of the main tasks of an engineering manager is to findsuitable specialists who would both broaden the in-house skill stack and become an integral part of the programming team. When asking this question, you can find out about particular approaches to hiring the right IT specialists and testing their skills.
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When You Have Multiple High
A large engineering team, especially one with several members, often needs to work on several projects at once. In order to achieve them all, a project management system and a leader who knows what is happening are essential. By asking this question, the interviewer is trying to determine how a candidate prioritizes projects and what methodologies they utilize to work on them simultaneously or according to specific goals and objectives.
Tips:
- Discuss preparing a project plan for every possible scenario and having contingency plans in case the project fails.
- Talk about using tools like project management tools and modern project tracking software so you can manage multiple projects at once.
- Describe your ability to prioritize tasks effectively.
- Stress how important effective communication is so that the team is aware of any potential problems and can discuss solutions before a major delay happens.
What Is The Role Of Engineering Managers
Engineering managers typically operate in one of the following six areas. Operations management/research/supply chain management. Technology development. Product development. Engineering. Systems engineering. Industrial engineering. And management science.
These unique fields call for a unique role. And for engineers, a management position can be a great way to advance our careers. Heres what we can expect to be asked in a job interview for that position.
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How Would You Prioritize The Following Work
One of the key responsibilities of an engineering manager is to prioritize and schedule the tasks needed to build a product or service. They need to prioritize feature development, bug fixes, and refactoring technical debt or legacy code.
Good engineering managers know how to prioritize tasks based on how well they meet business objectives and based on the time, effort, and cost involved. Great engineering managers know how to ask the right questions to help with prioritization.
Ask this prioritization question with a list of 2-3 sample features, bug fixes, and other supporting tasks. It is also a good opening to lead into other questions.
Here is an example list of tasks:
- Build a new web app interface
- Upgrade the database
- Fix bug with concurrency in server code
- Fix JavaScript bug in front-end code
- Fix CSS display issue in front-end code
With this list, you can then ask the candidate How would you prioritize those tasks? The engineering manager candidate should ask probing questions about the background context of the tasks, the priorities of the team, and the organization.
They should ask about business goals and about the level of urgency of the tasks. For instance, fixing a bug with concurrency in the server code could be very important as it blocks the sales team from demoing the product to a client, or it could be impacting thousands of customers.
Technical Experience Required For An Engineering Manager
From my experience, an engineering manager needs to show at least the same amount of experience as a senior engineer if not more. In some cases, they might not need to be so up to date with the latest frameworks, but they definitely need to understand the broader picture of software development in general. They must understand software system design principles, architecture principles and how to prepare a development plan.
As they are managing a team they must be highly proficient in agile methodologies and be able to run the role of an Agile coach or a scrum master.
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Questions You Shouldnt Ask Engineering Managersinan Interview
1. What will my compensation be?
2. Whats your bonus plan look like?
3. How do I request days off?
4. Can I work from home if I want?
5. How long does it take to get promoted here?
6. What type of benefits do you offer?
7. Is it ok to be late sometimes for work?
8. Is a drug test required to get the job?
9. Does this job have any special perks?
10. How many vacation days do I get a year?
11. How often do people get raises here?
When interviewing with an engineering manager you should never ask about benefits, compensation, or other perks. Save those questions for when an offer is made or if negotiations have started.
If you are working with an engineering recruiter its best to have them negotiate the compensation and benefits package for you as they will act as a go-between the two sides.
A good recruiter will frame and negotiate benefits package requirements in a way that will not offend the employer and aim to get you the best offer possible.
System Design Engineering Manager Interview Questions
Facebook, Google, and Amazon products have millions of monthly active users. Their engineering managers therefore need to be able to design systems that are highly scalable.
This is the part of the interview where you want to show that you can both be creative and structured at the same time. The questions you’ll be asked are typically quite open-ended and feel more like a discussion. You’ll be using a whiteboard to illustrate your answers.
Here are some example system design questions asked by Facebook, Google, and Amazon.
Example system design questions asked in engineering manager interviews
To help you dig deeper into system design questions, we’ve written an in-depth guide on how to answer them.
Let’s move on to the final question type.
