What programming languages would you consider yourself fluent in?

"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 Grant Street Group."

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 Grant Street Group as you can prior to your interview and try to speak to the specific languages that they work with.

"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 Grant Street 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."

Do you consider yourself stronger in C++, C#, Java, or Python?

"In my last company, we had a bit of an outdated tech stack and used C# and .NET. I found myself fully immersed in those technologies, but had a strong desire to learn more and become more familiar with modern technologies and how I can apply that in my career. That's what has me so interested in this role. Over the last year, I've taken courses in Java and C++, which I noticed you prefer. I've become proficient in the skills and in side projects, applied my increasingly strong knowledge. I'm probably strongest professionally in C# as that has been where my experience lies, but my passion and dedication is on the Java and C++ side, as I feel that's the more modern alternative. I'm excited about the possibility of applying that knowledge in a role at Grant Street Group."

Before your interview, do some research to understand what tech stack Grant Street Group uses so you can best prepare and highlight your expertise. If you aren't as strong in one of the skills you feel is necessary, be sure to explain how you've used it and how you are growing your knowledge to become better. Be sure to be honest in your answer, as the company will likely test your strengths.

"I am motivated and excited about this new opportunity because it will challenge me to grow in my (X) skills. I love soccer and enjoy spending time with my teammates. I am interested in continuing my education by studying (Y) to further my career."

How do you measure the success of a data integration project?

"With any large data integration project that I have managed in the past, success starts with setting realistic yet high standard goals for the project. To do this, I need to make sure that I get input from all key stakeholders in the project. With a recent project, we measure our success in a few different ways. Because of the need set forth by our sales force to be more competitive with our competition in the market, we measured timeliness of the system pre and post integration. Then, to measure the financial impacts of the project, we measured our end of project costs versus what was budgeted. Because our goals were measurable, it was easy to see that the project was a huge success."

Similar to evaluating any project, measuring the success and impact of any data integration project should rely on goals that were defined at the start of the project. In your answer, be sure that you speak about the consideration for the people involved in the project (i.e. customers, sales, IT, engineering) and how success was measured in their eyes. Another great point to touch on in your answer is using the SMART method for setting goals to assure that they are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time oriented.

"I think that I can best demonstrate this by talking about a recent data integration project we worked on in creating new banking software. At the beginning of the project, we clearly defined the end goals of the project in the data we wanted converted with a set deadline for completion. Our design team added their expectations on their desired workflow following the data conversion. One integration was complete, our goals were easily measured for the project to be considered a success."

If you were faced with a situation that you didn't know the answer to or understand, what would your next steps be?

"In times where this has happened in my current role, I have explained to the customer that an advanced issue like theirs needs to go to one of our subject matter experts to ensure that they get the best support possible. I explain that I am going to put their call on hold and reach out to the department that I need to. If possible, I connect them immediately. If not possible, then I walk through our protocol of submitting a help desk ticket to the appropriate group while explaining to the customer that our expectation is a 24 hour turnaround. I am very appreciative of these protocols because they set very easy to follow standards for our customers and help to avoid unnecessary follow up calls."

Work as an IT support specialist in the software industry could potentially put you in a situation to handle a question or issue that leaves you scratching your head. While explaining to your interviewer that you have the ability to take a methodical approach to getting a problem solved with the help of others, make sure not to lost sight on what is important to the customer. Talk about how you will put the customer at east by considering their needs as part of your process.

"My first step would be to ask for help from my lead in the department or my supervisor. I would let the customer know that I would be putting them in contact with another person that has more expertise on their problem and doing so was best to help problem solve in this case. If hired for this role here at Grant Street Group, would that method meet the expectations of the department?"

In SQL, how do you explain the differences between clustered and non-clustered indexes? Can you name a time that you used each?

"In the simplest of terms, a clustered index order records in a table the way that they are physically stored. There can only be one clustered index per table. Non-clustered indexes do not store data to match the physical order that it is stored. Rather, it can hold up to 249 indexes per table. Both types come with their own benefits over the other. In my experience, clustered indexes are suited best for programs that use primary key as an identity integer column. On the other hand, non-clustered make the most sense for programs that need JOIN and WHERE clauses within them."

