28 Avaloq Group Interview Questions & Answers
Below is a list of our Avaloq Group AG interview questions. Click on any interview question to view our answer advice and answer examples. You may view 5 answer examples before our paywall loads. Afterwards, you'll be asked to upgrade to view the rest of our answers.
1. If hired for this position here at Avaloq Group, would you be comfortable handling overall project manager responsibilities for new software development?
How to Answer
As a skilled software engineer, you have all of the necessary tools in your bag to be a successful engineer at Avaloq Group. This question is allowing your interviewer to get a better sense of your project management skills and people skills if you were to join the team at Avaloq Group. In your answer, talk about your ability to estimate the time and cost of a project, the staffing needed and the overall scope of planning for a particular project. If you have direct experience in being the lead on a large development project, be sure to discuss that experience with your interviewer.
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
1st Answer Example
"Looking to join the team here at Avaloq Group directly out of college, I feel very confident in my abilities to manage the entire scope of a new development project. I have leadership experience as my campus' president of the software engineering club. In that role, I developed skills that would help me utilize staff and resources in the best way possible. During my internship, I was exposed to the planning stages of new projects and I have a very good feel of estimating the budget and length of time needed to have a fully functional system."
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
2nd Answer Example
"I would absolutely be comfortable if tasked with project manager duties here at Avaloq Group. In my last two roles, I have led successful projects that started with great planning and budgeting process and went through to completion with great people and processes in place under my leadership. While it's not a regular duty for me in my current role, I always welcome leadership duties."
2. The next cloud engineer that we hire here at Avaloq Group needs to be able build a system that can handle a high amount of traffic. How would you test our system's ability to handle large amounts of traffic?
How to Answer
This question allows your interviewer to gain insight into your thought process and ability surrounding building a cloud network that has an architecture that can handle large amounts of traffic without failure. Some key points to focus on your answer are your ability to match capacity to system demand and use horizontal scaling in the design of the system.
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
1st Answer Example
"Cloud computing has certainly revolutionized the storage of high amounts of data and a key piece that cloud based systems bring to the table are their elasticity for handling large amounts of traffic. I see my job as building a cloud based system to scale horizontally to be able to handle the most data and traffic possible. To test systems, I've used a few different tools that were all very accurate prior to go-live."
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
2nd Answer Example
"In my current position as a cloud engineer, I have utilized internet scale services like Amazon S3 and Elastic Load Balancing to ensure that our cloud systems could handle large volume that fluctuate seasonally. Because of the great functionality of the internet scale services, internal testing wasn't necessary as we knew we were in good hands through those services."
3. At Avaloq Group we value organization. Tell us about a time when you were particularly effective on prioritizing tasks and completing a project on schedule.
How to Answer
An interviewer needs to hear that you have a plan in place to keep yourself organized. Start off by mentioning that you are typically an organized person. From here, dive into a recent time-consuming project that you were involved with.
You might say, 'I recently was involved with a project that required 30 hours of my time in a two week period while I was also in the middle of several other projects.'
Tell the interviewer that you started off by ensuring you had your schedule mapped out before you dove into your workload. Discuss if you made a to-do list, updated your calendar, or created a color-coded agenda. Share whatever organization method worked for you! Next, tell the interviewer how you prioritized the work. You may share that each day you sat down to determine the urgent needs for that day and marked them with a letter A. Perhaps you identified anything that would be nice to get done that day with a letter B. And, maybe you just left everything else that could wait for another day unmarked. Tell the interviewer how you diligently stuck with this plan for the duration of the project and how it allowed you to complete the project on time without any stress successfully.
Answer Example
"Last week I was asked to lead our team while our manager was away. I created a checklist of things that needed to be completed to reach our deadlines. I gathered the team to discuss our goals and asked for input and ideas to get us there. It was a great experience for me because not only was I able to exercise my leadership capabilities; I was also able to learn more about prioritizing, from my team."
