Senior Staff Engineer Mock Interview
Master 30 Senior Staff Engineer interview questions covering architecture, technical leadership, and system design.
Question 23 of 30
Can you tell me about a project on which you were the team leader and did not achieve the organization's expected results?
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William Swansen has worked in the employment assistance realm since 2007. He is an author, job search strategist, and career advisor who helps individuals worldwide and in various professions to find their ideal careers.
Nobody likes to talk about failures during their career. However, we've all experienced them. Discussing your failures and the lessons learned that you could apply to this new role is a key competency you need to demonstrate during an interview for a senior staff engineer role. Since this is a behavioral question, you can use the STAR methodology to frame your answer. Begin by describing the Situation, and then talk about the Task you were required to complete. Next, discuss the Actions you took and finish with the Results you achieved. If the project failed, you should talk about what you learned and how you can apply it going forward.
William Swansen has worked in the employment assistance realm since 2007. He is an author, job search strategist, and career advisor who helps individuals worldwide and in various professions to find their ideal careers.
"I was once assigned to lead my team to develop a mobile gaming application. Even though the requirements for the project were somewhat vague, and I didn't feel I had all the resources needed to complete the assignment, we moved forward and began the coding work. It soon became apparent that my team did not have the skill set to complete the project. Reluctantly, I informed management that we could not develop the application and that the project should be assigned to a team with the proper background. Even though the project failed, I learned to evaluate an assignment realistically and either obtain the resources I needed to complete the job or recommend that it be assigned to a different team from the very beginning. This would save me the embarrassment of failing and result in the organization achieving its business objectives sooner."
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Anonymous Answer
Well. There are first few things that I usually evaluate before committing to a delivery.
1. Technology to be used to build the application and the availability of suitable technical engineers to build that.
2. Tool stack to be used and availability of reusable tools/frameworks at the organizational level.
3. Backward planning with bucket-level estimations to see what is possible in a realistic environment.
With such considerations, if the deadline is strict but there are no technical challenges, we can evaluate the possibility of team expansion if needed or if it is a short time, I will discuss and motivate the team to extend and deliver. Of course, I always ensure the efforts of the team are recognized with holidays and monetary benefits later.
If the problem is about the skillset of the team and if it does not suit the technology stack chosen, I ensure the concern is raised at the initial stages of planning itself such that we don't have to face any surprises towards the end as this can have a huge impact on brand image and revenue of the organization.
Krista's Feedback
This is a great description of your interpersonal and leadership skills, but it does not directly answer the interviewer's question. I would revise your answer to include a project where you were the team leader and the expected results weren't achieved. Then, explain what you learned from that experience that helped you grow and improve as a leader.
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