Question 1

Tell me about yourself

Accepted Answer

Structure: present (current role), past (key background), future (why this role). Max 2 min.

Question 2

Walk me through your resume

Accepted Answer

Chronological, focus on transitions and progression. Explain career choices.

Question 3

Walk me through your background in 2 minutes and explain what brings you to apply today.

Accepted Answer

Summarise your path in 3 key stages, show the coherence and end with your current motivation.

Question 4

What specifically interests you about our company and this role?

Accepted Answer

Cite 2 concrete elements about the company (product, mission, values) and 2 about the role, without generic flattery.

Question 5

What are your salary expectations and your availability?

Accepted Answer

Give a range anchored on the market median and state an honest notice period.

Question 6

Design the architecture of a payment platform handling 10K transactions/second.

Accepted Answer

Idempotency, saga pattern, exactly-once delivery, audit trail, compliance.

Question 7

Microservices vs monolith: how do you make the choice and how to migrate?

Accepted Answer

Bounded contexts, strangler fig pattern, service mesh, data ownership.

Question 8

How do you implement sharding for a high-growth database?

Accepted Answer

Shard key selection, consistent hashing, cross-shard queries, rebalancing.

Question 9

Explain database sharding strategies. How would you shard a large user table? What challenges arise and how do you mitigate them?

Accepted Answer

Look for specific examples and data in the candidate's answer. Ask follow-up questions to probe deeper into their reasoning.

Question 10

REST vs GraphQL vs gRPC: what selection criteria for a new service?

Accepted Answer

Use cases (mobile, inter-service, public), performance, tooling, team expertise.

Question 11

Describe a situation where you had to collaborate with a difficult team

Accepted Answer

Use STAR. Focus on your role as facilitator and results achieved despite difficulties.

Question 12

How do you handle disagreements within a team?

Accepted Answer

Show your listening skills, consensus-seeking and focus on common goal.

Question 13

Tell me about a professional conflict you resolved

Accepted Answer

STAR required. Show empathy, communication and win-win solution.

Question 14

Tell me about a major conflict you handled at work.

Accepted Answer

STAR: situation, both sides' positions, resolution approach, result.

Question 15

Give an example where you took the lead without being required to

Accepted Answer

Show initiative, impact and how you brought others along.

Question 16

Tell me about a situation with an unhappy client

Accepted Answer

STAR. Show active listening, empathy, proposed solution and follow-up.

Question 17

How do you handle an unhappy client?

Accepted Answer

Active listening, empathy, factualizing the problem, concrete action plan.

Question 18

How did you handle a project with an impossible deadline?

Accepted Answer

Show prioritization, proactive communication and value delivery despite constraints.

Question 19

You have 3 days to deliver what would take you 5. What do you do?

Accepted Answer

Negotiate scope, prioritize essentials, communicate transparently.

Question 20

A critical priority changes mid-project. How do you react concretely?

Accepted Answer

Assess impact, communicate to stakeholders, reorder the backlog, keep the team aligned.

Question 21

How would you design a real-time notification system?

Accepted Answer

Clarify requirements, propose architecture, discuss trade-offs and scalability.

Question 22

Present a concrete case you ran end-to-end: context, approach, result.

Accepted Answer

Extended STAR: situation, objectives, key steps, choices made, success metrics.

Question 23

Describe a project where data analysis drove a key decision.

Accepted Answer

Specify the metric, the insight, the decision made and the measured impact afterwards.

Question 24

Present a situation where you optimised an existing process.

Accepted Answer

Initial state quantified, diagnosis, hypothesis, implementation, measured gain.

Question 25

Describe a case where you handled an operational crisis.

Accepted Answer

Calm, action sequencing, communication, post-mortem debrief and lessons learned.

Question 26

How do you manage an underperforming team member?

Accepted Answer

Show constructive approach: clear feedback, improvement plan, regular follow-up.

Question 27

Describe your management style.

Accepted Answer

Authentic, examples, awareness of your strengths and watch points.

Question 28

What is the most important strategic aspect of your last role?

Accepted Answer

Vision, structuring choices, long-term impact.

Question 29

How do you balance short and long term?

Accepted Answer

Explicit trade-offs, dedicated resources, communication.

Question 30

How do you rally a team around an ambitious goal?

Accepted Answer

Clear vision, individual link to the mission, visible milestones, progress celebrated.

