Knowing the best senior developer interview questions to ask during an interview to help you find out the most about a web developer during recruitment, isn’t always obvious. You need to assess technical skills, technical knowledge, and with senior developers—leadership skills too. So here are some guidelines on how to find the right senior developer for your business.
Want to know the difference between software developers vs software engineers?
What does a senior developer do?
By its very nature, making, testing, and maintaining all software is a complex venture. As a result, every member of the development team has an importantcontribution to make. This is particularly true for a senior developer.
They have to be able to write great code, and demonstrate knowledge of software architecture. They must also take on a wide range of responsibilities, any of which can have a crucial effect on your company’s record of success.
Establishing seniority in the world of tech is more problematic than just looking at the number of years of experience. Many developers who identify as seniors have five or more years of professional coding experience behind them. That said, not all senior developers will have five years of professional development under their belt.
This is what Glassdoor had to say about hiring senior software developers,
“Senior software engineers are the most experienced member of a software team and usually carry the most responsibility and authority of that team. Because of this, interviews will be designed to find candidates who have expert knowledge of the field and years of experience as a software engineer. Expect to be asked tough technical questions and to give examples of previous projects that you have worked on.”
Senior developers vs junior developers?
There are several factors that set junior and senior developers apart. Most senior developers have a much wider range of extensive duties in addition to their normal software development work. In particular, they are likely to be responsible for leading a team of developers, or for managing a number of teams of developers.
At one end of the leading/managing spectrum, the form of leadership may be more in the style of a Scrum Master. At the other end of the spectrum, the senior developer might be working on organizational issues or perhaps focusing on activities related to keeping the business profitable. A good senior developer will be able to handle all kinds of challenges that would severely test the abilities of junior or mid level developers.
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What to look for in senior software developers?
A job advert for a senior software developer is likely to expect candidates to have already developed high-quality software that was aligned with user needs and business goals.
As a result, the right senior software engineer will need to have hands-on experience in software development and Agile methodologies, as well as detailed knowledge of one or more technologies.
A lead developer will also have experience working with at least some of the following: Javascript, JSON, XML, REST, NoSQL Database(MongoDB, MVC cadres, Design Patterns, JQuery.
Additionally, a Senior software developer can be expected to:
- Work independently with little supervision
- Have excellent organizational and problem-solving skills
- Have an analytical mind with an aptitude for problem-solving
- Take the lead on operational and technical projects
- Demonstrate the ability to create and maintain relevant processes
- Be able to work with upper management to define software requirements
- Manage project timelines and priorities
- Convert business requirements into technical specifications
- Identify, prioritize and execute tasks in the software development life cycle
- Collaborate with internal teams and vendors to fix and improve products
However, it isn’t all about technical skills and knowledge, communication skills are also paramount. Part of being a senior developer involves having the soft skills to be able to put into practice new systems and communicate them effectively. Senior developers need to be able to contribute to meetings and possess the conversational skills to put across an idea or what can sometimes be complex concepts, in a way that is clear and succinct for non-technical employees.
Being able to communicate clearly is an important trait for a senior developer to have in their skill set, but so is the ability to look at the bigger picture. There will be times when, even as a team leader, you have to compromise in order to overcome certain challenges. Having the where with all to listen to the opinions of other team members and be able to accept constructive feedback, is what makes someone a better developer. Asking for help is not a bad thing, even as a senior. It shows you trust the opinions of the mid level developers or juniors working with you. Ask your candidates for instances when they asked for someone else’s feedback in order to sidestep challenges and proceed with a project.
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How to prepare senior developer questions d'entretien
Before planning your interview with a senior developer, it makes sense to review the processus you follow when interviewing regular software developers. You’ll need to decide whether your standard approach to the job interview is the right approach, or whether you need to adapt it. Are your standard questions or tasks still relevant? Or do you need to replace certain questions or tasks with more suitable ones?