4. Tell me about the most interesting project you have worked on this year and the biggest thing you learned from it.
How to Answer
Discuss with the interviewer one of your recent projects that particularly piqued your interest. Did it stretch you professionally? What was the biggest takeaway for you from that particular project?
1st Answer Example
"In my previous role we were working on a variety of projects with fingerprint recognition software. One of the most interesting projects was a fingerprint-based ATM system. It was a test project for a large banking institution. In addition to learning a great deal about fingerprint recognition, I was also able to learn a lot about the critical relationship between software and security."
2nd Answer Example
"I find the majority of the projects that I have been working on this past year to be very interesting. If I had to choose one, I would choose to work on the Uber app. Since I am still in my internship, I didn't have any major contributions; however, I learned a lot about on-demand apps and building a friendly user interface."
5. What do you see as the top benefits of moving to a cloud based computing platform?
How to Answer
While cloud based computing has certainly had its positive impacts across many different industries, the field of software and technology development has its own unique benefits. For this question, your interviewer will be looking to hear that you understand just how a cloud based platform benefits the field. In your answer, focus on resources that impact both the work that the team at Avaloq Group performs and the end users of the software.
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
1st Answer Example
"Over the past couple of years in my current position, we have greatly benefited from the vast amount of testing and staging servers that available on the cloud. In developing new programs, our testing and delivery has greatly increased our team's productivity to new levels. Add on the simple cost savings of the cloud and a move to the cloud was a no brainer for us in the end. If hired for this role here at Avaloq Group, I'd be able to bring new cloud computing ideas to your team from day one on the job."
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
2nd Answer Example
"As with any of the work that I have done in this field, I focus on the consumer and the benefits that they can reap from my work. In the cloud, updates to existing software are made available almost instantaneously and end users have access to those updates with the simple click of a button. Rewind to years prior, these software updates took time and manpower that are almost unthinkable by today's standards."
6. What do you consider to be a good litmus test for when you would automate a test process for a new system versus testing manually?
How to Answer
As your role with Avaloq Group will look to help further their automate testing processes for new systems, you will need to have a good sense for when automation makes sense and when it does not. Reiterate your sense for this to your interviewer by sticking to the high level response that repetitive tasks, as are common with large software companies, are prime candidates for automation whereas one time test cases are not.
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
1st Answer Example
"Having been in automation in both manufacturing for many years and now software for the last three years, a common misconception among people is that automation can help improve any situation and that couldn't be further from the truth. The amount of time, effort and resources that goes into an automation process makes it ideal for repetitive tasks and tests that have multiple data sets. If a testing process calls for unique and one time process, it would make the most sense to run that process manually."
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
2nd Answer Example
"I"n my current position, most of the automation testing that I design is in program sanity testing. These automated tests work great because they run on similar systems following changes in code to ensure that no bugs remain in the system. If our group of engineers are working on unique, one off type projects, my automation processes are not utilized."
7. What programming languages would you consider yourself fluent in?
How to Answer
While this question gives your interviewer insight into the diversity of your programming language experience, they most importantly want to know that you are adaptable and able to learn on the fly if needed. Talk about the different languages that you consider yourself fluent in and, if possible, do as much research into Avaloq Group as you can prior to your interview and try to speak to the specific languages that they work with.
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
1st Answer Example
"From the start of college, where software engineering grew into a passion for me, I've become very fluent in Java, JavaScript and C++. My current role has me working primarily with C++, but I pride myself on my ability and passion to learn new programming languages and would be able to do so if hired for this role with Avaloq Group."
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
2nd Answer Example
"During my training to be an engineer and then in my current role since graduating, a majority of my experience falls within Python. My current role delves deeply into artificial intelligence and Python is awesome with this advanced technology. As I understand it from talking to another engineer here at Avaloq Group, a requirement would be for me to learn Scala. Though I haven't worked directly with Scala, I believe my experience and willingness to learn would have me up and running in no time if hired for this role."