Question 31

What type of work environment allows you to perform at your best?

Accepted Answer

Be authentic but align with company culture (if you know it).

Question 32

What attracts you to our company culture?

Accepted Answer

Prior research, aligned values, concrete examples.

Question 33

What are the 3 values that guide your daily work?

Accepted Answer

Give concrete values (transparency, high bar, kindness…) with one example per value.

Question 34

In what type of environment are you most effective?

Accepted Answer

Be specific: team size, structure level, pace, autonomy, product exposure.

Question 35

How would you describe your ideal team culture?

Accepted Answer

Avoid generalities, give 3 concrete characteristics (transparent, demanding, kind…).

Question 36

What are the 3 major trends in your industry in 2026?

Accepted Answer

Pick structural trends (regulation, AI, consolidation…) and their concrete impact.

Question 37

Name the major players in your market and their differentiators.

Accepted Answer

List 3 to 5 players, their positioning and the factor that sets them apart.

Question 38

How do you see your role evolving over the next 5 years?

Accepted Answer

Identify what will fade, what will rise and how you are already adapting.

Question 39

What impact will generative AI have on your role over the next 24 months?

Accepted Answer

Automatable tasks, augmented tasks, new skills to acquire, stance you take.

Question 40

What regulatory or compliance challenges are affecting your industry?

Accepted Answer

Cite 2 current regulations (GDPR, AI Act, sector-specific), their operational impact and timeline.

Question 41

What was your biggest professional challenge and how did you overcome it?

Accepted Answer

Detailed STAR: honest situation, clear action, quantified result, lasting lesson.

Question 42

Tell me about a professional failure and what it taught you.

Accepted Answer

Owned failure, lucid reading of causes, corrective action, behaviour changed since.

Question 43

How do you tackle a problem you have no prior experience with?

Accepted Answer

Quick mapping, identification of experts, hypotheses tested step by step, debrief.

Question 44

Give an example where your initial conclusions turned out to be wrong.

Accepted Answer

Honesty about the initial bias, factual trigger, adjustment and general lesson.

Question 45

Which project pushed you most outside your comfort zone?

Accepted Answer

Specify the initial discomfort, what you learned and the effect on your professional confidence.

Question 46

How did you handle an internal job change?

Accepted Answer

Honesty, transparency with old manager, clean transition.

Question 47

Why an internal transfer rather than leaving?

Accepted Answer

Cultural continuity, internal opportunity, leveraging existing knowledge.

Question 48

Where do you see yourself in 3 to 5 years, and how does this role contribute?

Accepted Answer

A projection consistent with your path, explicit link with the role's opportunities.

Question 49

Which skills do you want to develop in your next role?

Accepted Answer

Cite 2 or 3 precise skills with the reason for each (career impact or role impact).

Question 50

How does this role fit into the logical next step of your path?

Accepted Answer

Show the continuity (reused skills) and the extension (new domain, new scale).

Question 51

What are your salary expectations?

Accepted Answer

Give a market-based range. Justify with your added value.

Question 52

Which elements of the package are most important to you?

Accepted Answer

Be honest but flexible. Show you understand total compensation.

Question 53

What is your target salary range and what is it based on?

Accepted Answer

Range anchored on market median to high end, justified by experience and past impact.

Question 54

Beyond base salary, which package elements matter to you?

Accepted Answer

List variable, equity, remote, paid time off, learning budget, equipment — prioritised for your situation.

Question 55

How would you handle a counter-offer from your current employer?

Accepted Answer

Separate what is at stake (money vs project vs team) and consistency with your decision to leave.

Question 56

Why are you leaving your current role?

Accepted Answer

Stay factual and positive. Toward what you are heading, not just what you are running from.

Question 57

What are you looking for in your next role that you don't have today?

Accepted Answer

Be specific: type of product, autonomy level, team size, impact, geographic scope.

Question 58

Do you have other recruitment processes in progress?

Accepted Answer

Honest without naming companies. Indicate the stage and expected timing, never bluff.

Question 59

What would your ideal start date be?

Accepted Answer

Give a realistic date factoring in notice, holidays and current project wrap-up.

Question 60

Do you have questions about the role, the team or the company?

Accepted Answer

Prepare 3 concrete questions: on the role (success at 6 months), the team (composition), the company (trajectory).

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