Grant Street Group uses indexes to improve query performances within their software and for this question, your interviewer is looking to hear that you have a basic understanding of both clustered and non-clustered indexes. Explain the differences between the two types of indexes and be sure you can either speak to relevant times that you've used each or when would be the appropriate application to use each.

"In my experience, clustered indexes are faster to read but very slow when it comes to update data within. Non-clustered indexes are just the opposite in that they are slower to read but much fast to insert new data into them. In my current role, I mostly use clustered indexes when large numbers of rows need to be retreived and when insert operations are important. Most other times, I will use non-clustered as the standard."

What is one thing that really tests your patience when dealing with your coworkers?

"As a person that values diversity and differences of opinion in the workplace, there aren't many things that grind my personal gears when it comes to my colleagues. The only real true test of my patience is a coworker that doesn't pull their weight in a team effort. When I've been in this situation in the past, I first seek to learn if the issue is a lack of training or knowledge. If it is, I take the necessary steps to help my colleague get on track. But if I find that it is due to a lack of effort, I talk to the person immediately in a professional manner. The sum is only as good as the effort of all of its parts and a team efforts requires everyone's maximum effort."

While on the surface this question may seem like your interviewer is trying to get you to talk negatively about a situation, it is really more of a test to see what can potentially drive you crazy on the job in a team atmosphere and how you handle those situations. In your answer, be honest about your pet peeves when it comes to coworkers and do so in a positive light. Then, expand on your answer by talking about how you handle those situations."As a person that values diversity and differences of opinion in the workplace, there aren't many things that grind my personal gears when it comes to my colleagues. The only real true test of my patience is a coworker that doesn't pull their weight in a team effort. When I've been in this situation in the past, I first seek to learn if the issue is a lack of training or knowledge. If it is, I take the necessary steps to help my colleague get on track. But if I find that it is due to a lack of effort, I talk to the person immediately in a professional manner. The sum is only as good as the effort of all of its parts and a team efforts requires everyone's maximum effort."

"Having been raised in a rural farm setting, I have always been a stickler for being on time and holding meetings to set lengths of time. While watching people show up late for meetings has bothered me internally because of how I am wired, I don't let it bother me on the exterior. We are all very busy in our lines of work and showing up a few minutes late is only normal from time to time."

What experience do you have in the different types of software maintenance?

"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."

As a reputable company, Grant Street 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.

"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 Grant Street Group, I also have experience performing perfective, preventative and corrective maintenance on software as well."

If you were confronted with a time where you wouldn't be able to meet a deadline here at Grant Street Group, what steps would you take when you made that realization?

"In my current position, I am very used to handling multiple tasks and projects on a day to day basis. Last year, my team was tasked with what started as a low priority project. After assembling a team to initially discuss the details and set a deadline for completion with our management, the project unfortunately fell off the radar of everyone on the team with many more high priority projects coming up each week. As the initial project's deadline was within a week of being due, our CEO reached out to me for a progress report. I immediately took full responsibility for letting this fall off the radar and I ensured our CEO that we would have an updated timeline set by the end of the week. In doing this and completing the project to his satisfaction, this was really the tipping point in our department moving forward utilizing a detailed project management tracking system. To this day, I can't say enough about how appreciative I am about utilizing this awesome system. Moving forward, you can rest assured knowing that I take full accountability for my actions and do what is necessary to communicate new expectations and meet them fully."

At some point in any person's career, the inevitable happens and an important deadline needs to be missed. With your interviewer fully understanding this fact, they are solely interested in how you react to this situation and what you do to make the situation right. In your answer, focus on the refocused planning and communication needed while also avoiding blaming others for the situation. Your interviewer holds accountability as a desirable virtue, so be sure to take accountability for actions in your response.

