15 Questions Technical Hiring Managers Ask During Interviews

Feeling anxious about your upcoming interview? Don’t worry, this article will help simplify things for you. Here, you’ll find 15 questions technical hiring managers love to ask during interviews and the rationale behind every question.?

What are your strategies to tackle tense situations??

Hiring managers prefer asking this question to assess a candidate’s conflict-resolution skills. Since certain work scenarios can lead to problematic situations, it’s useful for candidates to possess the ability to compromise and cooperate with colleagues. Moreover, Annette Stone, Senior Manager of Recruiting at Wayfair Engineering, mentions that this also helps to analyze if a candidate can manage problems by themselves.?

Could you mention a time when you had failed??

Hiring managers from various companies can often choose to start with this question. While that can be startling, it helps interviewers assess how a candidate overcame failures in their past, as per Megan Gray, Marxrent’s team operations manager. True professionals admit to their mistakes and show how they’ve learned from them and moved on. As Gray states, “Employees who hide behind failures waste time and cause confusion.”?

What qualities do you look for in your leader or manager??

Margaret Freel, Tech Smith’s recruiter, says that this question, although unorthodox, helps interviewers analyze what leadership or management style is ideal for a candidate. Additionally, it helps to determine if candidates are self-aware and well-engaged in the job. Hiring managers can also use this question to assess if the company’s leadership style matches the candidate’s expectations. This is quite important as a company’s leadership is what motivates an employee to perform their jobs efficiently, and a drastic mismatch between the two is better avoided.?

Can you tell us how the Internet works??

Robert Gibbons, Datto’s CTO, says, “While this may sound like a straightforward question, the answer can tell you a lot about the candidate”. For example, a candidate may explain how the Internet is like a post office, where one sends a letter and receives a response. Others might begin by getting into the intricacies of the Internet, defining DNS servers, IP addresses, and so on. All in all, a candidate’s answer here provides valuable insight into their area of focus.?

What are some of the recent exciting obstacles you’ve overcome??

Tim Julien, the VP of Engineering at Bonobos, mentions how this question often calms down a nervous candidate. Since it deals with the candidate’s problem, they control what they reveal, which automatically makes them more comfortable. Julien further suggests that interviewers should also dig deeper to understand the candidate’s challenges and analyze how they overcame them.?

What makes you get up every morning??

This is an important question many interviewers ask. This provides an understanding of the candidate’s passion and how it aligns with career path and goals. Since startups typically have rapidly-growing teams, this question is vital in assessing if the candidate can be a good fit for a fast-paced work environment.

How would your previous coworkers describe you??

Michael Boufford, VP of Engineering at Greenhouse, says how this question forces one to assess themself based on how their past coworkers viewed them. The answers can vary from opinionated to dependable and help interviewers understand why a candidate’s coworkers thought so about them. Moreover, getting to know a candidate from different perspectives can also help interviewers evaluate their compatibility with work peers.?

According to you, what makes an ideal coworker??

Nate Smith, Lever’s co-founder and CTO, says how this question helps him analyze what candidates think about the individuals they wish to work with. Plus, it also helps to understand if a candidate can distinguish between the advantages various coworkers can bring to the team. A normal candidate would only offer skimmed information to answer this, while an exceptional one would answer with several details. Hence, the interviewer gets ample information to assess the candidate’s likelihood of being a challenging or excellent coworker.?

What would you define your dream job as??

While it has no correct answer, this question is more about a candidate’s honesty while answering. It portrays a lot about the candidate (more than what their resume shows), along with their long-term goals, as per Sara Hetyonk, Ontraport’s Talent Acquisition Manager. After all, if a candidate is barely excited to speak about their dream job, how keen can they be to work for the role they’re interviewing??

What is your process to complete a new project successfully??

This question is specifically designed to understand how a candidate can undertake and complete a task while involving others in it. Matt Doucette, Director of Global Talent Acquisition at Monster, talks about the six P’s he searches for in candidates, using this question: Plan, Purpose, Process, Persuasive communication, Pride, and Persistence. He wants to understand why candidates choose what they do, and how they intend to do it while dealing with success and failure.?

Are you working or have been working on side projects??

If candidates work on side projects, it indicates their passion for coding, which is a good thing according to Brain Pugh, VP of Engineering at Lucid Software. Since the code is generally public, interviewers can check its quality to judge the candidate’s coding fluency. Having an interest in something other than one’s actual job indicates their ability to multitask. This can fetch them brownie points.

When did you begin programming? What was the very first thing you built??

Instead of assessing a candidate’s skill level, this question aims to gauge their excitement in describing an important moment in their career. The co-founder and CEO of Triplebyte, Harj Taggar, states how he checks a candidate’s fundamental communication skills using this question. Moreover, this question also helps candidates shine their brightest!?

What motivated you to take some time out and speak with me??

Since tech jobs are always in high demand, top-tier professionals can choose to pick employers they like. Hence, it’s important to understand what the candidate wants in the organization. Emoke Starr, Prezi’s Head of HR, states how asking candidates about their motivation helps in matching the company’s offerings to the candidates’ requirements.?

Have you checked our website? If yes, what do you think can be improved??

This question is vital as it indicates how much a candidate is interested in the organization, as per Kenn Peters, Director of People at Vettery. Furthermore, it shows if the candidate thinks of a product from both a user’s and builder’s perspective. Failure to go through the company’s website is often considered a red flag for interviewers.

Have we missed anything about you? Do you want us to know anything else??

Courtney Gram, Senior Director of HR at ReadyTalk, says how she uses this question to understand a candidate’s desire for the job, instead of just going through their qualifications. According to her, everyone, including the most technical individuals, should have selling skills, which are vital in real life. Hence, a candidate who’s passionate about the job would answer this question in a way that meets or even exceeds the interviewer’s expectations.?

These questions help technical hiring managers understand and assess candidates on a deeper level, instead of simply knowing their technical skills. Preparing for them, you can boost your confidence and eliminate some of the uncertainty before your interview. Do remember, these questions evaluate your life skills and abilities to adapt to work scenarios. Hence, it would be a good idea to answer them honestly. You can go through the full article here .

Here are a few additional questions technical managers ask during interviews. Click here .