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Ask HN: Great Interview Questions You Have Been Asked

8 points by jsyang00 3y ago

Especially open-ended/design-focused ones.

tucaz 3y ago
I like the one where you ask the person to explain “what happens between when you type an address in a browser until you get something to show up” in as much details they can. It tells you a lot about people understand all the different concepts involving computing.
- brezelgoring 3y ago
  I did this as an exercise just now, and I noticed I answered mostly in networking terms. Sockets, ports, explaining what an autonomous system is and how DNS requests flow between them, explaining a TLS handshake, and HTTP and HTML and what a server is, and how it works, there's always more to cover. I realized I know very little of what happens _inside_ the computer during the typing, what libraries are involved? How does data flow _inside_ the computer? I like to think I know enough about my hardware, but this has been humbling. Thank you for bringing this up.
- loveparade 3y ago
  This is a great one!
- 2rsf 3y ago
  Good one, it can also show you how people thinks and not only knowledge, for example how organized are they
- codingdave 3y ago
  I tend to ask this type of question as well. Not only does it show you the level of detail they know, but it also show you how well they filter that knowledge to the situation and audience. I'd expect someone being hired for a networking role to talk more about the networking and DNS, while someone begin hired for a front-end role would talk more about the content that is sent and returned to the browser, and a back-end or full-stack dev to talk about how the destination server handles the request and builds a response. Even better if they ask a clarifying question to confirm which pieces I really want to hear about.
- comprev 3y ago
  This is always my favourite question to ask as their answer tells me exactly where their knowledge is strongest and thus would the candidate be suited to the role - or get bored very quickly and I'd be back to square one for hiring in 12 months time?
neontomo 3y ago
In my first frontend interview at 18, the interviewer tested me on the most basic thing. He could have asked more difficult questions that I might have had the answer to, but instead he asked about markup. “In this first line of HTML it says <!doctype html>, what will happen if we remove it and why?” Unfortunately, it discouraged me at that age to try again for a long time, but it stuck with me.
- flappyeagle 3y ago
  that seems like trivia
  - codingdave 3y ago
    It wasn't trivia back in the day, it was a basic yet critical piece of getting your site to behave consistently across browsers. But it is definitely a dated question.
    - neontomo 3y ago
      Yeah this was many years ago but the point was not about HTML, it was making sure I knew the basics.
austin-cheney 3y ago
Describe event bubbling. What would you do to radically improve test automation speed? Describe accessibility in as much detail as you can. In the context of web services explain full duplex service transmission. What is something amazing you would suggest we implement with Node.js to reduce our operating expenses?
- 2rsf 3y ago
  > What would you do to radically improve test automation speed? Speed questions are good ones since they show how people think, some will immediately jump into random action items while others will investigate the problem first and suggest different approaches to different problems.
  - austin-cheney 3y ago
    My answer, the answer that got me an offer letter a few months ago at a prestigious firm, was to abandon HTTP.
akasakahakada 3y ago
I wish interviewers in Japan can throw away their textbooks to be a real person and have real conversation. Mostly only 3 question. 1. Why do you choose Japan? (so why pick me during screening if you want me out?) 2. Tell me the largest achievement of yours. (completely parallel to work ability and don't even reveal any personality) 3. What's your future plan? (want me to tell you that I will quit 5 years later just to get a PhD?) These question must be so epic that everyone must ask once everytime.
2rsf 3y ago
The best one I know is asking to describe a system you worked on, and supposedly know well, and deep dive into it.
- flappyeagle 3y ago
  This is what I do. Get someone to explain something technical to another technical person (me) efficiently and deeply
comprev 3y ago
"ELI5 to me how I can order something on Amazon using an iPad" Engineering is about clear communication of ideas and sometimes we have to _really_ dumb down some things for a non-technical audience (think board members). Trying to ELI5 a subject you feel is your strongest is surprisingly difficult - but a vital skill when moving up the engineering ladder.
hulitu 3y ago
Emacs or Vi ? /s
bezzi 3y ago
"it says here that you've been using technology X for a few years. What is the most frustrating thing about X? If you had the resources needed what would you do to fix it?"
iteria 3y ago
One of the most interesting question i was asked was: What is the biggest fire you created and how did you handle it? The interviewer told me that the purpose of the question was to learn 1) are you willing to admit mistakes 2) what is the most responsibility you've been trusted with. After all the bigger the fire, the more you were likely trusted 3) how do you act under stress 4) can you learn lessons from your mistake. I think it's a fantastic cultural fit type question.