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How Would Your Last Team Describe You
The goal with this question is to get a summary of how the candidate perceives themselves regarding their previous job. Most of the time, when someone is asked this question, they will answer it based on how they think they performed at their previous job. You may have to ask follow-up questions based on the answer the candidate gives you. You can also ask this question to their former team member or manager during reference check. This will help you get an in-depth understanding of their management style.
How Do You Resolve Conflicts Within Teams
If possible, I serve as a mediator between team members who disagree. I focus on giving everyone a chance to speak their minds. And then help them reach the right decision while keeping the companys best interests in mind. If thats not possible, I talk to engineers one-on-one. To see what the root cause is and then walk the team through resolving it. This approach means that theyll have the necessary abilities to resolve the conflicts themselves and feel better about their roles in the long term.
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Technical / System Design
Note that it’s relatively rare for roles like engineering management or technical program management to face coding rounds in an interview, but it can happen!
If you’re actively interviewing, check with your recruiter as to what to expect.
For more system design interview questions,.
Research The Interview Process For Companies
Each company has its own process for interviewing candidates and evaluates candidates along different core values, so do your homework! If you understand the mission and core values of the companies you’re applying to, you’ll not only understand more about the company’s culture and goals, you’ll also be better prepared to demonstrate those values and principles during the interview. We’ve put together an extensive catalog of interview guides that give you an inside look at the interview process and criteria for most tech companies. Here are a few examples:
- Google emphasizes technical competence in their interviews and often asks system design questions.
- interviewers tend to ask about your people skillslike ability to manage conflict or dealing with difficult team members.
Check out our full list of company interview guides here:
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What Is A Technical Interview
A technical interview is a job interview for any position that relates to the
Questions asked during a technical interview can fall into several categories including:
-
Behavioral interview questions
-
Questions about your education
-
Questions about technical knowledge and experience
Read on as we discuss why employers ask these types of questions and what they are looking for with sample answers to questions about technical knowledge and experience.
Have You Ever Transitioned Between Two Teams That Were Different In Size How Did You Adjust Your Management Style
If your organization comprises several engineering teams different in size, your candidate must be able to manage both bigger and smaller teams. They must therefore know which skills are required to handle each, and the best answers will emphasize how communication will differ between teams.
Especially in a larger team, communication is critical, as it helps engineering managers ensure that all team members are on the same page.
Candidates might mention that communication tools are an essential part of their management style when managing larger teams or that video conferencing tools facilitate the processespecially if the team works remotely.
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How To Crack Facebooks Data Engineering Manager Interview
Data Engineering manager interviews at Meta are truly challenging. They are thoughtfully structured with clear objectives for each round.
Three years ago, I was being interviewed for Data Engineering Manager and I didnt make it. I got a chance to apply for the same role again this year, and I nailed it. This article is to share my preparation and personal experience.
Note: No questions are shared because of Non-Disclosure Agreement with the company.
Describe A Conflict You Had With One Of Your Subordinates In Your Last Job
Try to pick a constructive conflict. That means a constructive discussion you had with another manager or engineer. Perhaps you didnt agree about some points, or the way the work was done, or you suggested some improvement they opposed. Now, the most important thing is to:
- Show the interviewers that you are receptive to feedback from your subordinates, that you do not want to lead them with an iron fist, never listening to their criticism.
- Admit that you can make a mistake, and you never cease to learn, even from your subordinates. This attitude helps you to stay on the top of your game.
- Ensure the interviewers that you wont lead pointless personal conflicts in the workplace, destructive conflicts that arent good for anything or anyone.
Describe the conflict, and show how it eventually helped you to do your job better, or how it helped to eventually discuss things and ease the tension between you and the other conflict party.
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Closing Interview Questions For Engineering Managers
Towards the end of the interview, you want to get an idea of what youre up against.
Is the company looking to fill the job quickly or does it seem like there isnt a rush to hire someone? Have they mentioned other interviews?
Getting answers to some of these closing questions will help you and the engineering recruiter your working with have a better understanding of when and how the hiring decision will be made.
1. What is a general career path for someone in this role?
2. What type of personalities generally work well within your team?
3. How does this position contribute to the companys short term and long term goals?
4. How long has the position been open?
5. How do I compare to other candidates that youve interviewed?
6. How soon are you looking to get someone started?
7. What are the next steps in the interview process?
Youre also able to convey your priorities, work habits, skills set, and engineering knowledge in an informative way.
