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Software Engineer Interviews

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Software Engineer Interview Questions

Software engineers write programs to design and develop computer software. Interviews are highly technical, so come ready to work through coding problems and math brainteasers. The specific questions you are asked will depend on what type of programming position you are looking for. Try researching a specific software discipline such as web development, application development, or system development.

Top Software Engineer Interview Questions & How to Answer

Question 1

Question #1: How would you describe your programming task process?

How to answer
How to answer: When answering a question about your process or life cycle for software development and engineering, it's helpful to consider every step, beginning with obtaining the requirements for the end product. Include as much detail as possible to help the interviewer learn more about any work you've done as a software engineer and how you handle a task to show your ability to tackle a project from start to finish.
Question 2

Question #2: Which programming languages do you know and prefer?

How to answer
How to answer: An interviewer will want to know what programming languages you're familiar with, as well as which languages you prefer. This question doesn't necessarily have a right or wrong answer, but it does provide insights into your capabilities and coding expertise. If the job listing for which you are interviewing includes specific language knowledge preferences, make sure to include them when outlining the software languages you know.
Question 3

Question 3: What is an example of a successful project that you completed?

How to answer
How to answer: When describing your success with a past project, it's helpful to identify aspects of the project that went well and detail the different task list elements. You can describe the team with whom you worked on the project, how you managed your time, and how you specifically contributed to the project.

418,713 software engineer interview questions shared by candidates

The initial question (writing a function to calculate a square root) ended up being the most difficult because it threw me off. I knew there was a good iterative method for doing so, but could not recall Newton's method in the moment, and I sadly let this nagging thought get in the way of my ability to work through the problem. My failure to perform well on that question set a negative tone for the rest of the interview, since each interviewer after the first can see notes from the previous interviewers.
avatar

Software Engineer

Interviewed at Meta

3.6★
Aug 13, 2012

The initial question (writing a function to calculate a square root) ended up being the most difficult because it threw me off. I knew there was a good iterative method for doing so, but could not recall Newton's method in the moment, and I sadly let this nagging thought get in the way of my ability to work through the problem. My failure to perform well on that question set a negative tone for the rest of the interview, since each interviewer after the first can see notes from the previous interviewers.

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