8. If hired here at Avaloq Group, what do you feel would be the biggest hurdle for you to overcome from the start?
How to Answer
The key to answering this question with confidence starts with understanding that you are interviewing with Avaloq Group because your interviewer feels that you are a strong candidate for this position. What your interviewer is focusing on with this question is how they could be of most help to you if hired for the job. So, take the time prior to your interview to think about an aspect of the position that would be the most difficult for you to overcome to be up and running at full speed and then take time to explain how you would plan to overcome that hurdle if hired. This structured answer will tell your interviewer that you have put thought to your potential shortcoming with a plan of action.
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
1st Answer Example
"As you can see from my resume, I don't have any direct working experience with the financial industry and I would see that as my largest learning opportunity if offered this position. Like I did with my current job in the healthcare industry, I would take the time to learn the basics of the industry that would help me design the most intuitive user interfaces in the products here at Avaloq Group."
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
2nd Answer Example
"Being a team player by nature, I've always considered my first challenge at any new company to be the task of getting to know my colleagues, their work preferences and their work styles. In the same breath, I want them to know who I am and how I best work as part of a team with them. To accomplish this, I would take the initiative to set one on one meetings with individuals that I didn't get to touch base with during my orientation process to get to know them better."
9. Do you have experience working with data in a cloud computing environment?
How to Answer
Over recent years, more and more companies are converting to cloud based computing services because the conversion allows them to save money and have better auditing trails. As a prospective data engineer with Avaloq Group, your interviewer will be looking to hear that you are at least familiar with the concepts of working with cloud based data. Talk in details about the experiences you have while keeping your mind open to working with more in the future if hired with Avaloq Group.
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
Answer Example
"My current organization has been using Apprenda, a PaaS, that allows us to develop, test and maintain our software projects. I also have experience mining and converting data off of public, community and private cloud networks. If hired here at Avaloq Group, I think I would bring a wealth of cloud based experience to the data engineering team."
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
10. Our cloud computing at Avaloq Group requires our experts to take proper security measures in their work. What security measures are you familiar with utilizing in a cloud platform?
How to Answer
As with any server or database storage, unique security risks are posed to organizations that have moved their data and applications to the cloud. At Avaloq Group, part of your role will be to ensure that all security measures are in place with the organizations data in the cloud and your interviewer is looking to hear that you are familiar with diagnosing security risks and taking action to prevent them with this question. Talk about your knowledge of the different cloud service providers and other security measures that you are familiar with taking in your work.
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
1st Answer Example
"For me, the planning stage of the cloud deployment process really sets the groundwork for security in a project. In my current role, each project adopts a cloud framework that suits the project the best. This framework is the base for our security measures in the cloud. From there, I always look to utilize a cloud service that encrypts our data and take all measures to steer away from storing sensitive information within the cloud. Last, as with any project, I help implement strict testing measures to check on the security of our cloud operations."
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
2nd Answer Example
"In my current role, the biggest security risks that we face are loss of sensitive data and malware infections. To take all security measures possible, our first plan of attack for security is to ensure that all of our data is backed up locally with electronic copies of data. To prevent malware in all ways possible, we have implemented a strict password strength policy and we install anti-virus software in our own equipment and recommend that customers do the same as well."
11. What unique values can you bring to Avaloq Group in your user experience design skills?
How to Answer
While your interviewer has shown confidence in your technical abilities to succeed at Avaloq Group as a UX designer, this question is helping them gain insight into your ability to see the big picture in the work that you do. As you think about the unique personal values that you would bring to the role, try and paint a picture of your work tying to the end user and how you can help make it more productive, enjoyable and satisfying for them.
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
1st Answer Example
"I have really taken pride in my ability to add value to the business needs of the customers that I work with. During any design project, I take the time to work with end users to find their wants and needs out of the program. Then, as I create the UX design, I keep their needs at the forefront and do anything possible to exceed their expectations."