8 points by jsyang00 3y ago

Especially open-ended/design-focused ones.

I like the one where you ask the person to explain “what happens between when you type an address in a browser until you get something to show up” in as much details they can. It tells you a lot about people understand all the different concepts involving computing.

brezelgoring 3y ago
I did this as an exercise just now, and I noticed I answered mostly in networking terms. Sockets, ports, explaining what an autonomous system is and how DNS requests flow between them, explaining a TLS handshake, and HTTP and HTML and what a server is, and how it works, there's always more to cover. I realized I know very little of what happens _inside_ the computer during the typing, what libraries are involved? How does data flow _inside_ the computer? I like to think I know enough about my hardware, but this has been humbling. Thank you for bringing this up.
loveparade 3y ago
This is a great one!
2rsf 3y ago
Good one, it can also show you how people thinks and not only knowledge, for example how organized are they
codingdave 3y ago
I tend to ask this type of question as well. Not only does it show you the level of detail they know, but it also show you how well they filter that knowledge to the situation and audience. I'd expect someone being hired for a networking role to talk more about the networking and DNS, while someone begin hired for a front-end role would talk more about the content that is sent and returned to the browser, and a back-end or full-stack dev to talk about how the destination server handles the request and builds a response. Even better if they ask a clarifying question to confirm which pieces I really want to hear about.
comprev 3y ago
This is always my favourite question to ask as their answer tells me exactly where their knowledge is strongest and thus would the candidate be suited to the role - or get bored very quickly and I'd be back to square one for hiring in 12 months time?

neontomo 3y ago

In my first frontend interview at 18, the interviewer tested me on the most basic thing. He could have asked more difficult questions that I might have had the answer to, but instead he asked about markup. “In this first line of HTML it says <!doctype html>, what will happen if we remove it and why?” Unfortunately, it discouraged me at that age to try again for a long time, but it stuck with me.

flappyeagle 3y ago
that seems like trivia
- codingdave 3y ago
  It wasn't trivia back in the day, it was a basic yet critical piece of getting your site to behave consistently across browsers. But it is definitely a dated question.
  - neontomo 3y ago
    Yeah this was many years ago but the point was not about HTML, it was making sure I knew the basics.

austin-cheney 3y ago

Describe event bubbling. What would you do to radically improve test automation speed? Describe accessibility in as much detail as you can. In the context of web services explain full duplex service transmission. What is something amazing you would suggest we implement with Node.js to reduce our operating expenses?

2rsf 3y ago
> What would you do to radically improve test automation speed? Speed questions are good ones since they show how people think, some will immediately jump into random action items while others will investigate the problem first and suggest different approaches to different problems.
- austin-cheney 3y ago
  My answer, the answer that got me an offer letter a few months ago at a prestigious firm, was to abandon HTTP.

akasakahakada 3y ago

I wish interviewers in Japan can throw away their textbooks to be a real person and have real conversation. Mostly only 3 question. 1. Why do you choose Japan? (so why pick me during screening if you want me out?) 2. Tell me the largest achievement of yours. (completely parallel to work ability and don't even reveal any personality) 3. What's your future plan? (want me to tell you that I will quit 5 years later just to get a PhD?) These question must be so epic that everyone must ask once everytime.

2rsf 3y ago

The best one I know is asking to describe a system you worked on, and supposedly know well, and deep dive into it.

flappyeagle 3y ago
This is what I do. Get someone to explain something technical to another technical person (me) efficiently and deeply

comprev 3y ago

"ELI5 to me how I can order something on Amazon using an iPad" Engineering is about clear communication of ideas and sometimes we have to _really_ dumb down some things for a non-technical audience (think board members). Trying to ELI5 a subject you feel is your strongest is surprisingly difficult - but a vital skill when moving up the engineering ladder.

hulitu 3y ago

Emacs or Vi ? /s

bezzi 3y ago

"it says here that you've been using technology X for a few years. What is the most frustrating thing about X? If you had the resources needed what would you do to fix it?"

iteria 3y ago

One of the most interesting question i was asked was: What is the biggest fire you created and how did you handle it? The interviewer told me that the purpose of the question was to learn 1) are you willing to admit mistakes 2) what is the most responsibility you've been trusted with. After all the bigger the fire, the more you were likely trusted 3) how do you act under stress 4) can you learn lessons from your mistake. I think it's a fantastic cultural fit type question.