Describe Something a Previous Engineering Team Did Not Do Well

Later in a 30-minute software engineer phone screen that is mostly behavioral and experience questions, the interviewer asks: > What's something your previous engineering team didn't do well? ```hint Choose a fixable practice Pick a concrete engineering practice or process with a visible cost, not a person and not something no team could control. ``` ```hint Where were you in it? Be ready to say what you did about the problem, or what you would do now, and why the team had not already fixed it. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Does "previous team" include the current team, or only past ones? - Is the interviewer interested in technical practices (testing, releases, incident handling), in team process, or in both? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - One specific weakness and the concrete cost it imposed on the team or its users - An understanding of why it existed, framed around systems and incentives rather than people - The candidate's own contribution to improving it, or a realistic plan if they could not - A constructive, blameless tone that would be safe to repeat in front of that former team - What the candidate learned, and the practice they would bring to the next team ### Follow-up Questions - What did you personally do about it, and what happened? - Why do you think the team had not already fixed it? - How would you notice the same problem early on a new team? - What is one thing that team did well that you would want to keep?