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
2nd Answer Example
"As you can see from my resume, I have formal training and experience in user experience research and I know that this would benefit the work that I would be doing here at Avaloq Group if hired for this position. I pursued this additional training in my career because of my passion for the customer journey in the programs that I design."
12. What is one unique personality trait you possess that would help you be successful in this role with Avaloq Group?
How to Answer
This question is allowing you to have the floor during your interview to wow your interviewer with something they might not know about you yet from your resume or time so far during the interview. Think about a strong, unique trait that you have that has led to prior success in your field and explain in detail how this will help further you in your career with Avaloq Group. If possible, be very unique in your answer to draw a direct line between your personality and success in this role.
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
1st Answer Example
"From what my parents have told me about me as a young child, passion has been a personality trait that has driven me my whole life. When I tackle something in life, I need to be passionate about it for it to be a success. From my time as a young child up to today, I have been passionate about physical fitness and this has driven me to participate in running and biking races across the country. This same passion in the pursuit of excellence has translated into my career as a software engineer. From tinkering with computer hardware at a young age and learning the internal components of a system to learning how to create and design software, you'll quickly find that my passion to engineer the most unique software here at Avaloq Group will be extremely beneficial to your team."
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
2nd Answer Example
"I would have to say that my humility has been instrumental in getting me to where I am at today in my career. Having worked with one of the largest software companies in the world, egos were certainly high with a lot of my teammates and I have always used my humility to let my work do my talking for me while remaining a friendly and curious colleague to all."
13. What software analysis and design tools do you have familiarity working with?
How to Answer
As a software engineer for Avaloq Group, your interviewer wants to hear that you have experience in utilizing tools that you make you more proficient in your work. Dig back on your past experiences and talk openly about your experiences with the different analysis and design tools that are available to help you be better in the work that you do. In the end, make sure that your interviewer understands that you are proficient in the use of these tools and open to learning and using new tools as well.
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
1st Answer Example
"As my career and experience in software engineering has grown over the years, I've come to really appreciate and utilize these tools that are available. A great example of this would be my recent education and use of Structured English for designing insurance claim software for a large auto insurer. The simplicity of the structured decisions in the program were a perfect example of a program that could utilize the tool and the end product ended up very functional for our customer."
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
2nd Answer Example
"I have great working knowledge in creating and reading data flow diagrams. To help with both our own sales staff and with customers, DFD's have been super helpful and I consider myself very proficient in creating them. I've also recently been introduced to decision tables to aid in product testing. I was working on a new system that involved some very complicated business rules and the decision table helped outline everything perfectly for our testing."
14. Do you have experience writing a custom exception in Java?
How to Answer
As a Java expert, you will hopefully have the ability to inform your interviewer that you do have experience in writing custom exceptions in Java. As a reputable software company, the engineers and architects with Avaloq Group often need to demonstrate the ability to do just this. While talking about the experience that you do have, be sure to discuss your thought process in initially determining the need for writing a custom exception above and beyond the standard Java exceptions.
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
Answer Example
"Yes, I certainly do have experience writing custom exceptions in Java in my time in the financial software industry. Because some of the business logic and workflow needed customization, I was tasked with extending the exception class and all subclasses in standard Java to create the custom exceptions needed."
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
15. What do you feel are the primary features and benefits of the Java programming language?
How to Answer
As a company that utilizes Java, Avaloq Group and your interviewer want to make sure that you have an understanding of the Java programming language and they do so by asking this question. Obviously a language packed with unique features, talk about the features that you can speak the most knowledgeably about and tie your direct experience to.
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
Answer Example
"When I started working with Java three years ago, the first huge benefit was the fact that the Java syntax was based on C++. At that time, I had a great working knowledge of C++ and my transition to Java was absolutely seamless. The other amazing feature that I've come to appreciate with Java is how robust the memory management is in exception handling and automatic garbage collection."
