Web Developer Interview Questions

One of the pet peeves I have when interviewing a developer is realizing that the candidate is completely clueless about certain skills for which he or she has claimed expertise on their resume. There are just too many outright liars out there — so many desperate people pad their list of supposedly known technologies in order for them to get to the in-person interview that it becomes difficult to weed out the chaff simply by scanning their curriculum vitae online.

Unfortunately, the problem is now so prevalent that it is necessary to nip the bud early before wasting more colleagues’ time in interviewing. If any of the technologies below are listed, I start out asking easy soft-ball questions like those that follow.

XML

  • What does “well formed” mean?
  • Describe the difference between a DOM parser and a SAX parser.

WML

  • What is WML and what is it used for?
  • What are the two most common WML tags used to create hyperlinks?

Perl

  • How do you open a file for writing?
  • How would you replace the word “dog” with the word “cat”?
  • What is the difference between “&&” and “and” logical operators?

JavaScript

  • What does 2+5+”7″ evaluate to?
  • What does the “isNaN” function do?

Struts

  • Name and provide basic details of the Struts configuration files.
  • How do you display Struts validation errors on a JSP?

JSP

  • What is a page directive and what is it used for?
  • What is the difference between a client-side comment and a server-side comment?

If candidates can’t correctly answer these ultra-basic questions… well, there is really no hope!

I recently interviewed a “senior-level” candidate who claimed ten years of enterprise experience and “expert knowledge” of each of these technologies on his résumé — he completely failed all of the above WML, Perl, JavaScript, and JSP questions!

8 Responses to “Web Developer Interview Questions”

  1. Sean

    As I’m sure any hiring manager could say, I’ve run into similar problems when looking for new staff. It’s the main reason I now require a phone screen before I bring anyone in. I’d rather waste 10 minutes of my time than 30-45 minutes each of several other folks’.

    So, what do you do when someone, such as your recent “senior” candidate fails the test? Do you just politely thank them for their time and end the interview (is it by phone or in person?) or do you point out that they lied and then end interview?

    Reply
  2. richard

    Part of the problem is that we’re not allowed to do the phone screening ourselves, a bone of contention I’ve had for some time. But I will often just end the interview after an appropriate amount of desperate clutching and walk them out. If they catch me on the right day, I might point out some of their errors, but usually not…

    Reply
  3. Sean

    sigh Wish we weren’t able to do our own phone screening. Not really, but it would be a preferable option to what we currently now have: completely useless HR dept.

    I’m not allowed to use any recruiting firm.

    I have to go on Monster.com (only available source) and search for resumes.

    I have to review all resumes that come in.

    I have to do all initial screening.

    I have to setup and schedule everyone participating in on site interviews.

    Somedays I’m really tempted to ask HR when they will start doing my job.

    Reply
  4. Sean

    Hmmm. And the final blow just came today. I haven’t been able to log in to Monster.com and asked our HR person if the password had changed. Took her 3 days to reply: “It has changed and for the time being we’re not giving access to hiring managers. We have one user license and with all the recruiting that’s going on it’s crucial that it’s available to the recruiters.”

    So I don’t get any support from HR. I can’t use a recruiting firm. The only route open to me is Monster. And now that has been closed off.

    Y’know “all the recruiting that’s going on” sure isn’t helped by this.

    And I can’t imagine the bottom line is benefitted.

    Reply
  5. richard

    I was just Googling for “wml interview questions”. Guess which website came up on top?! I am amazed at how often that happens.

    Reply
  6. Imran Mirza

    This is not fare if we ask any basic question from the person who has 10+ years of exerience. This is exactly the sameone asking debit/credit terms for the post of CFO. We need to understand the position and the candidate and try to ask question related to his/her profile and experience.

    Reply
  7. richard

    @Imran: Not true. Any senior developer should be able to (for example) replace the word “dog” with the word “cat” with a simple regex. If I were to ask a candidate for a CFO position to explain the difference between depreciation of tangible and intangible assets, and they couldn’t — why proceed further?

    Reply
  8. Sean D. Martin

    Imran: This is not fare if we ask any basic question from the person who has 10+ years of exerience. This is exactly the sameone asking debit/credit terms for the post of CFO. We need to understand the position and the candidate and try to ask question related to his/her profile and experience.

    It absolutely is fair to ask basic questions of people with lots of experience. Anyone who wants to be a CFO but can’t explain the difference between a debit and a credit is not qualified to be a CFO.

    And we should “try to ask question related to his/her profile and experience”? You’ve got that exactly backwards. I’m not trying to create a position that fits their experience. They have to demonstrate they are able to fill the position I have.

    Reply


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