"Having been in this situation before, I would first sit down to gather all the facts possible in the situation. What was the deadline, why wasn't it met and what can be done are all important questions moving forward. From there, communicating to all key parties is extremely important and doing so in a timely manner is critical. In this communication, taking accountability and setting new expectations for delivery in a concise and tactful manner will most often put stakeholders at ease and allow for successful completion."

Tell me about the most interesting project you have worked on this year and the biggest thing you learned from it.

"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."

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?

"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."

If hired for this position at Grant Street Group, what leadership skills would you bring to our team?

"I would say that my credibility is my best leadership skill. My openness and honesty suits me well when working among a team of individuals and this helps them gain trust in following my lead when working on projects. Another skill I would bring here to Grant Street Group would be my ability to lead by example. I'm not afraid to take a risk in seeking innovation and I've been commended for this trait many times by my current manager."

While this position at Grant Street Group may not hold the title of manager, supervisor or director, the organization firmly believes that employees that demonstrate key leadership qualities are better set for future career success. Aside from that, leadership skills help you work better as part of a larger team and with potential customers as well. Prior to your interview, think about one or two leadership qualities that you possess and talk in detail about how you've exemplified those qualities in the past.

"If you were to offer this position to me, you'd quickly find that my positive attitude is an inspiration to those that I work closely with. In my current job, we work under the constant stress of tight deadlines and my positivity can be infectious to help others maintain their focus when negativity can easily take over in most situations. I would say that my other strong suit as a natural leader is my ability to be fluid on a day to day basis. Sometimes our world can be monotonous and when change comes, most resist that change. For me, change is a chance to break the current mold and grow as an employee."

We are looking for innovators to join us here at Grant Street Group. Where have you brought innovation in automation to a process in your career?

"To be very honest with you, I was really drawn to the automation side of engineering because of the constant need to be flexible and continuing me education to stay ahead of new trends. Last year, I helped develop a codeless test automation for my company that brought together our software engineers and end users to test in environments in a fast and efficient manner. The codeless testing was a first for my organization and really helped free up time for our software engineers to come up with solutions rather than spend time testing."

Innovation in software has occurred in many phases over the last 20 years and Grant Street Group is always striving to be on the forefront of innovation in their field. For this question, think back on your automation experience and talk about a concept that you helped create that you felt was innovative. Really sell your interviewer on your ability to think outside of the box with this question by hammering home the idea that you can help bring new innovations to the team at Grant Street Group.

"About four years ago, I was on a team that developed an AI bot that could test scripts and provide analysis on extremely large amounts of data in a short period of time. Our work focused on the algorighms that the AI would utilize in its testing work. From the start, the AI process was extremely accurate and efficient. Now, as things have changed over time, modifications to the AI system all center around changes to the algorithms. Based on our success, we presented our AI system at a national conference last year and it received a lot of great accolades."

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?

"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."

As your role with Grant Street 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.

"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."

As you reflect back on your career to this point in your search for a new position, what would you say is your ideal work environment or culture?

"As I begin this job search now 15 years out of college, I'm looking for an employer that promotes and encourages innovation, new ideas and collaboration among all members of the team. From what I know about Grant Street Group from speaking with others, you sound like a perfect match for what I am looking for in a career."

While using this question as a key indicator on how you'll fit with the team and the organization at Grant Street Group, it will be very important for you to research as much as you can on the work environment at Grant Street Group so you can match your priorities to that environment. If you have the opportunity to speak with an employee at Grant Street Group prior to your interview, that can shed valuable information. In the end, the culture and value of an organization are often a key indicator of long-term success in a job, so make sure that you reflect your values into what the company values.

"With all of the companies that I have both worked for and consulted with in the past, I realize that a company culture is basically the personality of the company and I am looking for a new organization that really meshes well with my personality. I am a casual person that believes in hard work, teamwork and having fun on the job. As I embarked on a job search, I was so happy to see that Grant Street Group was hiring because I believe our styles will fit perfectly together."

What SDLC models are you familiar in working with?

