List of 28 WePay Interview Questions & Answers
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1.
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 WePay, 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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2.
If hired for this position here at WePay, 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 WePay. 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 WePay. 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 WePay 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 WePay. 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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3.
What experience do you have in the different types of software maintenance?
How to Answer
As a reputable company, WePay 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 WePay, I also have experience performing perfective, preventative and corrective maintenance on software as well."
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4.
What would you say is your top non-technical skill that will help you succeed in this role here at WePay?
How to Answer
As a software architect at WePay, you will be relied upon to be the bridge to between the business and technical side of the organization. Your work my be relied upon to work within many silos of the organization. Because of this need, your interviewer is asking you to dig deep inside of yourself and talk about what you feel is your greatest skill to help you do this that is outside of your technical ability. As you prepare for this question, there are many ways that you can answer. No matter how you answer, be sure that your answer relates to your ability to work with other people in some way, shape or form.
Ryan's Answer
"As I grew in the software development field over my career, I was best suited to be a architect because of my ability to be a great project manager. If hired for this role here at WePay, you'll quickly find that I have the ability to lead others, negotiate, budget and oversee a project from idea to final delivery."
Ryan's Answer
"From a self introspection point of view, I think that my ability to be empathetic towards others that I work with has led to a huge amount of my success in the software architecture field. While I do have the technical skills to do great things here at WePay, my ability to learn from others, see their point of view and become a great teach to them when needed will really set me apart from others that you are interviewing for this position. If given the opportunity to work here, this skills will greatly improve the team atmosphere."
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5.
If you can, please provide your thoughts on the function of managed object context in developing iOS apps and software.
How to Answer
While the core data framework and the managed object context may seem pretty easy to comprehend and simple from a first look, a deeper look into managed object context shows that it can be misused to the point where obscure bugs can enter the system. Give your interviewer your own personal insight into the purpose of managed object context and how it works behind the scenes to help an app properly run.
Ryan's Answer
"In my current work, I work with both main queue and private queue manged object contexts. It is important that I avoid non user related data processing on the main queue of an app that I am developing. In times where this has happened in the past, the user interface becomes unresponsive and crashes. As well, I work to avoid instances passing between the main and private queues to avoid corruption of data within the app."
Ryan's Answer
"Knowing that a managed object context's job is to manage a number of records within an app, my job is to successfully manage each object within the app and assign it to a correlating context within the app. I have to consider the persistent store coordinator and code the app to fetch requests from the correct one."
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6.
At WePay we value organization. Tell us about a time when you were particularly effective on prioritizing tasks and completing a project on schedule.
How to Answer
An interviewer needs to hear that you have a plan in place to keep yourself organized. Start off by mentioning that you are typically an organized person. From here, dive into a recent time-consuming project that you were involved with.
You might say, 'I recently was involved with a project that required 30 hours of my time in a two week period while I was also in the middle of several other projects.'
Tell the interviewer that you started off by ensuring you had your schedule mapped out before you dove into your workload. Discuss if you made a to-do list, updated your calendar, or created a color-coded agenda. Share whatever organization method worked for you! Next, tell the interviewer how you prioritized the work. You may share that each day you sat down to determine the urgent needs for that day and marked them with a letter A. Perhaps you identified anything that would be nice to get done that day with a letter B. And, maybe you just left everything else that could wait for another day unmarked. Tell the interviewer how you diligently stuck with this plan for the duration of the project and how it allowed you to complete the project on time without any stress successfully.
Ryan's Answer
"Last week I was asked to lead our team while our manager was away. I created a checklist of things that needed to be completed to reach our deadlines. I gathered the team to discuss our goals and asked for input and ideas to get us there. It was a great experience for me because not only was I able to exercise my leadership capabilities; I was also able to learn more about prioritizing, from my team."
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7.
What SDLC models are you familiar in working with?
