21 Software Developer Interview Questions In 2024

Hiring the right candidate for a software developer or engineer position for your team can be very challenging. An unsuitable recruit can cost an employer 30% of one developer’s yearly salary. Asking the right software developer interview questions can help you find software developers who will stay for years. 

You should go into each interview with a series of developer interview questions that help you focus on the tech skills required for the position. However, it’s not wise to only focus on the required skills. Behavioral, cultural, and opinion-based questions also play a role in determining a candidate’s suitability for the role. 

Want to know what software engineering interview questions to ask candidates? We’ll walk you through the top 21 software developer interview questions to help uncover which applicant has the required technical and soft skills you’re looking for.

Top Software Developer Interview Questions

When hiring a software developer, look for someone with good, consummate soft and strong technical skills. 

The right software developer interview questions can help you evaluate an applicant’s soft skills, hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and more. 

To help you find the right candidate, here’s a list of questions you need to ask software developer interviewees.

Qualification-Based Software Developer Interview Questions 

Most companies want candidates with higher qualifications. Qualification-based questions can help you decide just that.

They help you determine a candidate’s technical knowledge and expertise so you know whether they can handle the job’s requirements.

Here are three example questions you can ask your candidates:

1. What Programming Languages Do You Use? Which Three Do You Prefer Or Are Most Familiar With?

Believe it or not, it’s one of the most important interview questions for developers and can often be a dealbreaker for most recruiters. When you hire a software developer, find someone with good knowledge of a specific programming language. 

Bonus if they use these languages for personal projects outside of work. This shows they actively work on their programming skills.

Some programming languages are more crucial than others, based on what your team or company works on. For example, if you want a candidate for web development, they should be proficient in CSS, HTML, and JavaScript. 

2. How Do You Keep Your Skills Sharp and Up To Date?

This question indirectly checks if the applicant is focused on professional growth. In software engineering, it’s vital to keep up with new trends. 

Ask how the applicant stays connected to the industry and stays informed. Make sure to look for:

• Specific steps your applicant has taken and why
• Signs that show the candidate is informed on industry trends

Don’t forget the best software engineers embrace continuous learning to stay ahead in this fast-evolving field.

3. How Do You Create Tests To Discover Bugs In An Application?

Testing for bugs is common for developers, as they appear while building software. Identifying bugs involves creating tests conducted at various development stages. This way, you’ll get a final product with zero error. 

Good software developers can walk you through their way of working and why they think finding and testing bugs are important. You should know that every developer or software engineer has their ‘own’ process. So, listen carefully. 

Competency Questions

Competency interview questions are prompts that help you gauge a candidate’s skills and technical know-how. Often, they’re open-ended and might require answers that involve real-life scenarios. 

Listed below are a few questions to ask. 

1. What Do You Think Are the Most Important Aspects to Pay Attention to When Reviewing Another Team Member’s Code?

This question will provide you with insights into how the candidate approaches both teamwork and coding. 

It’s increasingly helpful when interviewing developers to try and comprehend their reasoning surrounding coding and collaborating with others since both are crucial for successful projects. 

Although there’s no wrong or right answer to this query, here are a few pointers to look for:

• No repetition
• Readable, concise, clean, and instantly understandable code
• Consistent naming conventions

2. What Has Your Experience Been Like As Part of an Agile Software Development Process, If Any?

It’s crucial to check if the candidate is familiar with Agile development and has experience in Agile teams since many development teams use Agile. This approach promotes teamwork, adaptability, and iterative development, ensuring projects are delivered efficiently.

You should look for:

• Considerable experience in Agile software development
• Previous work in cross-functional teams using methodologies like Kanban and Scrum

3. Talk About A Project You Completed Successfully

This query will allow the developer to talk about a specific project they completed without going too technical. 

It should provide insights into how they collaborated with teams, interacted with leaders and managers, time-management skills, and what contributions they specifically made. This helps you recruit a software engineer who best meets your company’s needs. 