"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."

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 Grant Street Group by asking your interviewer which model they work off of.

"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 Grant Street Group, can you expand on what models you use here in your software development life cycle?"

How do you ensure that you have a healthy work-life balance in your career?

"As I am passionate about my career as a UX designer, I am also passionate about my family. Any moments outside of work are spent coaching my kids traveling baseball teams in the summer months and then spending as many weekends as possible on the ski slopes. These activities help keep me active, physically fit and keep my mind centered on what it truly important in my life when work weeks get stressful."

In the fast paced world in software and technology development, heavy work loads and potential on-call duties have created a lot of burnout in professionals. Your interviewer is looking to hear that you are cognizant of the risks of burnout and that you do what is necessary to maintain your own personal health and well being and that of your family as well. While you can use this time to talk about personal interests or hobbies outside of work, try to focus on how these items help keep you refreshed for the work that you'll be doing for Grant Street Group.

"Having watched many of my senior colleagues over time suffer from work burnout that has caused marital issues and health issues, I make it a priority to maintain a healthy balance between my work and my home life. My free time is spent in the outdoors with my wife, whether that be on the lakes and rivers fishing or biking around town. I consider myself fortunate to be considered for a position here at Grant Street Group because I know that you put a focus on your employees maintaining this healthy balance because the organization realizes how important this is to be productive."

How would you say that you would help bring sound data governance philosophies to this role at Grant Street Group?

"In my current role, I work under a very strict set of data governance principles that were developed by our team. The principles outline set processes that I follow in all data conversion processes for our new software. In the end of all projects, our data governance principles help ensure sound data storage processes and data security for our end users."

This big picture question will allow your interviewer to get a sense of how you understand that your work will benefit the greater good of Grant Street Group through following repeatable processes to maintain consistency in your work. When you talk about your experience and methods that you would help bring to table in this role, maintain a focus on minimizing risk and reducing costs for the organization.

"If hired for this role, I would love to help develop and abide by documented processes in data conversion to ensure solid data governance in the projects here at Grant Street Group. In the work I've performed in the past, I've developed conversion and end reporting processes that helped ensure 100% accuracy in the software being developed. With these processes in place, we could rest assured that corporate risks were as minimal as possible in our products."

If you were asked to review a colleague's code that they had written, what key things would you look for?

"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."

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.

"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."

What do you know about our products and how do you think you'll be able to handle a support role surrounding them?

"One of the main things that is attracting me to a position with Grant Street Group will be the new opportunity to work solely with cloud based software. With my current experience in supporting server and data storage issues, I am confident in my ability to support the services here based on that experience."

This question allows your interviewer to gain insight into both your interest in this position and the skills that you will be able to bring to the table. To show your interest, be sure to do as much research on Grant Street Group as possible and get to know their products. Ensuring that you know the job description from front to back is important as well. Then, talk about how you feel that your skills will apply to working with end users that are contacting about the software.

"Upon reading the job description for technical application support, it was easy for me to see that my skills were a perfect match for the position. It sounds like you are looking for an expert that can provide support on GlobalLink applications and has exceptional experience across many different scripting languages. As you can see from my resume, I have experience using Perl and Python and I feel like these experiences would help make a smooth transition for me into this role. On top of that, my cloud based experience would translate nicely to this role here at Grant Street Group as well."

Talk about a data integration project where you encountered an issue with completing tasks due to the negligence of others. How did you handle this issue to ensure solid completion of the project?

"Last year, I was working on a data consolidation project for a roll out of a new software program we were developing. Because the project was working with several of our existing systems, I was coordinating with several different engineers from our staff that were experts on their respective systems. As the project was going along smoothly from the start, I wasn't getting a response from one of our engineers that had key information for me to move forward. With fully understanding that people are very busy in their day to day duties, I gave him three additional days to respond with no success. Once I didn't receive a response, I went directly to his office to speak directly to him. He immediately apologized for his delay and we spoke at great length about the information that I needed to move forward. I'm glad I took this direct approach in this situation and would never hesitate to do this moving forward in a tactful manner."