How to Answer
As a software engineer, you are very familiar with the software development life cycle. For this question, your interviewer is looking to hear what models you have worked on in the past. While there isn't necessarily a right or wrong answer to this question, try to show your flexibility to working with different SDLC models by bringing up your past experiences. Then, show you have knowledge of different models like the waterfall model or agile model. It is also a good idea to use this question as an opportunity for you to learn more about WePay by asking your interviewer which model they work off of.
Ryan's Answer
"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."
Ryan's Answer
"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 WePay, can you expand on what models you use here in your software development life cycle?"
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8.
At WePay, we rely on a full team effort to deliver top quality products to our customers. Tell me about a time that you worked well as part of a team. Are you comfortable in a similar role here?
How to Answer
While this potential role with WePay will require your to be an independent worker that can think on your feet, you will also need to work as part of a larger team that is working toward one common goal. Because of this fact, your interviewer will want to hear that you thrive in an environment where you work with team members from other disciplines than you are trained in. In your example, stress to your interviewer that you have excellent communication skills and that you fully understand that every person on a team plays a vital role in the organization's success.
Ryan's Answer
"Throughout my career, I've always enjoyed working as part of a larger team on the job and this personal enjoyment started with my love of and participation in team sports like baseball and basketball. Growing up playing sports, I learned that each team member brought a unique skill set that could help us achieve our goals. Through a great coaching staff that knew how to make these individual skills shine, this same philosophy holds true for a team that is looking to design a new software system. I know that my skills as an engineer are just part of the final product and I work very well with designers, architects, analysts and sales to help build the greatest system possible."
Ryan's Answer
"I am a people person by nature and my current role has me working very closely with our engineering and design staff on writing technical manuals for our products. While I certainly can handle long days at my computer in solitude, my desire to work hand in hand with others really sets me apart from my peers in this field. I have excellent verbal, listening and written communication skills that, if hired here at WePay, your entire team would appreciate from my first day on the job."
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9.
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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10.
At WePay, we take security risks very importantly in our products. In your experience, what are the biggest security risks in software and what is your experience in any prevention methods?
How to Answer
As an expert in software industry, you are obviously aware of the many security risks that systems face in this day and age. For your answer to this question, talk knowledgeably about the security risks that you are most familiar with combating in your day to day work. Explain why the posed risk is important to combat against and talk about the methods you used to minimalize risk in the finished product.
Ryan's Answer
"As I'm fully aware, cyber-security has become a very important issue over the past ten years. In my current role, our biggest security risk is injection of code used by hackers to access information in our web applications. To help prevent any risks associated with injection, we've implemented the use of a safe API and using specific LIMIT and other SQL controls within queries to prevent loss of records in case of an injection."
Ryan's Answer
"In the healthcare field where I currently work, broken authentication vulnerability has allowed attackers to hack into electronic medical records and gain control over those systems. This type of attack potentially puts hundreds of thousands of people at risk within a given system. We use many methods to prevent this type of security risk. First, we take the time to properly test the code before rolling out new updates to software. We also utilize very detailed external security audits. Other details we have implemented have been multi-factor authentication processes and recommendations to align password requirements with the NIST guidelines."
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11.
Would you say that you are a goal oriented on the job? What would I be able to do as your manager to help you achieve your goals if hired here at WePay?
How to Answer
At the heart of this question lies your interviewers desire to see what motivates you as a potential employee at WePay. Make it clear to your interviewer that you certainly are motivated by on the job goals and do this by using an example of a time where you were motivated by and achieved a goal. Then, think deeply about the type of manager that you like to work for in terms of goal setting and helping our achieve your goals. Let your interviewer know what type of management styles you appreciate the most while being open to any style.
Ryan's Answer
"I would definitely say that I am goal oriented on the job in wanting to contribute any way that I can to the overall benefit of the organization. In my current organization, our leadership focuses on overall sales numbers at the end of the year. To help achieve these goals, our department creates our own goals to help achieve the sales numbers needed to succeed. Last year, one of those goals was to be as creative as possible in our user experience design processes. With the launch of an exciting new app midyear, sales numbers skyrocketed and our department was instrumental in that. For me, it was important that we determined our goals as a team with the final stamp of approval from our manager. While this style of management really helped motivate me, I can thrive under any management style as long as expectations and goals for my work are clearly set."
