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How have you improved as a software engineer throughout your career? Can you share how your experiences have influenced your development approach?
The interviewer wants to learn about your journey as a software engineer and how your experiences have shaped your development perspective.
- Highlight experiences that demonstrate your understanding of both individual and team contributions to larger projects.
- Showcase your ability to refine your approach based on past experiences.
- Emphasize the importance of writing maintainable and scalable code.
- Mention the significance of effective communication and collaboration within your team as well as with other teams.
- Talk about successfully managing and delivering larger projects or components while aligning with business goals.
- Avoid suggesting that you haven't grown or improved over the years.
- Don't give examples where your experience had a negative impact on your development approach or work quality.
Sample Answer 1
Over the years, I've learned the importance of efficient and maintainable code, as well as the value of effective communication and collaboration with my team and other teams. For example, early in my career, I focused primarily on writing code that worked, without considering its long-term maintainability. After dealing with legacy code and refactoring projects, I've learned to prioritize clean, modular, and well-documented code. This experience has shaped my approach to development, making me a more thoughtful and effective software engineer.
Sample Answer 2
As I've grown as a software engineer, I've learned the importance of incorporating diverse perspectives and encouraging open communication within and across teams. In one of my earlier projects, I encountered challenges due to a lack of communication and collaboration among team members, which affected the project's progress. This taught me the value of active listening, seeking input from others, and ensuring everyone is aligned with the project goals. This collaborative approach now helps me successfully manage and deliver larger projects or components while aligning with business goals.