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
16. Here at Avaloq Group, we ask our test engineers to follow specific QA protocols. What role do you feel QA plays in software development and testing?
How to Answer
As an experience software testing engineer, quality assurance should be ingrained in your brain and your interviewer is looking to get a sense of your personal feelings towards it in your work with this question. In your answer, be sure to highlight QA's importance in reducing errors, maintaining specifications, testing failure parameters and preventing defects from occurring. In the end, make sure that quality is your mantra in the eyes of your interviewer by giving an example or two of how you put QA in the forefront of your work.
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
1st Answer Example
"As a test engineer, I take great pride in my role of ensuring that systems go out to consumers as error free as possible. In my current role, I take the time to learn all of the system specifications that are laid out by our design engineers and customize my testing to follow those specifications."
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
2nd Answer Example
"In my work throughout my career, quality assurance in my testing was an every minute of every day job on my part. While creating effective testing processes on new software is extremely important in following QA protocols, the recording of defects, issuing of reports and assisting the designers on fixing issues are equally important parts of the process that I'd love to let shine here at Avaloq Group."
17. In Java, why shouldn't you use strings to store a password?
How to Answer
While this may seem like a rudimentary question regarding your knowledge of Java, your interviewer is looking to ideally hear that you understand the principle differences between string and character arrays. Asking about the storage of passwords within a system gives you the opportunity here to point out the differences between the two. In the end, while explaining the differences, be sure to tie it back to the original question on why strings shouldn't be used to store passwords.
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
1st Answer Example
"To store a password, character array is the obvious best choice because character arrays are mutable. If a string was utilized to store passwords, a definite security risk would be present to anyone that would have access to the memory dump from the system."
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
2nd Answer Example
"This question simply boils down to a string being immutable. Because strings are a sequence of characters represented as a single data type, the system requires garbage creation to fully get rid of it out of memory. In my time designing software, I have used Char array and its mutable features to store passwords for the security of our end users "
18. What experience do you have in the different types of software maintenance?
How to Answer
As a reputable company, Avaloq Group takes their software maintenance processes seriously and your interviewer is looking to hear that you are familiar with the four different types of software maintenance. Talk to your interviewer about any work you have done in the past with corrective, adaptive, perfective and/or preventative software maintenance. Use specific examples and make sure that your interviewer walks away from your conversation knowing that you understand the importance of proper system maintenance.
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
1st Answer Example
"Being familiar with all four types of software maintenance, my most used method of maintenance in my current role is corrective. Based on bug reports from end users, I work through coding and logic issues to resolve issues in a timely and effective manner. In the maintenance I perform, I never hesitate to pick up the phone and contact customers to hear first hand about what they are experiencing. By doing this, they feel like they are an important part of the process and it reflects well on me and my organization."
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
2nd Answer Example
"In my current role, I'd definitely say that a majority of the maintenance work that I do is adaptive maintenance. Working in banking software that is used around the globe, I help perform system maintenance for changes in currency on a pretty regular basis. This work requires research and talking with end users to help adapt the programs for their use. If hired here at Avaloq Group, I also have experience performing perfective, preventative and corrective maintenance on software as well."
19. If you were asked to review a colleague's code that they had written, what key things would you look for?
How to Answer
For this question, your interviewer will obviously be looking to hear that you have adequate knowledge when it comes to coding processes. But most importantly, your interviewer will be looking to gauge your ability to be a team player and focus on the bigger picture when working on a project. In your answer, focus on your attention to detail and your ability to help others when needed.
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
1st Answer Example
"As an experienced software engineer, I fully expect my colleagues to reach out to me for my insight and I never hesitate to provide open and honest feedback. When asked to do this, my main focus is ensuring that the code is readable and functional. If there are lines of code that need to be removed, I don't hesitate to let my colleague know that while also giving them feedback on why I feel it is unnecessary."
