My Top 5 Interview Questions for Programmers

I was 22 when I first started to recruit and interview developers for our team. I was the one nervous the first time I interviewed someone. I was not trained to do it nor has no guide at all on how to interview.

Jobstreet was the most popular platform, at that time, to post ads and we basically just copy an existing ad similar to the position we are looking for. That was also the time when the show-up rate was high. It\’s way different now with many options or platforms to post ads.

I have a list of questions with me each time I interview an applicant and after 20 years in the software business, I have these top 5 questions ingrained in me up to now when I interview. So here are my top 5 questions for programmers and the ideal answer I would like to hear. Some of these questions, I ask even for non-programmers. I just change the program into a task.

1. What was the most difficult program or app you have developed so far? Why was it difficult, how many were you in the team, and what was your role?

The purpose of these questions is to assess technical capability. You will hear the strength or weakness of the programmer here. What is the aspect that he or she had difficulty with? Was it in the design? Database queries? Composition of an algorithm? Or dealing with the team. Usually, a bright programmer was the one who stepped up and was the one who took most of the effort in the project. And then, I ask follow-up questions like, what was the algorithm, or how he dealt with the difficulty.

2. If I give you an existing source code of a particular app, what is your confidence level in learning it with minimal guidance and how will you approach it?

In this question, you will discern if the applicant can learn independently. If the applicant tells a story of a similar scenario where he or she has successfully done it, then that\’s a good sign. A big plus point is if he elaborates the process by syntax research or puts debug breakpoints to learn the flow.

3. If you are working on a current sprint or project and then I disrupt the sprint by inserting an urgent task, without adjusting the sprint timeline, how would you answer me?

For this question, I would like to know how the person reacts to pressure, concern, and conflict. If the interviewee just simply answers that he has to drop one or the other, then it shows no concern. If the applicant just says he will do it at the same time, no questions asked, then it\’s not a good sign because he just wanted to please his supervisor. But if the interviewee asks why it is urgent, becomes honest, and makes some compromise, willing to grind, then that\’s a plus point.

4. How would you give an estimate?

An estimate is the amount of time or effort to develop a certain user story, feature, or customer requirement. If the applicant asks for detailed specs, wireframes, test scripts before giving an estimate then that\’s the perfect answer. If the assumption is it has no wireframes or test scripts, then the right answer is to include the specs and test script development on the estimate.

5. What would you do if you know you will miss a deadline?

The right answer here for me is to raise it right away with an explanation. I know that most of the applicants will just say this, but this is just a precedent that I am mindful of this particular trait of a programmer, so they will be mindful of this as well in case they will be hired.

So here you go, these are my top 5 questions. In the meantime, I hope to provide more value by introducing worky.ph, an exceptional recruitment and talent matching platform powered by artificial intelligence. Be an early technology adopter and try it for free!

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