Here are some things to keep in mind:
- Make sure senior developers are interviewed by someone as advanced as they are
- We do not recommend algorithm tests, so if you decide to ask seniors to take a coding test, make sure the test allows for more creative solutions or involves advanced debugging that only a senior developer could do
- Consider paired programming interviews to get a feeling of what it’s like to work with this person, as well as ask them to talk through their approach and explain why they made certain choices
- How do they feel about mentoring less senior developers? More junior developers are often attracted to companies that facilitate learning i.e. from mentors. Does your candidate see themselves as a mentor? Have they ever done that before?
If you haven’t done so already, this is a great opportunity to work with your developer team to create a document that details the “job ladder”, a document that clearly explains what the differences are between, for example, junior, middle, and senior levels.
How to structure senior developer interviews
Remember that this interview is designed to identify candidates who have expert knowledge of the required fields and have the required years of experience as a software developer. As a result, candidates can expect to be asked some tough questions about the technical areas which they have highlighted in their resumes, like frameworks, libraries, and past projects.
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Use natural skill tests when interviewing senior engineers
- Do not ask senior developers to complete a test to explain a simple algorithm or data structure- most candidates for senior posts haven’t dealt with such matters in years.
- Stay away from whiteboard-testing.
- Ask candidates to share a few work samples
- Ask the candidate to build on existing code
Likewise, instead of asking candidates to take a coding test like in a coding interview, it would be better to ask a potential senior developer how they would improve upon existing code.
This can be achieved with a DevSkiller paired programming test . See how your candidate approaches and solves problems, including how they prioritize which problems to solve. Additionally, see how your candidate uses in stack resources like frameworks and libraries and observe when they choose to write their own code
Coordinate with your development team
You’ll need to coordinate well with the development team you’re hiring for.
- Organize a panel that represents the development team and your company in a fair and accurate way
- Try to limit the panel to a maximum of five people at a time so that you don’t overwhelm candidates
Apart from having the appropriate technical background, a senior developer also requires project and team management skills. Here, you’re looking for candidates who feel comfortable making difficult decisions and can efficiently and effectively delegate tasks to their team members.
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Senior developer interview question examples
Technical skills based questions to ask a senior developer
You will need to ask your developer team for conseils when it comes to asking questions related to technical skills during an interview. This is why there is often a behavioral interview and a separate technical interview. Here are some Senior developer interview question examples:
- Are you still writing code? Do you love it?
- What are the pros and cons of cloud systems?
- For a fintech application, what security concerns would you have? And how would you address them?
- What technologies, programming languages, and frameworks would you use if you had to develop a project from scratch in only one month?
- You have just been put in charge of a legacy code project which is difficult to maintain – what would you plan to improve in order to make the project easier to maintain in the long term?
Remember to also tailor interview questions to suit the specific technologies of your company. So for instance, ask a senior Java developer a specifically tailored Java interview question. Likewise, ask Android developers about the technologies they would use to create a new Android app. If your company uses a specific programming langue, it is good to know that your senior programmer candidate is experienced in that area.
Role-specific senior engineer interview questions
- How regularly do you schedule meetings with your team members?
- What metrics do you use to monitor your team’s performance?
- What are the benefits and advantages of working in an Agile environment?
- Which tests are most important before deploying a new system or feature?
- What tools and techniques do you use when reviewing someone else’s code?
Operational and situational questions
- What would be your approach to a more junior developer on your team who kept questioning your decisions?
- How would you motivate disengaged employees?
- How would you deal with disagreements related to system requirements between senior managers?
- What advice would you give to a new team member? What’s the best way to onboard a new hire?
- How would you negotiate a bigger budget for your team?
- Do you prefer giving team-wide or individual feedback?
- How do you document your programming work?
Behavioral interview questions to ask a senior developer
Behavioral questions can be a useful way of testing how a candidate reacts to certain situations.
- What would you do to sell new ideas to management? For example, if your manager asks you to select between two technologies, how would you do this? This question tests how well a candidate presents a business case to use a particular type of technology, and what risks and values they consider when making the decision.
