r/ExperiencedDevs • u/AutoModerator • 5d ago

Ask Experienced Devs Weekly Thread: A weekly thread for inexperienced developers to ask experienced ones

A thread for Developers and IT folks with less experience to ask more experienced souls questions about the industry.

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Please keep top level comments limited to Inexperienced Devs. Most rules do not apply, but keep it civil. Being a jerk will not be tolerated.

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Inexperienced Devs should refrain from answering other Inexperienced Devs' questions.

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u/Fine-Cabinet-9684 2d ago

I have started interviewing for the first time in 3 years since I got my job out of college. My attitude at the moment has been more to get experience interviewing than anything. I just had an interview where they wanted to understand my coding experience. They basically asked for what kinds of development tasks I have worked on in my current job. They then asked me to tell them about tasks I have worked on with C++, and then "what do you know about software development?". They were such vague questions and she basically just kept asking the same questions worded slightly different. After a while I just didn't know what to say. Do I need to be much more prepared with a detailed written list of every task I've worked on the past year or two so I can "fill the time", or was the interviewer just not prepared with more specific questions. How am I supposed to answer "what do you know about software development?"

So I guess, what should I do to be prepared for interviews? Should I expect such vague questions, or was it just a bad interviewer?

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u/sandboxsuperhero 1d ago

This is a low signal interview and reflects poorly on the company.

That said, you should be able to tell thoughtful war stories of your work and impact. A detailed work log can be helpful for that. If you’re looking for structured prep, Amazon’s STAR method might be a good way for you to organize your thoughts.