Find Web Developers
Find Web Developers

Top 3 Non-Technical Questions Interviewers Will Ask When Interviewing a Web Developer

1) What are your biggest strengths and weaknesses?

Everyone loves this question. NOT. Naturally everyone would love to answer the first part of the question but not the second. What the interviewer is actually trying to do here is assess how rounded you are as a character and how well you are thinking about improving on your flaws. To address the first part I recommend actually thinking about what makes you different. For example some of us are more technical. Others are better communicators. Or perhaps you have a very even spread amongst the two. There is no wrong answer with this question but what you need to do is find the right answer which is totally unique to you. This is essentially a time to advertise your USP.

For the second part I would say find something that is negative but that can be cast in a positive light, then cast in that positive light by explaining how you overcome it. You are trying to get the interviewer to understand know your weakness (we all have them) but that you are also actively engaged in rectifying it.

Here are some typical examples…

“Well I am impatient so sometimes I can be a bit abrupt with people because I want stuff done yesterday!, but I am aware of it and if it does come across I try and immediately apologise, but it happens less and less these days”

“I am a too thorough sometimes and want to know everything and so can get distracted. However what I try and do is write a list of tasks down to keep me on track hour to hour”

2) Do you prefer to work alone or on a team?

Careful with this one, again like with the point I made above what the interviewer is looking for someone who is well rounded. The chances are if you are interviewing for a role as an enterprise software developer then you will be working in a team. However there may be times when you will have to take the initiative and work off your own steam. So really you need to cover both of these points. Explain firstly that you are a team player. Not all of us are team players by nature, I’m actually not because I was raised as an only child. But it’s a skill I have learned as I have had to. Although I’m sure no one likes me;-/. Anyway being part of a team is great once you learn how, so just explain how you enjoy it. But then follow it up by explaining that you do relish the challenge to take the initiative sometimes and work off your own back. Basically you are not answering the question but you are phrasing it in such a way that you don’t need to.

3) What’s the last project you worked on and what was your responsibility?

Okay here is my advice; talk about the most interesting last project if you can. I don’t mean lie I just mean stretch the truth and deliver the interviewer what they want, what everyone wants when it comes down to it ‘a good story’. Try and focus on the positives initially and how you contributed to a fully functional development team. Being specific here is a good idea as it will come across like you actually knew what was going on (because some developers I have met actually don’t). I would also talk about some of the challenges that were on the project and what you did to help overcome them.

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