Web developer interview questions and answers
This sample of Web developer interview questions can help you select the best candidate to meet your web development needs.
Web Developer Interview Questions
Web developers are responsible for designing, coding and improving web pages and online applications. You should look for candidates with similar experience and excellent coding skills.
Your ideal candidate should be passionate about software development and have a demonstrable application portfolio. To complement your evaluation, you can give your candidates an assignment, close to their position’s requirements and assess if their performance matches your company’s needs.
For computer science related positions, it’s a good sign to spot a desire to learn and a continuous interest in technology development among your candidates. You can ask how they stay informed about current industry trends and if they attend relevant seminars. Being active in technical forums or engaging in side projects, like game development, indicate an inquisitive candidate for your web developer position.
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Computer Science questions
- What is a ‘MIME type’ and what is it used for? Provide an example.
- Explain the pros and cons for CSS animations vs. JavaScript animations.
- What’s the difference between HTML and XHTML?
- Why is it generally a good idea to position CSS <link>s between <head></head> and JS <script>s just before </body>? Do you know any exceptions?
Role-specific questions
- Can you describe your workflow when you create a web page from scratch?
- What’s your favorite programming language and why? What features (if any) would you like to add to this language?
- How would you decrease page load times?
- Describe the process from the time you type in a website’s URL to it finishing loading on your screen.
- What user interface and security principles do you consider when building a website or online application?
- Have you used or implemented mobile specific layouts/CSS?
- What tools and techniques do you use to debug JavaScript code?
- Are you familiar with designing a single page app?
- What methods do you use to make SEO-friendly web pages?
Behavioral questions
- Describe a time when a program you developed didn’t run. How did you troubleshoot your code?
- What’s a fun project that you’ve worked on recently ?
- What area of expertise would you like to master?
- How do you stay up-to-date with the latest technology developments?