#Principal software engineer interview questions code#
These measurements may sound more exciting, but they're also more difficult to quantify than hours worked or code commits. Yottaa assesses developers on measures such as whether or not the company can sell, renew, and grow opportunities with the software an engineer delivers and if a software engineer is able to keep up with changing needs of the business.
Yottaa, for example, is "a very sales-driven company and very metrics-driven," he says. Others measure them by results, such as the number of rollbacks their code required due to defects or the number of projects their group completed on time and on budget. Some companies assess software engineers by their effort, such as how many hours they worked and how much code they commit to a repository, says Ari Weil, VP of products at Yottaa, an adaptive content delivery network provider. But different companies will measure you differently, and trying to hit a mark you're not comfortable with can make your life miserable. How your employer defines your "success" helps determine everything from your pay to your perks. Doug Schade, a partner and recruiter in WinterWyman's software technology search division, suggests asking "What level of autonomy do you give to developers when tackling projects?" Bonmassar says the lack of any mechanism for software engineer feedback is a "red flag." How will I be measured? He also recommends asking about the development workflow: "How much of the developer's input goes into the product? Does the project manager dictate every detail of the schedule, what has to be built, or does the engineering team have a say in that, and how much?"Īsk about the relationship between engineering and other teams. If the interviewer can't answer, Bonmassar says, "it's usually a bad sign" that the company doesn't pay enough attention to the technology that is so important to you. To find out, ask what tools the company prefers for everything from development to testing, suggests Luca Bonmassar, cofounder and chief technology officer of Gild, a SaaS platform for finding, evaluating, and recruiting technical talent. Does the corporate culture value technology, respect software engineers, give them a say in product development, and offer the freedom to do their best work without micromanagement? You'll be living with the beliefs, values, and behaviors of your coworkers 10 to 12 hours per day. Regardless of how often you find yourself going on a job interview, these five questions every software engineer should ask will help determine if you'll be happy for the long term. Or maybe you're an everyday, solid player who gets "only" two to three nibbles a year. Maybe you're a JavaScript superstar who has taken down your LinkedIn profile to stop those annoying headhunter calls.