List of 27 Odessa Technologies Interview Questions & Answers
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1.
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, Odessa Technologies 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.
Ryan's Answer
"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."
Ryan's Answer
"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."
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2.
What is one unique personality trait you possess that would help you be successful in this role with Odessa Technologies?
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 Odessa Technologies. If possible, be very unique in your answer to draw a direct line between your personality and success in this role.
Ryan's Answer
"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 Odessa Technologies will be extremely beneficial to your team."
Ryan's Answer
"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."
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3.
If hired here at Odessa Technologies, 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 Odessa Technologies 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.
Ryan's Answer
"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 Odessa Technologies."
Ryan's Answer
"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."
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4.
The software we develop here at Odessa Technologies 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 Odessa Technologies 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.
Ryan's Answer
"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."
Ryan's Answer
"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."
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5.
In SQL, how do you explain the differences between clustered and non-clustered indexes? Can you name a time that you used each?
How to Answer
Odessa Technologies 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.
Ryan's Answer
"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."
Ryan's Answer
"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."
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6.
Talk about a successful training program that you had the opportunity to design and implement. What do you feel were the keys to success for the program?
How to Answer
If hired for this role at Odessa Technologies, you will be looked upon to design new and innovative training programs for end users of the companies products. To gain insight on how you would do this moving forward, your interviewer is giving you the opportunity to talk about a past program that you created that ended up being a success. As you talk about that program, make sure to hit on what you feel was a key to success for the program. Some things to potentially keep in the forefront when answering would be considering expectations of the customer, thinking about the work style of the end user and thinking about how to motivate others during the training.
Ryan's Answer
"Two years ago in my current role, my organization was putting a new educational tool out to elementary school teachers to help organize their lesson plans and I was tasked with creating both an online training module and an in-person training for new customers. Looking back, I'd say that the biggest key to success for this training program was the consideration of the work style of the teachers that would be using the program and then creating a program around those work styles. To do this, I conducted significant research on school teachers and it was determined that online training modules were the preferred method for training. I also would be tasked by some districts to do in person training. This provided a very unique opportunity for me to develop two unique, yet similarly focused, programs."
Ryan's Answer
"With my current organization that is a large healthcare employer, I created a training series that focused on patient safety for our staff that were directly in patient care areas. For it to be a success, the biggest key was to make the program fun and interactive for our staff. If you know the healthcare industry, safety has been drilled into the heads of staff throughout their whole career and if this new training wasn't fun and interactive, it would've been just another training in the eyes of staff. Upon rolling out the training six months ago, me and my staff received rave reviews from our staff and their leaders and we look forward to continuing this training with all new staff that is hired."
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7.
What software analysis and design tools do you have familiarity working with?
How to Answer
As a software engineer for Odessa Technologies, 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.
Ryan's Answer
"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."
Ryan's Answer
"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."
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8.
In your mind, when is monkey testing the most effective in testing new software?
How to Answer
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 Odessa Technologies to test their products.
Ryan's Answer
"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."
Ryan's Answer
"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."
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9.
Odessa Technologies embraces an Agile environment. Explain your experience in Agile methodologies and why you think it is important.
How to Answer
The interviewer would like to understand the depth of your knowledge in Agile. The interviewer would also like to know if you work well with team collaboration, are responsive to stakeholder needs, and can work well with team defined milestones. Give a specific example of your experience.
Ryan's Answer
"The majority of my experience has been in an Agile environment. For ten years I have been personally responsible for leading agile teams, and I have helped define team goals and milestones. This approach is important to me as I see how Agile methodology helps employees deliver better products in less time. In my current role, team productivity increased by 34% once we introduced an Agile environment, and our on-time project rate skyrocketed another 18%."
Ryan's Answer
"I especially want to work for Odessa Technologies because I have friends who have worked here before with really positive feedback on their experiences. I am looking for a positive work environment where I can stay for a long time to come."
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10.
How would you handle a classroom based user training session where users were at all different ends of the learning and knowledge spectrum of the program?
How to Answer
Used as a question to help gauge how would handle a particular classroom based training type of situation, this is an all too real situation that could occur if hired for this position at Odessa Technologies. When rolling out new or updated software to customers, end users can be very experienced and need little training or they can be very new to a system and need extensive training. When paired in a room together, it is best to stick to a set training plan to ensure that everyone receives the same curriculum. Give some ideas of how you think this situation is best handled.
Ryan's Answer
"If confronted with this situation, I think the best way to handle it would be to have an open conversation about everyone's comfortability with the system after a quick introduction. From there, I would look to pair the novice users with the experienced users during the training. This would allow the novice users to learn from me as the trainer and from the more experienced user in watching them work through training modules."