Ryan's Answer
"For me, my day to day work is much more meaningful when I have goals to work for. In my current role, we have set timelines for our projects and this helps lay the framework for our goals. If hired for this position, my expectations of you as my manager would be to have goals clearly defined and a supportive atmosphere to be provided to work within."
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12.
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."
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13.
A huge part of our business here at WePay is designing software for iOS. In this role, how would you steer away from retain cycles when using closures in Swift programming language?
How to Answer
This question allows your interviewer to assess your technical knowledge and skills in designing apps for iOS products in a very simple way. To successfully answer it, make sure that you can speak knowledgeably about the swift programming language and using closures to capture and store references within the software. To piece together everything for your interviewer, give a clear understanding of why retain cycles must be avoided in your processing.
Ryan's Answer
"Because ARC handles most of the memory knowledge in Swift, I know ARC is prone to memory leaking and this can cause major issues in apps over time. The fix that I've used in my career to avoid retain cycles is using weak references in my coding."
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14.
What software analysis and design tools do you have familiarity working with?
How to Answer
As a software engineer for WePay, 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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15.
In designing Android software, what is your experience using parcelable versus serializable within an app?
How to Answer
Because parcelable is optimized for Android to be faster and more customizable, your interviewer will be looking to hear that you are willing to put in the extra work to utilize the parcelable method to achieve better performance within the software that you design. Give your interviewer your thoughts on the differences between the two methods of passing object references to activities within an app that you design and make sure that they understand that you are ready to perform the work to utilize the parcelable method when necessary.
Ryan's Answer
"Having written code for Android apps for many years now, I am very familiar with both serializable and parcelable methods. In my first hand experience, parcelable provides a much faster and better user experience so I will always strive to take the time to write custom code for marhsaling and unmarshaling to create less garbage objects within an app."
Ryan's Answer
"Due to it being a standard Java interface and its ease of implementation, serializable interface is pretty commonly used. But, because it uses reflection, many temporary objects are created within Android apps and this creates a very poor user experience. When the parcelable interface was introduced for Android systems, I have extensively focused on its use and finished products have benefited greatly."
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16.
If hired here at WePay to develop iOS and Android software, when would you use a fragment rather than an activity?
How to Answer
In the development of apps for both iOS and Android, using code to create an activity versus a fragment is a highly debated topic to this day. For this question, your interviewer is looking to hear that you understand what the differences between the two are and when you feel that using a fragment is the proper direction to go. Make sure to speak to the high level overview of what an activity does to an app versus fragments.
Ryan's Answer
"As a best practice in my development of Android apps in the past, activities are really the complete screen that a user experiences as part of the app. Fragments are really small sub activities that take place within the activity. Because fragments within an app have their own life cycle and receive their own input events within the app, there are specific times where fragments make the most sense to use in development. In my experience, I always use fragments when the app is working with UI components that are going to be uses across multiple activities within the app. As well, fragments have also served very well when using swipe views within the app."
Ryan's Answer
"In the past year, I honestly don't recall designing a new app that ran solely on an activity alone. The fragments are almost necessary today to bring life to an app. I use retained fragments to persist across activity restarts within the app and this helps make a user friendly experience for our end users."
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17.
Here at WePay, we strive for continuous delivery and continuous deployment with our software. Are you familiar with these processes in your current work?
How to Answer
In the industries that WePay works in, updates to software are vital to end users for them to stay at the forefront of their business. To ensure that updates happen as quick and smoothly as possible, WePay utilizes continuous delivery and continuous deployment for their customers. For this question, talk about what you know about these processes as a software architect, why they are important and what experience you have with them.
