Questions › Engineering manager
Tech roles · 10 questions
Engineering manager
EM loops probe how you handle people problems you can't code your way out of: underperformance, conflict, delivery risk, and growing engineers without burning them out.
- 01Performance managementTell me about a time you managed an underperforming engineer. What did you do, and how did it end?
- 02Team conflictDescribe a time two strong engineers on your team were in sustained conflict. How did you handle it?
- 03Delivery & escalationTell me about a project that was clearly going to miss its date. What did you do when you realized?
- 04Coaching & growthDescribe how you grew an engineer to the next level. What did you actually do?
- 05Managing upwardTell me about a time you disagreed with your own manager or leadership about direction. What did you do?
- 06Hard conversationsDescribe a time you had to deliver bad news to your team: a cancellation, a re-org, or a layoff.
- 07Delegation & autonomyTell me about a technical decision you delegated but disagreed with. What happened?
- 08Prioritization with productDescribe how you balanced tech-debt work against feature pressure from product. Give a specific quarter.
- 09Hiring judgmentTell me about a hiring mistake you made. How did you catch it and what did you change?
- 10Shielding & sustainabilityDescribe a time you protected your team's focus or health against organizational pressure.