Ryan's Answer
"Having been in this situation before a few times when training large groups, I stick with my focused training plan but also give extra time for question and answer periods during the training. When beginners ask questions, I encourage their more experienced peers to help answer questions to build trust among the group once my time as the trainer has come to an end and I am no longer onsite. Many have commended me for this approach within their business."
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11.
How do you ensure that you have a healthy work-life balance in your career?
How to Answer
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 Odessa Technologies.
Ryan's Answer
"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."
Ryan's Answer
"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 Odessa Technologies 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."
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12.
What skills do you use to cope with the day to day stress and pressure on the job?
How to Answer
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.
Ryan's Answer
"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."
Ryan's 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."
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13.
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.
Ryan's Answer
"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."
Ryan's Answer
"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."
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14.
Odessa Technologies hires developers with a strong understanding of object-oriented programming. Discuss your knowledge in this area.
How to Answer
The interviewer would like to understand your knowledge and experience in object-oriented programming languages, such as Java, C++, Python, Visual Basic, Ruby, etc. Walk them through your experience, being sure to highlight any specialized training or coursework. If you took on a significant project using an object-oriented programming language, you could give an overview of that work.
Ryan's Answer
"When I was hired for my first development position five years ago, my employer provided in-depth programming and development courses. I trained in Java and C++, and over the years I have gained expertise by using these applications for my development roles."
Ryan's Answer
"Here are some other essential characteristics that you can draw on:
- Disciplined
- Intuitive
- Takes Initiative
- Responsible
- Positive Attitude
- Solid Communicator" -
15.
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 Odessa Technologies, 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.
Ryan's Answer
"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."
Ryan's Answer
"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."
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16.
Discuss a couple of software sales techniques. Which sales technique do you think is most effective for Odessa Technologies, and why?
How to Answer
The interviewer would like to see that you have researched Odessa Technologies, putting some thought into the most significant selling features of their products and services. When it comes to software sales closing techniques, you could:
- Offer a short trial for free
- Have a great email marketing campaign showing off the features of your software
- Give product or software demos, but keep the short
- Sell pre-paid annual memberships
Perhaps you have some ideas of your own! Discuss which selling options you think would be the best fit for what Odessa Technologies is offering. Be ready to support your answer with facts.
Ryan's Answer
"I recently read that free trial offers can increase conversions by up to 25% and, because, Odessa Technologies has a straightforward product, I believe it would be very effective to allow people to try it for free for 14 days. The prospective customer would quickly see that it's simple to navigate and incredibly helpful."
Ryan's Answer
"Since there are so many customizable features that come with your product, I feel that the best sales technique would be a free 30-minute demo, followed up with a short trial period. I think it would be important for prospective customers to see the product in action, and how it would work for them, specifically."
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17.
If hired for this position at Odessa Technologies, what leadership skills would you bring to our team?
How to Answer
While this position at Odessa Technologies 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.
Ryan's Answer
"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 Odessa Technologies 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."
Ryan's Answer
"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."
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18.
Walk me through your experience in enterprise software sales, and complex sales cycles.
How to Answer
Software sales can be complicated, time-consuming, and rarely come with a quick close. The interviewer would like to discuss any experience you have had, selling software products into enterprise accounts, where the sales cycle is even more robust than the typical small to medium-sized businesses.
The typical software sales cycle includes:
- Prospecting and generating leads
- Initiating contact
- Qualifying the lead
- Presenting the product or offer
- Booking a product demonstration
- Overcoming objections
- Closing the deal
- Implementation
- Training
This list is just a simplified breakdown of the steps and could occur throughout weeks, or even months. Discuss the exposure you have had in closing complex software deals.
Ryan's Answer
"Although I have never had an official sales title, I am often called into the sales process as the subject matter expert when it comes to data migration and security questions. I know enough to understand the typical questions asked during the sales cycle, and also know that it's important to give case examples for most FAQ's. Decision makers feel much better knowing that their concern has been presented, and corrected, in the past."
Ryan's Answer
"My previous company was a startup that ran very lean, financially speaking. For that reason, I was both a front-end developer, product demonstrator, and sales assistant. I would be on the sales calls with the business development lead, offering my expertise for the most technical discussions. From the time we launched our product, to the first sale, was over 12 weeks, so I fully understand that the typical software sales cycle is complex and lengthy, especially when dealing with major corporations and large business."
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19.
In Oracle, do you understand what a join is and what the various types of joins are?
How to Answer
As a software developer that utilizes Oracle databases, your interview will expect that you have a strong working knowledge of concepts within oracle. One such concept is joins. Let your interviewer know that you understand that join is used to combine columns from multiple tables based on values within the columns to allow you to query data from those multiple tables. Then, explain what you know about left, right, inner, full outer and cross joins.