Ryan's Answer
"In my current role, we utilize a 100% continuous deployment process with our end users when we role out new changes to existing software. We use automated testing in our process to validate that code changes are correct and able to be deployed without issue. Once validated, changes are automatically rolled out to our end users. Having once utilized a continuous delivery system, I am very appreciative of working in an environment utilizing continuous deployment as it negates any need for human intervention in the roll out."
Ryan's Answer
"In my current position, we've slowly grown from a continuous integration process to a continuous delivery process. I love the automated testing process when we are looking at rolling out new changes to existing software and my role as the architect for our projects puts me in the drivers seat for sending out these changes. If hired for this role here at WePay, I'd be very intrigued at learning and working with continuous deployment practices as well."
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18.
If hired here at WePay, 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 WePay 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 WePay."
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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19.
What do you feel are the primary features and benefits of the Java programming language?
How to Answer
As a company that utilizes Java, WePay and your interviewer want to make sure that you have an understanding of the Java programming language and they do so by asking this question. Obviously a language packed with unique features, talk about the features that you can speak the most knowledgeably about and tie your direct experience to.
Ryan's Answer
"When I started working with Java three years ago, the first huge benefit was the fact that the Java syntax was based on C++. At that time, I had a great working knowledge of C++ and my transition to Java was absolutely seamless. The other amazing feature that I've come to appreciate with Java is how robust the memory management is in exception handling and automatic garbage collection."
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20.
Talk about your previous user interface design experience in detail. Why do you feel that this experience will translate well to this role with WePay?
How to Answer
While your interviewer can get a good sense of your experience from your resume, they are looking for you to talk in details about your experiences in UI design in your previous work. While explaining your previous experience, be sure to highlight the skills that you developed that will help you be successful in designing new products with WePay. Prior to your interview, be sure you research and are family with the products that WePay puts out.
Ryan's Answer
"Ten years into my career out of college, I consider myself very blessed to have such a well rounded background in user interface design. I have experience designing cutting edge mobile app designs, website design, video game design and software design. Here at WePay, your education software would greatly benefit from my creative designs to be user friendly and appealing to educators, parents and students and I'd love to bring these skills to work for you."
Ryan's Answer
"While my experience in user interface design has really focused on web design over the past five years, I think my current skill set will benefit the team here at WePay greatly. In my web design, I prepare mockups and wireframes for customers and have experience utilizing a lot of different resources in doing these. In the software world, I would love to use these same principles. As well, my web experience has really driven me to be user focused. In this role, a more user focused drive is required out of your user interface design and I would be able to bring that to the team here."
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21.
Tell me about your problem-solving skills. Do you enjoy analyzing and solving complex problems?
How to Answer
Software developers spend a great deal of time debugging programs. It is essential for WePay to have someone experienced in quickly identifying problems and responsive in providing solutions. The interviewer would also like to gauge how you work with internal and external customers when problem-solving.
Ryan's Answer
"In my last development position, I was responsible for front-line communications with end users. Third tier helpdesk staff would contact me with software bugs, and I was able to quickly and professionally respond to problems. I was able to reduce the bug backlog by 70%."
Ryan's Answer
"If you did not have a good relationship with your previous boss: "I have had healthier relationships in the past with previous employers, but we did the best that we could. Our communication styles were very different which made it challenging at times."
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22.
What unique values can you bring to WePay in your user experience design skills?
How to Answer
While your interviewer has shown confidence in your technical abilities to succeed at WePay as a UX designer, this question is helping them gain insight into your ability to see the big picture in the work that you do. As you think about the unique personal values that you would bring to the role, try and paint a picture of your work tying to the end user and how you can help make it more productive, enjoyable and satisfying for them.
Ryan's Answer
"I have really taken pride in my ability to add value to the business needs of the customers that I work with. During any design project, I take the time to work with end users to find their wants and needs out of the program. Then, as I create the UX design, I keep their needs at the forefront and do anything possible to exceed their expectations."
Ryan's Answer
"As you can see from my resume, I have formal training and experience in user experience research and I know that this would benefit the work that I would be doing here at WePay if hired for this position. I pursued this additional training in my career because of my passion for the customer journey in the programs that I design."