Because Grant Street Group operates in a team based atmosphere, this question is allowing your interviewer to gain insight into how you will work as part of a larger team. Large data integration projects at Grant Street Group will require you to work with many people, so use a prior experience where you took the bull by the horns with others to ensure successful completion of a project. Make sure to clearly outline the situation and what you had to do to overcome it to produce a positive outcome.

"On a project a couple of years ago, I was interfered with by an outside department that was trying to interject their own unrelated tasks into the project. My first response was to have a frank conversation with the manager of the department, but he was still insistent that I move forward with his proposes changes that weren't outline in the project. Because of his insistence, I had to approach my manager about the requests and it was determined that we would not move forward with the requests of that department. Unfortunately, the end conversation had to be held with leaders from top level management with my organization. I certainly didn't want that situation, but it was called for to ensure that standards of the project."

When do you consider a project to be finished?

"In my mind, a project is never truly finished. Once it's rolled out, upgrades will have to be performed, quality checks will have to be completed, and the product will inevitably change based on customer needs, new technologies, and trends in the market. We have to take that all into consideration when working on a project and while maintaining the product that was completed as a result of the project."

When answering this question, be sure to understand what the employer is truly asking. They are looking to see where you think the project ends, whether that is when it's completed and all testing is done, or whether you think projects are ongoing and require constant work. It can be a trick question as many companies believe a project is never truly finished. Be sure to give an explanation with your answer to back up your belief.

"I should disclose to you that I have a mark on my criminal record. I have a DUI from 1998. Since then I have maintained a clean record and I am willing to comply with any form of background check that you require."

In your mind, when is monkey testing the most effective in testing new software?

"In my experience, monkey testing has been very effective in load testing and stress testing new software as standard testing methods couldn't do this without a lot of extra work. Because of the adhoc approach to the testing, load and stress on the software was most highly gauged through monkey testing."

By utilizing random inputs to check the behavior of a program, monkey testing has its time and place in the software testing process. For this question, your interviewer is looking to hear that you have an understanding of the theory behind monkey testing and how you would look to put it to work at Grant Street Group to test their products.

"Because monkey testing is able to find unique bugs that standard testing won't find, I've found it to be very effective for testing new pilot software programs that are reaching new bounds. At my current job, I helped design a brilliant monkey testing process that utilized user behavior to look for certain probabilities of bugs within our systems that we were designing."

Do you have experience working with different CASE tools? If so, what do you have experience with?

"In my current role, I regularly utilize both diagramming and web development tools. The diagram tools assist our software projects by outlining the system data and components in a graphical form for us and this saves us a great amount of time while also being very reliable. The web development tools greatly help me visualize site changes that I am making because I don't have a deep background in web development. If hired for this position, I'd look forward to learning other CASE tools for prototyping, quality assurance and maintenance."

The world of software engineering has greatly benefited from advancements in computer aided software engineering tools. Because Grant Street Group is at the forefront of the industry, your interviewer will be looking to hear which tools you have experience with. Make sure not to concern yourself with providing a correct answer here, but rather focus on your flexibility to learn new aides when needed while explaining what you have experience with.

"During my career and in my experience with CASE tools, most of my experience is in the lower CASE elements that focus on coding and testing the software after initial development. CASE tools have certainly made life as a software engineer more efficient and effective and I'd look forward to learn any new CASE tools if hired for this position here at Grant Street Group."

In a technical support role here at Grant Street Group, we expect that you would be able to bring great customer service skills to the role. Describe your customer service philosophy in the support that you would provide.

"To me, my job duties aren't fully satisfied if an end user leaves our conversation without a smile on their face. While any technical support specialist can handle the customer aspect of the job, few have the people skills to do so pleasantly for their customers. In any interaction that I have with a customer, I talk in a calm and boosting manner. If they are upset or mad about a situation, I reflectively listen and never place any blame back on them. By taking this approach, my customer surveys in my current position have been excellent for the three years I've held that role."

