Trunk-Based Development vs. GitFlow for High-Frequency Releases
This tests your grasp of modern release strategy. Explain how TBD enables frequent merges to main, while feature toggles decouple deployment from release for safety. Contrast this with GitFlow's versioned release model.
What is the Strangler Fig pattern?
Tests your understanding of gradual legacy system modernization. A good answer defines the pattern (new system grows around old), outlines the steps (identify seams, build, redirect traffic), and links it to Agile's incremental value delivery.
Describe a CI/CD pipeline for a containerized web app
This tests your grasp of automated quality control in software delivery. A strong answer details the CI, build, staging, and production stages, emphasizing quality gates like security scans and E2E tests.
Explain the Test Pyramid and how it guides your strategy.
Tests your grasp of balanced automated testing. Define the pyramid's layers (Unit, Service, UI), explain trade-offs like speed and cost, then apply it to a new service. A red flag is describing the layers without explaining the 'why' behind the shape.
How do you fix a team that consistently overcommits in sprints?
This tests diagnosing process failures, not just bad estimates. A good answer investigates root causes like external pressure or poor refinement, then proposes using historical velocity and tracking actual capacity.
How would you break down an epic into user stories?
Tests your ability to turn business goals into independent engineering tasks. A great answer maps user journeys, breaks work into vertical slices, defines acceptance criteria, and prioritizes by value.
How does a self-managing team handle technical disagreements?
This tests your ability to facilitate productive conflict, not just win arguments. A great answer outlines structured techniques like timeboxing dialogue and multi-voting with reasoning. A red flag is suggesting the senior dev acts as the sole tie-breaker.
How do you resolve cross-team friction from local optimizations?
Tests your ability to think beyond your team and address systemic, organizational impediments. A good answer involves gathering data, facilitating cross-team communication, and proposing systemic solutions.
What is the Definition of Ready for a backlog item?
Tests your grasp of upstream quality gates in Agile. Define DoR as a team's checklist for sprint-ready items, explain it protects dev focus and predictability, and give examples like clear acceptance criteria.
How would you implement an Andon Cord for a software team?
Tests your grasp of CI/CD, quality, and team culture. A great answer defines a trigger (broken main build), a technical block (stop merges), and a cultural response (team swarms). A red flag is scheduling the fix or blaming an individual.
How would you identify and elevate a team's primary constraint?
This tests your systems thinking beyond local optimization. A great answer follows the 5 Focusing Steps: Identify, Exploit, Subordinate, Elevate, Repeat. A red flag is jumping to 'hire more people' before exploiting the existing constraint and subordinating…
Study: Disclosing AI use makes you seem 10x lazier
A study of ~1,000 workers found disclosing AI use makes you seem 10x lazier. Even with identical output, peers were 24% less likely to recommend you for key projects. While 94% use AI, the stigma means silence is often the safest career strategy.
Atlassian Details its ML Studio Platform Design
Atlassian's ML Studio platform powers thousands of daily workflows for millions of Rovo users. It solves enterprise scaling issues with reusable modules, column-level data governance, and unified orchestration, offering a blueprint for building compliant…
How do you build a business case for technical debt work?
Tests your ability to translate technical issues into business impact. Frame debt as business risk, quantify its impact on velocity and cost, and propose a clear, capacity-based plan.
Distinguish Throughput from Velocity in agile planning
This tests your grasp of outcome (Throughput) vs. effort (Velocity) metrics. Define both: Throughput is item count/time, Velocity is points/sprint. Contrast them by explaining Throughput measures actual delivery, not estimates.
Coaching a team from dependency to self-management
This tests your ability to apply a maturity model (like Tuckman's) to Agile coaching. Outline your shift from directive teaching in Forming to challenging in Performing, retiring basic facilitation as the team matures. A red flag is a static coaching style.
How would you advocate for decentralizing deployment approvals?
This tests your ability to drive organizational change with data. A great answer frames the problem using a decision framework (e.g., SAFe), proposes a phased pilot, and defines metrics like Cycle Time and Change Failure Rate to prove value.
A manager wants to attend your team's Sprint Retrospective. What's the risk?
Tests your grasp of psychological safety in Agile and stakeholder management. A great answer identifies the risk of chilled feedback, diagnoses the manager's underlying need, and proposes an alternative forum.
How would you design an architecture for rapid product iteration?
Tests your grasp of evolutionary architecture for uncertain markets. A great answer outlines incremental change via modularity and CI/CD, fitness functions to guard qualities like security, and evolving across multiple dimensions (tech, data).
How do you quantify the cost of not addressing technical debt?
Tests your ability to translate technical issues into business impact. A good answer quantifies the slowdown, calculates the 'tax' on new features, and proposes a specific, time-boxed plan. A red flag is complaining about the PO without providing data.