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
2nd Answer Example
"When I'm asked to do this in my current position, my main focus is on regulatory requirements that were put in place for the project and security issues. I work with a team of great engineers that are very efficient coders and these two areas are most often overlooked."
20. Would you say that you are a goal oriented on the job? What would I be able to do as your manager to help you achieve your goals if hired here at Avaloq Group?
How to Answer
At the heart of this question lies your interviewers desire to see what motivates you as a potential employee at Avaloq Group. Make it clear to your interviewer that you certainly are motivated by on the job goals and do this by using an example of a time where you were motivated by and achieved a goal. Then, think deeply about the type of manager that you like to work for in terms of goal setting and helping our achieve your goals. Let your interviewer know what type of management styles you appreciate the most while being open to any style.
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
1st Answer Example
"I would definitely say that I am goal oriented on the job in wanting to contribute any way that I can to the overall benefit of the organization. In my current organization, our leadership focuses on overall sales numbers at the end of the year. To help achieve these goals, our department creates our own goals to help achieve the sales numbers needed to succeed. Last year, one of those goals was to be as creative as possible in our user experience design processes. With the launch of an exciting new app midyear, sales numbers skyrocketed and our department was instrumental in that. For me, it was important that we determined our goals as a team with the final stamp of approval from our manager. While this style of management really helped motivate me, I can thrive under any management style as long as expectations and goals for my work are clearly set."
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
2nd Answer Example
"For me, my day to day work is much more meaningful when I have goals to work for. In my current role, we have set timelines for our projects and this helps lay the framework for our goals. If hired for this position, my expectations of you as my manager would be to have goals clearly defined and a supportive atmosphere to be provided to work within."
21. In your experience in software testing, would you consider yourself proficient in both testing and debugging processes?
How to Answer
As a reputable provider of software, Avaloq Group relies on their software testing engineers to both test and debug their products when necessary. Make your interviewer aware that you are knowledgeable on both processes by briefly explaining each process as you've worked on them in the past. Then, talk about your openness to working both testing and debugging processes if hired for this position.
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
1st Answer Example
"Yes, I definitely would consider myself proficient in both testing and debugging software. My current role that I've held for four years since graduating from college has exposed me to both processes. In testing, I use known conditions and predefined methods to test for expected outcomes to find errors within the system. I utilize testing prior to new software rollouts. The debugging process happens to already released software that has had issues and comes with unknown conditions and unpredictable outcomes. In this process, my goal is to find the cause of the error to fix it efficiently and effectively to roll an updated program back out to end users."
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
2nd Answer Example
"While a majority of my career has been focused on software testing, I am very familiar with debugging processes as well. If hired for this position, I would take the time to focus on debugging processes to bring myself up to speed while being able to hit the ground running on testing processes."
22. Talk about your previous user interface design experience in detail. Why do you feel that this experience will translate well to this role with Avaloq Group?
How to Answer
While your interviewer can get a good sense of your experience from your resume, they are looking for you to talk in details about your experiences in UI design in your previous work. While explaining your previous experience, be sure to highlight the skills that you developed that will help you be successful in designing new products with Avaloq Group. Prior to your interview, be sure you research and are family with the products that Avaloq Group puts out.
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
1st Answer Example
"Ten years into my career out of college, I consider myself very blessed to have such a well rounded background in user interface design. I have experience designing cutting edge mobile app designs, website design, video game design and software design. Here at Avaloq Group, your education software would greatly benefit from my creative designs to be user friendly and appealing to educators, parents and students and I'd love to bring these skills to work for you."
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
2nd Answer Example
"While my experience in user interface design has really focused on web design over the past five years, I think my current skill set will benefit the team here at Avaloq Group greatly. In my web design, I prepare mockups and wireframes for customers and have experience utilizing a lot of different resources in doing these. In the software world, I would love to use these same principles. As well, my web experience has really driven me to be user focused. In this role, a more user focused drive is required out of your user interface design and I would be able to bring that to the team here."
