In my role, I have regular conversations with Hiring Managers in the IT industry around what they are looking for in their new hires. There are some consistent characteristics that keep coming up so I thought it might be helpful to offer some interview tips for Software Developers.

Now it’s obviously different for different companies, roles types and situations, but the following are common themes that come up.

Problem Solving – Starting off, this one seems obvious but Managers like Developers who love to solve problems and show curiosity to explore problems and tech stacks further. They want to see that potential hires can solve ‘the problem’ and offer a solution!

Passion – Developers who don’t just see the role as a 9-5 job to pay the bills, but are actually passionate about what’s going on in the industry and keeping their skill set current. A team of Developers who are doing this and bringing new ideas to the team can really drive products forward.

Commercially savvy – Developers who appreciate what the business is trying to do beyond their own role and have a customer-first mindset.

Work across the business – Managers see a lot of value in Developers who can articulate their ideas to both technical and non-technical audiences in the business and engage with key stakeholders along the way.

Testing their code – Hiring Managers look for Developers who enjoy testing their own code and appreciate the mantra that quality is the responsibility of everyone, not just the QA team.

Take suggestions on board – Organisations like candidates who are happy to take and listen to viewpoints from all team members, both senior and junior Developers.

The ‘Rock Star’ Ego – A follow on from the last point, but I’ve often been told by Managers that egos in the team can be detrimental to the results of the team and slow development down and generally make the workplace an unhappy environment to be in. So for candidates, this is good to keep in mind when you’re interviewing. Confidence is great but it needs to be managed.

Asa Hughes is a Consultant – Software Development & Digital at Davidson Technology