Cultural Fit Questions

While technical skills are important, you should also consider how a candidate can contribute to the company culture. Applicants who align better with your company’s culture and mission are more likely to be productive and engaged and won’t quit within a year. 

Below are some cultural-fit questions you should ask your software development candidates. 

1. Why Did You Decide To Become A Software Engineer?

This question helps you learn more about your candidate. It reveals what motivates a developer and what aspects of their work they’re truly passionate about. Their response will show whether they have a strong enthusiasm for software engineering. 

2. What Are You Looking For In This Job?

Make sure to include this query in your software engineer interview questions. It can help gauge whether a candidate’s career goals match what your company looks for. 

In addition, you’ll get to know what prompts them at work. This is important to keep your team thriving and happy in the long run. Listen for what makes this applicant tick and what things you can do to keep their stay longer and better. This could be anything like money, passion for work, or growth opportunities. 

No matter what, you should listen without any judgment and understand their perspective. 

3. Do You Enjoy Working With a Team or Alone?

There’s no definitive answer to this query, as it largely depends on what you’re looking for in a developer. 

Maybe you want a developer who can be self-sufficient and work hard or someone flexible and open to different approaches. Nevertheless, you want a candidate that best meets your specific needs. 

Situational Questions

Situational questions give candidates made-up situations and ask them to describe what they would do. These questions are great for interviewing software developers because they have to think fast. 

When you ask situational software engineer technical interview questions, you want to see how candidates would solve a problem that might happen in your company.

Here are some examples to help you out:

1. How Would You Manage a Disagreement With the Team Lead? 

No matter how much the team thrives, there will be disagreements – they’re inevitable. This doesn’t mean disagreements are bad. 

Diverse teams and leaders bring various viewpoints and positive debates over products, often leading to new, enlightening solutions. 

Ask your applicant to share a past example. This will show their peacekeeping and communication skills necessary for the software reengineer roles. 

2. How Would You Handle a Problem If You Ran Into an Obstacle With Your Project?

This is one of the most important software developer interview questions you should ask your candidates. It helps identify how the applicant deals with delays, obstacles, and other issues that appear down the road. 

Most projects experience hurdles of various sorts, so a software engineer or developer having trouble pinpointing obstacles in their past projects might be a concern. 

When hiring a developer, ensure they can overcome issues to complete the assigned tasks on time. 

3. If You Were Assigned Multiple Projects With Tight Deadlines, How Would You Cope With Competing Priorities?

At times, developers have to manage multiple priorities simultaneously. As a recruiter, you know how crucial proper and timely management of these tasks is for a company’s success. 

The best applicants know how to determine their competing priorities and juggle without enabling one to mess up the others. 

Notice if a candidate also tells you a personal story or an anecdote about how they handled several priorities.

Behavioral Questions

Behavioral questions prompt candidates to talk about past work experiences and how they managed situations. This helps predict their reactions in similar situations at your company. 

You can also use behavioral questions to evaluate different skills and qualities. For example:

1. Can You Share a Time When You Worked With a Co-Worker on a Project and They Were Falling Behind Schedule? How Did You Manage the Situation?

Software development is an increasingly collaborative career option, even though a series of tasks will be carried out by individuals. 

This career demands working with several clients and teams with different leadership styles and personalities to diagnose and fix various software issues. 

Here’s what you should look for:

• Leadership qualities coupled with a proactive approach to meeting deadlines
• Focus on an applicant’s experience in problem-solving 
• Use of communication and interpersonal skills to motivate and connect with others

2. Share a Time When You Had to Make a Big Decision During Production. What Went Down, and How Did You Deal With It?

This question can help determine whether an applicant can think independently, analyze and review things quickly and clearly, and understand the most logical connections between ideas. 

Developers who are good at critical thinking tend to have a curious mindset, which can spark innovation and improve production systems and processes.

3. Think About The Toughest Piece Of Code You’ve Written. Can You Describe The Project And Explain Why It Was Challenging For You? Share What You Learned From The Experience.

