Conducting effective interviews is crucial for hiring the right developers who can contribute significantly to a company’s success. Developers play a pivotal role in building and maintaining software solutions, making identifying candidates with the right skills, knowledge, and mindset essential. To achieve this, interviewers must ask the right questions beyond technical expertise. Here are some indispensable interview questions for developers that should be asked to make well-informed hiring decisions.

What Interview Questions Should You Ask a Developer?

Technical Proficiency Questions

A strong foundation in technical skills is a fundamental requirement for any developer role. Interviewers should ask questions that assess a candidate’s proficiency in programming languages, frameworks, and other relevant technologies. Depending on the specific position, these questions may cover languages like Java, Python, JavaScript, or C++ and frameworks such as React, Angular, or Spring. The goal is to gauge the candidate’s depth of knowledge and ability to apply these skills in real-world scenarios.

Good Questions Include:

• How would you explain (X concept) to someone with no tech background?
• What’s your favorite API and why?

Problem-Solving and Critical Thinking

Developers encounter complex challenges regularly, making problem-solving and critical thinking skills indispensable. Interview questions should include scenarios that test a candidate’s ability to approach and solve problems methodically. These might involve algorithmic puzzles, coding exercises, or hypothetical software design challenges. The focus should be on evaluating how well candidates can analyze problems, devise solutions, and implement them effectively.

Good Questions Include:

• Can you spot the error in this coding exercise?
• Can you whiteboard the perfect end-to-end IT architecture?

Collaboration and Communication

In today’s collaborative work environments, developers must effectively communicate and collaborate with team members, stakeholders, and non-technical colleagues. During the interview, it’s essential to ask questions that assess a candidate’s communication skills and ability to work in a team. These could include queries about past experiences working in a team setting, how they handle conflicts, and how they communicate complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.

Good Questions Include:

• Tell me about a time you were on an IT project with communication challenges. What happened?
• Have you ever served as lead on a developer team? What were your biggest challenges?

Project Management and Time Management

Meeting deadlines and efficiently managing projects is vital for the success of any software development team. Interviewers should ask questions that evaluate a candidate’s project management and time management skills. For instance, they can inquire about the candidate’s experience handling tight deadlines, multitasking abilities, and strategies they use to prioritize tasks effectively.

Good Questions Include:

• How do you juggle multiple trouble tickets or tasks with tight deadlines?
• What’s your favorite tool for organizing tasks?

Adaptability and Learning Agility

Technology is ever-evolving, and developers must be able to adapt and learn quickly to keep up with industry trends and emerging technologies. To gauge a candidate’s adaptability and learning agility, interviewers can ask questions about the candidate’s experience with new technologies, how they stay up-to-date with the latest advancements, and their approach to learning new skills independently.

Good questions include:

• Did you ever have a project go south? What happened?
• What did you learn from your last job?

CPS Recruiting for Technical Experts

CPS Recruiting works with experienced, skilled developers to place them in top companies seeking IT talent. For more than 45 years we’ve solved the biggest IT hiring challenges by matching tech experts to the right job. Contact us today to find out how we can help.