Junior Software Engineer

Core Coding Skills

Problem Breakdown:

• Walk through how you would solve a coding problem you have not seen before.
• How do you verify your solution works before submitting it?

Language Fundamentals:

• What are the core data types in your strongest language, and when do you use each?
• Explain the difference between pass-by-value and pass-by-reference with an example.

Data Structures:

• When would you use an array, a hash map, and a set?
• What tradeoffs do you consider when picking a data structure?

Computer Science Fundamentals

Algorithms:

• What is Big O notation, and how do you use it in day-to-day coding?
• Give an example of improving an O(n^2) approach to something more efficient.

Databases:

• What is the difference between SQL and NoSQL, and when might you use each?
• How would you design a simple schema for users and their orders?

Networking Basics:

• What happens from the moment you type a URL into a browser to seeing a page load?
• What is the difference between a GET and a POST request?

Software Delivery Habits

Version Control:

• Describe your standard workflow when working on a feature branch.
• How do you handle merge conflicts when collaborating with others?

Testing:

• What is the difference between unit, integration, and end-to-end tests?
• How would you test a function with edge cases and invalid inputs?

Debugging:

• Tell me about a bug you fixed. How did you isolate the root cause?
• What tools do you use when debugging locally?

Collaboration and Growth

Communication:

• How do you ask for help when you are blocked?
• How do you explain technical tradeoffs to non-technical teammates?

Feedback:

• Describe a time you received difficult feedback. What did you do with it?
• How do you apply code review feedback in future work?

Learning Mindset:

• What new technical concept did you learn recently, and how did you learn it?
• How do you balance shipping work with improving your foundational skills?

Behavioral Questions

Ownership:

• Tell me about a time you made a mistake in code. How did you handle it?
• How do you decide when something is “good enough” to ship?

Teamwork:

• Describe a project where you worked with designers, product managers, or QA.
• What does being a reliable teammate look like to you?

Closing Questions

Candidate Fit:

• Why are you interested in this role and this team?
• What kind of mentorship helps you perform at your best?

Candidate Questions:

• What questions do you have about our engineering process or team culture?