What are some of the things one should ask for Senior Developer role ?
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I have to conduct a technical interview for a senior .net developer role. What are some of the things I should ask ? I don't want to ask too low level question like what is an interface and what is a class. I feel that will be given for a senior developer with 10+ years of experience. I am thinking more towards architecture and general decision making related questions. Any suggestions ? Our tech stack is mainly C#, WPF, Web Forms, MVC, WCF and bunch of other CMS and SQL.
Zen and the art of software maintenance : rm -rf * Maths is like love : a simple idea but it can get complicated.
virang_21 wrote:
I don't want to ask too low level question like what is an interface and what is a class. I feel that will be given for a senior developer with 10+ years of experience.
Why not ask? There are far too many "senior" developers out there who only know the book definition of what an interface is. First, ask what an interface is. Then ask them to give you a real world scenario where you would use one to solve a business problem. This shows you their knowledge level AND their problem solving skills. Making the assumption that because the title on their resume has "Senior" in means they're skilled is a huge assumption. I've met people with less than 2 years experience who consider themselves senior. I think their work is crap.
If it's not broken, fix it until it is. Everything makes sense in someone's mind. Ya can't fix stupid.
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I always ask, "How many computers do you have at home for you own personal use?" If they look at me like "why should I have my own computer at home?" the interview is over. If they say "only one, my [insert name of an iCrap thingy]" then the interview is over. If they say any number more than 2, give them the job. Otherwise we have to go through the long process of actually having a conventional interview...
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
I totally get what you're saying here. I have a server, 3 PC's, a laptop, and 4 tablets. That doesn't mean I leave work, drive right home, and code all night. After 30+ years of coding I like to go home & relax. That is no reflection on my work skills or performance in any way.
If it's not broken, fix it until it is. Everything makes sense in someone's mind. Ya can't fix stupid.
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Get a feel for their troubleshooting and research techniques. In the age of the internet, they should be able to find the answer to most topics they are not fluent in, etc. I am more interested in how they go about learning what they don't know, versus what they do know. Also, I could not care less if they know how to concatenate strings in 5 different languages in the fewest lines of code, and I never ask these types of retarded questions during an interview.
Slacker007 wrote:
Also, I could not care less if they know how to concatenate strings in 5 different languages in the fewest lines of code, and I never ask these types of retarded questions during an interview.
Right on. Been in way too many "fibonacci sequence" interviews. When someone asks me a retarded question like that, I respond with "Why, do you have code in production that concats a string 5 different ways in multiple langauges?" If they do, their code is $hit and I walk away. If not, their idiots for asking.
If it's not broken, fix it until it is. Everything makes sense in someone's mind. Ya can't fix stupid.
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Mycroft Holmes wrote:
If you can keep MM off the turps during working hours hire him (assuming you are in Sydney)
Virang's office is about 150 - 200metres metres from mine in a straight line if I don't have him confusrd with someone I haven't caught up with. North Sydney to be precise. Im sure he causght up in the Wger Am I Members section but couldn't see him when I looked.
Michael Martin Australia "I controlled my laughter and simple said "No,I am very busy,so I can't write any code for you". The moment they heard this all the smiling face turned into a sad looking face and one of them farted. So I had to leave the place as soon as possible." - Mr.Prakash One Fine Saturday. 24/04/2004
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They have advertise the role in Perth as that is our main office. So I am getting a developer there.
Zen and the art of software maintenance : rm -rf * Maths is like love : a simple idea but it can get complicated.
virang_21 wrote:
They have advertise the role in Perth as that is our main office. So I am getting a developer there.
The Matilday Bay Brewing Company is near there so I may be interested. I just need to come up with a great excuse as to why I'm always working n a brewery though.
Michael Martin Australia "I controlled my laughter and simple said "No,I am very busy,so I can't write any code for you". The moment they heard this all the smiling face turned into a sad looking face and one of them farted. So I had to leave the place as soon as possible." - Mr.Prakash One Fine Saturday. 24/04/2004
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I have to conduct a technical interview for a senior .net developer role. What are some of the things I should ask ? I don't want to ask too low level question like what is an interface and what is a class. I feel that will be given for a senior developer with 10+ years of experience. I am thinking more towards architecture and general decision making related questions. Any suggestions ? Our tech stack is mainly C#, WPF, Web Forms, MVC, WCF and bunch of other CMS and SQL.
Zen and the art of software maintenance : rm -rf * Maths is like love : a simple idea but it can get complicated.
Asking technical knowledge questions are important and I've also frequently asked candidates to write some code on the whiteboard, however more often than not you also want to know how candidates interact with others when there are disagreements about technical details and other social or team dynamics so asking them to describe a specific scenario is usually good. This isn't the end of the story though. Decent reference checks where you challenge the referee to come up with reasons you don't want to hire the candidate get you the most powerful information. Will this candidate wreck the culture and dynamics of your team?
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I have to conduct a technical interview for a senior .net developer role. What are some of the things I should ask ? I don't want to ask too low level question like what is an interface and what is a class. I feel that will be given for a senior developer with 10+ years of experience. I am thinking more towards architecture and general decision making related questions. Any suggestions ? Our tech stack is mainly C#, WPF, Web Forms, MVC, WCF and bunch of other CMS and SQL.