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23.
Working at WePay, you will experience changes on a regular basis. When have you had to change a major component of your project due to new information being presented?
How to Answer
Being able to swivel the focus of your project is a necessary skill for your success in most careers. Talk to the interviewer about a time when a significant change occurred on a project. How did you handle the implementation of the new information?
Ryan's Answer
"I had a large project last month that was nearly complete when the client called to say that the dimensions provided were incorrect. Because of this, our team had to re-do the entire proposal. It took us an additional four days of work but, in the end, the client was delighted with our work, and it resulted in new opportunities with them."
Ryan's Answer
"I would say that being in the software and technology business means changing major components on projects on a very regular basis. I am very well accustomed to changing gears on a moment's notice and can adapt very well." (Give a recent example, if you are able) "
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24.
Do you have experience working with different CASE tools? If so, what do you have experience with?
How to Answer
The world of software engineering has greatly benefited from advancements in computer aided software engineering tools. Because WePay 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.
Ryan's Answer
"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."
Ryan's Answer
"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 WePay."
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25.
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 WePay 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 WePay."
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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26.
Give an example of a time that you used a universal design practice in your work as a UI or UX designer. Why was it important to do this?
How to Answer
In the technology, software and mobile app fields today, accessibility is a huge topic. As a designer with WePay, you will be expected to help create products that are as accessible as possible to as many end users as possible. In this two part question, talk about why you feel that universal design is important in the work that you will be doing with WePay and then really sell your ability to do this by giving an example of a time you used a universal design in your previous work.
Ryan's Answer
"From a very high level, the business success of a program really relies on being universally designed. If we pigeon hole ourselves, a product will only reach a very limited group of end users. But taking that a step further, universal design is the morally right thing to do to help reach people that may not have access to the average program design. Last year, I was part of a project that utilized a voice user interface for users that were deaf or hard of hearing. This simple yet effective design was a huge win for our current customers and in helping drive new business with our groundbreaking software."
Ryan's Answer
"Early in my career, the best piece of advice that I receive was from an experience designer and she said that when UX doesn't consider all potential users, we are no longer working on the user experience. We live in a very diverse world and the programs that I've designed for in the past have certainly had the goal to reach a wide audience. With your financial products here at WePay, this same philosophy applies. Last year, based on some feedback from current customers, we switched our design to include a strong color contract to make the system much more user friendly to color blind users. This was both a simple and very effective change to enhance the look of the program."
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27.
Here at WePay, we utilize feasibility studies with our customers to consider all impacts of a new system for them. Do you have familiarity working with feasibility studies in your work as a software engineer?
How to Answer
To properly answer this question, make sure you understand the reasons why feasibility studies are important. In essence, a feasibility study helps to determine if conditions are right to implement a project. The study looks at economic, operation, legal and technical aspects of the project to determine if moving forward with the project is best for all involved. If you have experience in the studies, talk about a specific time that you utilized a study, the steps you took and explain why it was important to do in the end. Make sure that your interviewer walks away from the interview comfortable with your ability to utilize feasibility studies in your work.
Ryan's Answer
"I do have familiarity with feasibility studies throughout my career as a software engineer. On a current project that I am working on, we utilized a study to analyze if the project we were tasked with could use current technologies available to us while meeting a timeline for completion. On my end, I had to spend time researching the resources that were available, gauge their functionality and come up with a plan for action based on that. Where the project stands today, we are on pace for delivering a revolutionary system for a large security industry customer."
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28.
What programming languages would you consider yourself fluent in?
How to Answer
While this question gives your interviewer insight into the diversity of your programming language experience, they most importantly want to know that you are adaptable and able to learn on the fly if needed. Talk about the different languages that you consider yourself fluent in and, if possible, do as much research into WePay as you can prior to your interview and try to speak to the specific languages that they work with.
Ryan's Answer
"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 WePay."
Ryan's Answer
"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 WePay, 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."