Not every software project is a breeze. The best developers can spot their weaknesses and work on fixing them. If they can laugh off the challenges they’ve dealt with, it might mean they’re better at handling job stress.

Make sure to listen for:

• Admission of their weaknesses instead of just blaming external factors
• Signs that they use what they’ve learned to dodge similar issues in the future
• Experience in setting goals and sticking to a professional development plan.

Personality Assessment Questions

Personality assessment questions help you explore how candidates manage stress, stay motivated, and interact with the team. 

Most recruiters use them to learn more about a candidate than their professional level. These questions help you understand whether a candidate matches your organization’s culture. 

If multiple applicants have similar software development experience and skills, personality assessment queries can help you choose a better fit. 

Let’s explore some examples:

1. Tell Me How You Handled a Situation When You Were Unfairly Blamed for the Error.

It can be a challenging query; however, it’s a perfect way to assess an applicant’s attitude to teamwork. If a candidate quickly shifts the blame on their colleagues, it’s a red flag. You should hire diplomatic developers who don’t get frustrated easily and work toward solutions. 

2. What Work Environment Motivates You?

This software developer question helps determine if your company’s environment suits the candidate. Finding a culture-fit candidate is better than one with exceptional technical skills. 

When hiring, make sure your assessment isn’t influenced by personal biases. Hire a software engineer with the right attitude so they can thrive in your workplace. A competent tech lead can enhance their project-specific skills and train them for success.

3. What’s the Project That You Are Most Proud of?

This query will show how the applicant feels when contributing to a certain goal or mission. Which specific goal they found most interesting and relatable?

Additionally, it will show what types of projects the applicant would love to work on. You can learn whether they’re a good fit for the company or the position you plan to hire them.

Opinion Questions

Opinion-based questions are different because there is no ‘single’ right answer. You can use opinionated questions to see where a candidate stands on issues in the workplace, industry trends, practices, values, or technologies. 

They help you identify applicants who bring an informed and proactive mindset to your team. 

Here’s what you can ask candidates.

1. If Your Co-workers Could Describe You In a Few Words, What Would They Be?

The words candidates use can tell a lot about them. This question allows you to get insights into how they see themselves and around their colleagues or teammates. 

Make sure to listen for words like:

• Adaptable
• Organized
• Flexible
• Focused
• Innovative
• Determined.

In short, look for any adjective or word that best identifies the ideal applicant. 

2. Do You Consider Unit Testing Important or a Waste of Time?

Every competent engineer or developer should know about unit testing. Asking about this will show their attitude and priority towards it. 

Do they follow behavior-driven development (BDD) or test-driven development (TDD), or do they add unit tests later for process compliance or appearances? 

Unit tests are considered a best practice in code maintenance and software development. They are crucial in preventing logic errors and coding flaws and stopping bugs from reaching the final product. 

Moreover, automated unit tests also prevent regressions, ensuring that previously fixed bugs don’t resurface.

3. What, In Your Opinion, Is the Most Exciting Development In Software Development?

This fun developer interview question gives candidates space to talk about their interests in software development without focusing much on themselves. 

The answer will point to areas the candidate finds interesting and how they can benefit and complement your existing team. 

Ask the Right Questions to Get The Right Candidate

With this developer interview cheat sheet, hiring a software developer is a no-brainer. Navigate the must-ask technical software developer interview questions to determine the best fit for your company. 

In addition to questions about technical skills, consider throwing some nice-to-ask interview questions for candidates, such as:

• How do you stay updated on industry trends?
• Can you share a time you completed a challenging project?

They help you identify whether an applicant is a cultural fit, adaptable, collaborative and may prove an asset to the company. 

Follow this guide to create a comprehensive list of developer interview questions and reduce the time-to-hire in your tech interview process. 

Want to make your technical hiring process easier? 

Before jumping directly to the interview with your software developer questions, you should learn how to vet remote software developers to assess their skills beforehand and shorten the list of candidates.

Happy Hiring!

Software Developer Interview Questions: FAQs