Zen and the art of software maintenance : rm -rf * Maths is like love : a simple idea but it can get complicated.
If he's got the person has verifiable experience then it's likely going to be more about his general problem solving and soft skills. Things I've been asked that I enjoyed: Logic puzzle - i.e. find the heavier of 8 identical objects with a scale Design puzzle - How would you design red box now (on a white board). It was a discussion session where I present an idea and they asked questions as I was white boarding the design Pair programming session Programming sample projects -. I've been asked to make a simple skeleton project that uses sockets to update a number on the screen, make a basic working setup of a web project, and extend a simple node tcp server. None of those were too hard, but they got the skills part out of the way in a stress-free way.
Elephant elephant elephant, sunshine sunshine sunshine
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I always think the best interviews avoid the "what is x?" and "explain y" questions and delve more into the "whys" via a slightly more conversational approach. I think you get a fairly quick idea of technical competence from the way people speak - you'll soon gather whether a person is a buzzword bull artist, a clueless cut-and-paster or a script kiddy without asking them stuff that they might just be able to parrot from Wikipedia articles. It doesn't take long to realise when you're talking to a genuine coder. It's one thing for a person to be able to reel off the normalised forms as a list but it's another to say where and why they would or wouldn't use them. Don't ask people "what is DI?", ask them where and why why would/wouldn't use DI. Above all, ask questions that don't necessarily have a right or wrong answer. You're looking for someone who will fit into your team and the important thing there is to know what qualities you're looking for - the best person for one job may well be a disastrous choice for another. An excellent highly process-driven developer may struggle in an anarchic organisation and a more creative type might struggle in a more organised environment. Ultimately, it's a case of "horses for courses" and cultural fit can be a far bigger factor than book learning.
Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. - Mark Twain
PeejayAdams wrote:
I always think the best interviews avoid the "what is x?" and "explain y" questions and delve more into the "whys" via a slightly more conversational approach.
Agreed. Even when interviewing entry level people I use this technique. I don't care if the interviewee knows every command in the language -- this isn't the 1980's -- if someone doesn't know something they can search for it rather quickly. I want to know if they know why to use it. If they know why, then they know what. Questions for a higher level person? Ask opinion questions. One question I used many moons ago was "DAO, ADO, or RDO -- which do you prefer and why?" The answer was of no importance -- what mattered was that the person understood things well enough to have an opinion and explain it. If the answer was that they didn't know that? Just as good, they have the confidence to state what they don't know. Look at their resume and consider your own project(s). Choose open ended questions from that grouping. Plan for essay answers, and if the person can't explain or if their essay answer is a monosyllable, you know you don't have a match. This gets a demonstration of their thinking and communication abilities. Occasionally a senior level person needs to be the most proficient geek on the team, but most of the time the soft skills are required. One last thought -- pay attention to usage of "the team" or "I". A few I interviewed described in great detail what "the team" did, but couldn't explain what they did.
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I have to conduct a technical interview for a senior .net developer role. What are some of the things I should ask ? I don't want to ask too low level question like what is an interface and what is a class. I feel that will be given for a senior developer with 10+ years of experience. I am thinking more towards architecture and general decision making related questions. Any suggestions ? Our tech stack is mainly C#, WPF, Web Forms, MVC, WCF and bunch of other CMS and SQL.
Zen and the art of software maintenance : rm -rf * Maths is like love : a simple idea but it can get complicated.
Asking how he did the projects on his resume would let you find out his technical, problem-solving skills, as well as logical thinking and interaction with users and co-developers. A specific tech question (like interface, class or others) may not reflect his real ability since it is like a test for his memory. Many people probably do not remember how to code a binary search. But they do not have to since they can figure it out in a second with online resources.
TOMZ_KV
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I have to conduct a technical interview for a senior .net developer role. What are some of the things I should ask ? I don't want to ask too low level question like what is an interface and what is a class. I feel that will be given for a senior developer with 10+ years of experience. I am thinking more towards architecture and general decision making related questions. Any suggestions ? Our tech stack is mainly C#, WPF, Web Forms, MVC, WCF and bunch of other CMS and SQL.
Zen and the art of software maintenance : rm -rf * Maths is like love : a simple idea but it can get complicated.
Mainly, you should inquire of their body count. Not to many - shows impatience - but not to few - shows a lack of awareness. We all, naturally, must do our part in controlling the user population.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
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Company has zero alcohol policy so that is out of the window... I can ask about coffee though :)
Zen and the art of software maintenance : rm -rf * Maths is like love : a simple idea but it can get complicated.
You'd probably do better with a zero temperance policy.
Explorans limites defectum
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I have to conduct a technical interview for a senior .net developer role. What are some of the things I should ask ? I don't want to ask too low level question like what is an interface and what is a class. I feel that will be given for a senior developer with 10+ years of experience. I am thinking more towards architecture and general decision making related questions. Any suggestions ? Our tech stack is mainly C#, WPF, Web Forms, MVC, WCF and bunch of other CMS and SQL.
Zen and the art of software maintenance : rm -rf * Maths is like love : a simple idea but it can get complicated.
How many developers does it take to screw in a light bulb?