While your interviewer will be able to get great insight into your technical expertise during your interviewer, this one question will allow you the opportunity to describe how you will bring solid interpersonal skills to the role. Your interview knows that customers will rely on you to provide quick and sensible support for their needs, but the expectation to do that in a pleasing manner is of utmost importance. Talk from a high level about your feelings on why providing great service is important and give an example or two of ways that you have done that in the past.

"If hired for this role here at Grant Street Group, you'll quickly find that my mantra in working with customers is speed with a smile. To do this, I need to be resourceful in providing them with an answer or triaging them to the correct person. I need to be knowledgeable in our product base to give them answers with confidence. And last, but not least, I need to be positive in all interactions with them."

Here at Grant Street Group, we ask our test engineers to follow specific QA protocols. What role do you feel QA plays in software development and testing?

"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."

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.

"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 Grant Street Group."

Do you have any unique skills or past work experiences that we can't see on your resume that would benefit the team here at Grant Street Group?

"In my current role as a data engineer, I have gotten the opportunity over the last five years to work with clients in many industries. One of the industries that I've worked most closely with has been the private insurance industry. This experience and my gaining of insider knowledge in the insurance industry would benefit me greatly if brought aboard the team here at Grant Street Group."

This question is providing you the opportunity to potentially set yourself apart from your competition for this position. To do just that, it will be important for you to make sure that the unique skill or experience that you discuss matches with a critical need for Grant Street Group and the position that you are interviewing for. Whether you talk about a unique skill or experience, your research on this job will prove vital in your ability to make sure that it impresses your interviewer.

What software analysis and design tools do you have familiarity working with?

"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."

As a software engineer for Grant Street 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.

"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."

What skills do you use to cope with the day to day stress and pressure on the job?

"Where many others get overtaken by stress to the point that they can't function in this field, high pressure situations sharpen my focus and that helps me work through them with ease. Last year, I was assigned a high priority, short notice project for a high profile customer. My manager gave it to me because of my proven success in those situations. From the start, I created a timeline for completion and mapped out a plan to make it happen. While staying in communication with my leaders and the client, I was able to create a great system update in just a few short weeks."

In modern technology industries, consumer demand has led to high volume of work and high pressure situations to work on tight deadlines. To prove that you are able to handle high stress, high pressure situations on the job, your interviewer is looking to hear first hand how you handle this type of environment in your own words. As you answer the question, try to turn potential perceived stress into a positive by highlighting your personal skills that enable you to perform well in those situations. If possible, try to use specific examples in your answer.

"I am confident in high stress work situations because of my ability to adapt, communicate and be organized in my work. These skills came in very useful a few weeks ago when our support staff were experiencing an extremely high volume of help desk calls. My adaptability helped me go with the flow and handle items on at a time. My communication skills enabled me to quickly and efficiently call on needed support. My organization skills helped me be prepared for anything on that day and enabled me to work through tickets in a quick and efficient manner."

Who would you say inspires you?

"I find inspiration in a variety of people and things. I would have to say that the person who has most greatly inspired me has been my grandmother. She always had a smile on her face no matter how hard she worked and she loved everyone. She was well respected and always gave more than she received. I try to live like her as much as I can."

Your life's inspiration can come from a book, a mentor, your family, a celebrity, author - literally anyone! Talk to the interviewer about who has inspired your life and why.

"I am continually inspired by the books that I read! Whether it is the author, or the characters themselves, I love to get lost in a good novel for inspiration."

