3 of the Worst Answers I’ve Gotten from Interviewing Software Engineers
Working at a dev shop I get to dip my toes in all different kinds of responsibility pools, including interviewing. Here are some answers I’ve heard during interviews that were literally. the. worst.
What direction do you want to move your career towards? What parts of software do you enjoy building the most?
Worst Answer: I enjoy the full stack! I love working on making the front end intuitive and beautiful as well as touching the back end and designing the data we’re getting back.
This told me nothing about the person’s interest, strengths, or weaknesses. Maybe people are worried about pigeon-holing themselves into one domain or getting stuck in the front or back end because of something they said in an interview one day. But this is a great opportunity to share an experience you’ve had in a certain domain that you enjoyed. If you had the opportunity to spearhead the front end flow of a feature and loved it, then bring that up! Or if you were given a CSS task in the past and much preferred working with the SQL database, then mention that! It’s incredible how little detail this answer provides when it has the potential to really show the interviewer the proclivities you’ve developed as a direct result of your experiences!
Why are you looking to leave your current company?
Worst Answer: Oh I’m just ready to move on to a new opportunity. I don’t want to be stuck in any particular place or industry for too long and I’ve been working at my company for many years already so I’m ready for a change.
Hmm why would a company be interested in hiring someone that gets tired of their industry for no apparent reason after a certain number of years, months, etc.? This answer just reflects badly on the interviewee. If you felt that your company didn’t offer you a chance to grow as an engineer and you wanted to be more challenged at work, that would be a positive reason to look for new opportunities. Even if the reason is negative, it shouldn’t reflect negatively on your potential or your career aspirations.
Do you have any questions for us?
Worst Answer: No, I think I got everything I need.
Another lost opportunity! I always think it’s a good idea to research the company you’re interviewing at before you step into the interview. Have industry-specific, or even people-specific (your interviewers have online profiles, I’m sure!) questions ready at hand and use this as a chance to show you’re really interested in the opportunity or at the very least that you’re able to bond with one of the interviewers.
Conclusion:
When answering a question in an interview, I know it sounds obvious but make sure you actually provide an answer to the question! Second, take the opportunity to use the question as a launching pad to discuss your work experiences and how they moulded you into the engineer you are today! Have some key experiences/memories in mind that apply to a broad range of answers so that you can use them at your disposal whenever a relevant question comes up and so you don’t have to do as much on-the-spot thinking!