Ryan's Answer
"Having worked with Oracle for the past five years, I have a strong experience in using join to query data from multiple tables within the system. I have written queries utilizing left and right join, but the majority of my work in my current role utilizes inner join. This query looks to select data that is common in multiple tables and has been extremely useful in healthcare related software."
Ryan's Answer
"I do fully understand the join process in Oracle and have experience working with all of the types of joins that are possible in querying in the system. I've recently become very familiar with the cartesian cross join that basically joins all rows from multiple tables. In recently helping develop a program for the auto sales industry, I created a grid in Oracle that populated all of the common specs of makes and models of vehicles and the cross join made this much easier."
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20.
If hired for this position here at Odessa Technologies, 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 Odessa Technologies. 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 Odessa Technologies. 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.
Ryan's Answer
"Looking to join the team here at Odessa Technologies 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."
Ryan's Answer
"I would absolutely be comfortable if tasked with project manager duties here at Odessa Technologies. 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."
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21.
What experience do you have in the different types of software maintenance?
How to Answer
As a reputable company, Odessa Technologies 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.
Ryan's Answer
"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."
Ryan's Answer
"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 Odessa Technologies, I also have experience performing perfective, preventative and corrective maintenance on software as well."
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22.
Here at Odessa Technologies, we have adopted the cleanroom software engineering philosophy. Are you familiar with this philosophy?
How to Answer
Whether you do or don't have formal experience with the cleanroom philosophy, it is important to know the history and the basics of the philosophy to best answer this question. The cleanroom name comes from the semiconductor industry, where units are manufactured in a super clean environment to prevent defects. In software development, cleanroom refers to the use of of formal methods of development and strict inspection processes to avoid software defects. Make sure that you reiterate to your interviewer that you believe in the philosophy to show that you will fit in the team at Odessa Technologies.
Ryan's Answer
"While my current organization doesn't formally call our process a cleanroom process, I am very familiar with the philosophy and I think the processes I have worked on in my career really mirror the thought process of cleanroom. I am a firm believer in the incremental development of new software and utilizing a structured programming processes. Both of these processes are a staple of the cleanroom process. If hired for this position, you can be comfortable in knowing that I would be a firm advocated of the cleanroom process."
Ryan's Answer
"I am very familiar with the cleanroom philosophy as my current employer utilizes the entire process in our development of banking software. While a part of the entire development process, I lead our certification team as part of the process. As part of that team, we are responsible for developing the testing of the system after it has been developed."
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23.
We are looking for innovators to join us here at Odessa Technologies. Where have you brought innovation in automation to a process in your career?
How to Answer
Innovation in software has occurred in many phases over the last 20 years and Odessa Technologies 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 Odessa Technologies.
Ryan's Answer
"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."
Ryan's Answer
"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."
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24.
Can you describe the software development lifecycle?
How to Answer
With this question, employers are looking to test your knowledge. They want to know how much you've participated in the projects you've been involved in to truly understand the software development lifecycle. The question may seem basic to some, but employers are expecting an accurate answer to know that they're hiring a true pro.
Ryan's Answer
"Absolutely. In my last job, we leveraged the waterfall method, making sure we completed each phase of the project - and completed it on time and to the highest quality, before moving on. The software development lifecycle consists of 6 steps, starting with planning, of course, followed by implementation, testing, documentation, deployment, and maintenance. Every step is crucial to ensure we're producing a quality product and also maintaining that product to meet the changing needs and demands of our end users."
Ryan's Answer
"I am new to my career in financial services and sales; however, I have taken an online course focused on cold calling. This course was incredibly helpful and I look forward to meeting and exceeding my targets with Odessa Technologies."
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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 Odessa Technologies?
How to Answer
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 Odessa Technologies 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.
Ryan's Answer
"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 Odessa Technologies."
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26.
Do you consider yourself stronger in C++, C#, Java, or Python?
How to Answer
Before your interview, do some research to understand what tech stack Odessa Technologies 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.
Ryan's Answer
"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 Odessa Technologies."
Ryan's Answer
"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."
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27.
Software technology continually changes. How do you stay current on new technologies and sharpen your skills?
How to Answer
As technology needs rapidly change for each company, the interviewer would like to know how you adapt to new technologies. This question also gives the interviewer an opportunity to hear more about your learning style and how you take the initiative to learn new things. Interviewers like to hear about specific courses or training, but try to keep them as recent and relevant as possible.
Ryan's Answer
"I enjoy learning about new technologies in the software space both personally and professionally. I like to read software and data related articles, and I recently completed an 'Introduction to Python for Data Science' course to help build my skills, even though my current employer didn't require it."
Ryan's Answer
"I define success by what we achieve as a team. The project, as a whole, needs to deliver on expectations before I consider the job a success."