Grant Street Group Interview Questions

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1. What programming languages would you consider yourself fluent in?
2. Do you consider yourself stronger in C++, C#, Java, or Python?
3. How do you measure the success of a data integration project?
4. If you were faced with a situation that you didn't know the answer to or understand, what would your next steps be?
5. In SQL, how do you explain the differences between clustered and non-clustered indexes? Can you name a time that you used each?
6. What is one thing that really tests your patience when dealing with your coworkers?
7. What experience do you have in the different types of software maintenance?
8. If you were confronted with a time where you wouldn't be able to meet a deadline here at Grant Street Group, what steps would you take when you made that realization?
9. Tell me about the most interesting project you have worked on this year and the biggest thing you learned from it.
10. If hired for this position at Grant Street Group, what leadership skills would you bring to our team?
11. We are looking for innovators to join us here at Grant Street Group. Where have you brought innovation in automation to a process in your career?
12. 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?
13. As you reflect back on your career to this point in your search for a new position, what would you say is your ideal work environment or culture?
14. What SDLC models are you familiar in working with?
15. How do you ensure that you have a healthy work-life balance in your career?
16. How would you say that you would help bring sound data governance philosophies to this role at Grant Street Group?
17. If you were asked to review a colleague's code that they had written, what key things would you look for?
18. What do you know about our products and how do you think you'll be able to handle a support role surrounding them?
19. Talk about a data integration project where you encountered an issue with completing tasks due to the negligence of others. How did you handle this issue to ensure solid completion of the project?
20. When do you consider a project to be finished?
21. In your mind, when is monkey testing the most effective in testing new software?
22. Do you have experience working with different CASE tools? If so, what do you have experience with?
23. In a technical support role here at Grant Street Group, we expect that you would be able to bring great customer service skills to the role. Describe your customer service philosophy in the support that you would provide.
24. Here at Grant Street Group, we ask our test engineers to follow specific QA protocols. What role do you feel QA plays in software development and testing?
25. Do you have any unique skills or past work experiences that we can't see on your resume that would benefit the team here at Grant Street Group?
26. What software analysis and design tools do you have familiarity working with?
27. What skills do you use to cope with the day to day stress and pressure on the job?
28. Who would you say inspires you?

Grant Street Group Interview Questions

1. What programming languages would you consider yourself fluent in?

2. Do you consider yourself stronger in C++, C#, Java, or Python?

3. How do you measure the success of a data integration project?

4. If you were faced with a situation that you didn't know the answer to or understand, what would your next steps be?

5. In SQL, how do you explain the differences between clustered and non-clustered indexes? Can you name a time that you used each?

6. What is one thing that really tests your patience when dealing with your coworkers?

7. What experience do you have in the different types of software maintenance?

8. If you were confronted with a time where you wouldn't be able to meet a deadline here at Grant Street Group, what steps would you take when you made that realization?

9. Tell me about the most interesting project you have worked on this year and the biggest thing you learned from it.

10. If hired for this position at Grant Street Group, what leadership skills would you bring to our team?

11. We are looking for innovators to join us here at Grant Street Group. Where have you brought innovation in automation to a process in your career?

12. 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?

13. As you reflect back on your career to this point in your search for a new position, what would you say is your ideal work environment or culture?

14. What SDLC models are you familiar in working with?

15. How do you ensure that you have a healthy work-life balance in your career?

16. How would you say that you would help bring sound data governance philosophies to this role at Grant Street Group?

17. If you were asked to review a colleague's code that they had written, what key things would you look for?

18. What do you know about our products and how do you think you'll be able to handle a support role surrounding them?

19. Talk about a data integration project where you encountered an issue with completing tasks due to the negligence of others. How did you handle this issue to ensure solid completion of the project?

20. When do you consider a project to be finished?

21. In your mind, when is monkey testing the most effective in testing new software?

22. Do you have experience working with different CASE tools? If so, what do you have experience with?

23. In a technical support role here at Grant Street Group, we expect that you would be able to bring great customer service skills to the role. Describe your customer service philosophy in the support that you would provide.

24. Here at Grant Street Group, we ask our test engineers to follow specific QA protocols. What role do you feel QA plays in software development and testing?

25. Do you have any unique skills or past work experiences that we can't see on your resume that would benefit the team here at Grant Street Group?

26. What software analysis and design tools do you have familiarity working with?

27. What skills do you use to cope with the day to day stress and pressure on the job?

28. Who would you say inspires you?