23. How do you define success?
How to Answer
What does success mean to you? Tell the interviewer how you see success and be sure to tie your answer into the success that you plan to bring to this particular position, should you be offered the role.
1st Answer Example
"I define success by my ability to reach the goals that are set out for me. On a personal level, the things I wish to achieve in my life. On a work level, the targets that are set out for me as well as the professional development that I seek."
2nd Answer Example
"I consider a project a success only when I have produced work that I can be proud of."
24. If hired here at Avaloq Group and tasked with helping design a UI for a new mobile app, what important factors would you consider in that design?
How to Answer
With consumer mobility being at an all-time high and only increasing year after year, just about every industry has entered the mobile app game and life at Avaloq Group is no different. For this question, it is important to have a good understanding of the different mobile UI designs and your job for this question will be tying the business needs of Avaloq Group into an effective mobile app. In your answer, talk about what you know about the business needs of Avaloq Group and then explain to your interviewer how you would build those into a great mobile app for their future.
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
1st Answer Example
"Here at Avaloq Group, I envision users of your products in the banking industry to want security and ease of use in their products. In looking to design a UI for a new mobile app, my considerations would be a secure log-in screen and user profile section of the app. As well, I would put an automatic log out into place within the app. On top of these security items, I would prioritize ease of placement for a contact screen, services screen and an aesthetically pleasing home screen."
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
2nd Answer Example
"In the private insurance industry, I can imagine that an onboarding tutorial screen would be very beneficial to users using the app for the first time. I have experience designing these for a few different mobile apps. Other factors I would consider would be prioritizing the important information to have laid out within the app and how to best lay it out. If a menu will be utilized, I would work with key decision makers on what would make the most sense for a menu layout within the app."
25. How would you handle a situation where a colleague was being very difficult to work with?
How to Answer
In the team based atmosphere at Avaloq Group, departments with different skills and backgrounds can often see things from different points of view and these situations can cause some internal conflict between coworkers. With this question, your interviewer is looking to hear how you handle situations where you are working with someone that can be seen as difficult. To give them the sense that you are able to work through conflict in a professional and sensible manner, try to talk through how you handled a conflict at work previously in the past and highlight the interpersonal skills that you used to help make it a positive situation.
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
1st Answer Example
"In all honesty, any great work atmosphere that I've been a part of in the past has involved conflict between colleagues. In situations I have witnessed, conflict has stemmed from very open-minded people giving their two cents in particular situations and two people not seeing eye to eye. This happened recently to me in the planning phases of a new project. On of our UX Designers and I had a disagreement on the final layout of a new software roll out we were planning. It worked best for both of us to talk about our ideas and list the pro's and con's for our ideas. I kept an open mind to learn from her point of view and she did the same to me on my end. This led us to come up with a great compromise in the end."
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
2nd Answer Example
"Last year, we had a new engineer join our team that was hired on from his internship with us. From his first day, he made it very evident that he would only handle certain tasks within our team and only work on certain projects. As his mentor to help get him up and running, I sat him down and discussed the expectations of each of our engineers as part of our larger team. I explained to him that our approach was not to pigeonhole ourselves into smaller tasks, but rather be well rounded engineers that could handle any project and be able to cover for each other if needed. He really appreciated this approach when I explained the benefits for his long term career goals with this approach. This example shows my approach to being very direct with people that I have a conflict with in the workplace and doing so in a very professional and educational manner."
26. Talk about a time when things didn't go as planned on the job. What was the situation and what allowed your to persevere in that situation?
How to Answer
As a professional in the tech industry, you have likely had a project that failed, a promotion that passed you over or a meltdown occur at some point in time. Realizing that your interviewer fully understands and expects that failure happens, talk openly and honestly about a situation where you experienced failure or failed plans. Most importantly in your answer, focus on how you overcame the particular situation and discuss lessons that you learned moving forward that you can bring to this role at Avaloq Group.
