Thinking about next steps in your career is made easier if you know what type of software craftsmen or craftswomen you are. This is nothing set in stone, more an idea drawn with window colours, that can be adapted over time.
I also like figuring this out when talking to job interviewees. The time is limited in interviews, so relevant questions are essential to get a feeling on if a person is a fit, from technical knowledge but also in terms of personality traits. So, how to figure that out?
What’s openai thinking about it?
https://chat.openai.com/chat is a Tool that offers chat based text generation. The result seems to be a very good start and I’m kind of impressed by it’s explanation of the purpose connected to the questions:
Here are some questions that you can use to get to know your interviewee and to find out if they are a good software engineer:
- Can you tell me about your previous work experience and what kind of projects you have worked on? This question can help you understand the candidate’s level of experience and the types of projects they have worked on in the past.
- Can you walk me through your approach to solving a complex problem or debugging an issue in code? This question can give you insight into the candidate’s problem-solving skills and their ability to think critically.
- Can you describe a time when you faced a challenging situation or obstacle in a project, and how you overcame it? This question can help you understand how the candidate deals with challenges and how they handle adversity.
- Can you tell me about your experience with version control systems and how you use them in your workflow? This question can help you understand the candidate’s familiarity with version control and how they incorporate it into their daily work.
- Can you describe a project that you are particularly proud of and what you contributed to it? This question can give you insight into the candidate’s strengths and the specific areas in which they excel.
Overall, the key is to ask open-ended questions that allow the candidate to share their knowledge, experience, and approach to problem-solving. This will help you get to know the candidate better and determine if they are a good fit for the position.
Answer generated by ChatGPT
Good start, but…
The above are already a nice start, but of superficial nature. I prefer questions that give my respondent the opportunity to tell a personal story:
- How did you get into IT?
- If you could choose: What’s your favoured Tech Stack?
- What programming language do you have a crush on?
- Do you simply want to get tickets done, or is there the urge for being more involved in concepts and product decisions?
- Do you like designing Software Architecture or do you prefer getting your hands dirty in programming?
- Is there an area you want to develop in the future?
- Would you describe yourself as generalist or a specialist?
- Did you ever break production?
- What criteria does your code need to fulfil before being pushed to production?
- Any other interests besides IT?
- What’s your plan b?
Would you add something to the list?
Ellens Blog 