- Have you ever identified a potential business problem, and then proactively implemented a solution?
- How do you stay up-to-date on new technologies related to full-stack web development?
- What’s your biggest professional success so far? Why?
- Tell me about three times in your professional career when you failed.
- What was the last team project you worked on? What did you work on? In hindsight, how would you prioritize those tasks for better collaboration? With these questions, you are finding out whether or not the candidate was a team player and collaborated well with others. You will also find out how they prioritize tasks, and how well they think through (and then explain) what they would do differently in the future.
- What would help you to become a better manager?
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Assessing technical skills and problem-solving abilities
System design questions
When evaluating senior developers, it’s crucial to assess their ability to design scalable and efficient systems. Ask questions like:
- How would you design a distributed caching system?
- What considerations would you make when designing a high-traffic web application?
Coding challenges
While algorithm tests may not be ideal, you can still assess coding skills through practical challenges:
- Present a real-world problem and ask how they would approach solving it with code
- Have them review and improve an existing codebase
Architecture discussions
Engage candidates in discussions about software architecture:
- What architectural patterns have you used in past projects and why?
- How would you design a microservices-based system for a given scenario?
Evaluating leadership and mentorship capabilities
Scenario-based questions
Present scenarios that test leadership skills:
- How would you handle a team member consistently missing deadlines?
- What approach would you take to introduce a new technology stack to your team?
Past experience examples
Ask for specific examples from their experience:
- Can you describe a time when you successfully mentored a junior developer?
- Tell me about a challenging project you led and how you ensured its success.
Assessing cultural fit and soft skills
Communication style assessment
Evaluate how well candidates can explain complex technical concepts:
- Ask them to explain a technical concept to a non-technical stakeholder
- Discuss how they would handle disagreements with team members or management
Teamwork and collaboration questions
Explore their ability to work effectively in a team:
- How do you approach code reviews and giving feedback to peers?
- Describe a situation where you had to collaborate with a difficult team member.
Discussing career goals and growth opportunities
Long-term vision alignment
Understand how the candidate’s career aspirations align with your company’s goals:
- Where do you see yourself professionally in 5 years?
- How do you think your role as a senior developer might evolve in our organization?
Professional development interests
Explore their commitment to continuous learning:
- What areas of technology are you most excited about learning or exploring further?
- How do you stay updated with the latest trends and best practices in software development?
Addressing challenges in scaling engineering teams
Handling increased complexity
Discuss strategies for managing growing codebases and team sizes:
- How would you approach refactoring a large, legacy codebase?
- What strategies would you employ to maintain code quality as the team scales?
Managing technical debt
Explore their approach to balancing new development with maintaining existing systems:
- How do you prioritize addressing technical debt versus delivering new features?
- Can you describe a time when you successfully reduced technical debt in a project?
Evaluating decision-making and prioritization skills
Resource allocation scenarios
Present scenarios that test their ability to allocate resources effectively:
- Given limited time and resources, how would you prioritize bug fixes, new feature development, and technical debt reduction?
- How would you approach staffing for a critical project with a tight deadline?
Trade-off analysis questions
Assess their ability to make informed decisions:
- Describe a situation where you had to choose between two competing technologies or approaches. How did you make your decision?
- How do you balance the need for thorough testing with the pressure to deliver quickly?
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Conclusion
The most important takeaway from this article is that senior developers are more than just programmers. Depending on how your company is set up, a senior developer may also focus on leading a team of developers or even selling your product’s vision externally. So it’s crucial for you to discuss the exact requirements of the team you’re recruiting for.
After that, you’re welcome to adapt to the compilation of questions we’ve provided above. Remember that you’re looking for candidates who have not only relevant experience, but also excellent communication skills and the ability to adapt quickly to changing circumstances.
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Featured image source: Photo by Procreator UX Design Studio sur Unsplash