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
1st Answer Example
"A couple of years ago in my first role as a UI designer out of college, my team was tasked with coming up with a very short notice proposal for a potential high end customer. With a week turnaround time, I set right to spending my time gathering information on the company to build a mock design. When the proposal was submitted, I found out that the potential customer scoffed at my idea and the customer went with another organization's proposal for their use. The biggest piece of feedback that I got was that the UI design just wasn't conducive to the type of customers they were expecting. From that point forward, whether it has been with short notice or long-term products, I take the time to communicate with key decision makers from clients to gather information for making my design as user friendly as possible."
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
2nd Answer Example
"Last year, I was working on a large scale project that put me face to face with a key customer. After traveling onsite with the customer to spend time with them, I exchanged contact information with two of the key decision makers. In the weeks following, I was sending them follow up emails with our business proposals and was getting frustrated at the lack of response from the clients. After my manager had questioned the viability of the potential customer, I picked up the phone and called them directly. It turns out that their responses back to me were being sent to a junk email folder that I neglected to consider. I apologized for the mistake, took action quickly and we came to a great agreement on future business together. After having a laugh about it with my boss, I now incorporate diligent communication follow ups both by phone and email with customers while also regularly checking all email inboxes."
27. What SDLC models are you familiar in working with?
How to Answer
As a software engineer, you are very familiar with the software development life cycle. For this question, your interviewer is looking to hear what models you have worked on in the past. While there isn't necessarily a right or wrong answer to this question, try to show your flexibility to working with different SDLC models by bringing up your past experiences. Then, show you have knowledge of different models like the waterfall model or agile model. It is also a good idea to use this question as an opportunity for you to learn more about Avaloq Group by asking your interviewer which model they work off of.
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
1st Answer Example
"During my training in software engineering and in my early career, the waterfall model was the standard. In this model, each phase of the development process happens in a set order and projects using this model are easily managed. But over time, as the development projects that I have led have become more complicated and intricate, I have implemented the spiral model. This model has allowed the ability of end users to give feedback early on and often during development and helps to build a more customized product to our customers."
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
2nd Answer Example
"In my current position with XYZ Company, my department utilizes the agile model in development life cycle. Since our products are so tailored to the needs of our customers, we get a working product very early on in the process and then I work hand in hand with customers to fine tune the software moving forward. It is a very effective model that has built a great reputation for our software among customers. I also have familiarity working with the iterative model and it has similar advantages to the agile model. If I were hired here at Avaloq Group, can you expand on what models you use here in your software development life cycle?"
28. The software we develop here at Avaloq Group requires you to have working knowledge of both privileges and roles within Oracle. Can you talk about your knowledge and experience of both within Oracle?
How to Answer
On the development end of software, your role at Avaloq Group will require you to have knowledge of the differences between user privilege and role. Your role will put you working with end users on the two roles and explaining your knowledge of the two will be important to your interviewer. Give a basic understanding that privilege relates to the right to execute SQL statements and another user's objects as defined by Oracle. Then talk about roles being created by administrators to grant privileges to their users.
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
1st Answer Example
"In my current role, I have great working knowledge of both role and privilege within Oracle as I work with the system administrators of our end users very closely. I work with them on using the grant and revoke commands to define the roles or their users and grant permissions within their system. To do this, I have to gain strong knowledge on the different people that are allowed access to the system and what they will be doing with their access."
Written by Ryan Brunner on December 5th, 2019
2nd Answer Example
"As you can see from my resume, it has been a few years since I've worked directly with Oracle but I do have great working knowledge of the system. To best explain my knowledge, privileges control the ability to run SQL statements with the database and my role has been to outline those privileges for our end users. Then, roles group together different privileges for each end user. In my past work, I'm most familiar with creating the different roles within the system and then working with key decision makes with our end users to grant the privileges to the roles we defined."