50+ Essential Web Developer Interview Questions

To find the right web developer for your team, you need a solid hiring process.

In this post, we’ll share:

practical tips to recruit IT candidates
web developer interview stages
50+ web developer interview questions

Before you get started, take a moment to confirm that you need to hire a web developer, and not another IT role. Here’s a quick comparison between web developers and related positions.

Web designers create the layout and other visual elements of a website. Responsibilities include researching user behavior, creating a website structure, designing wireframes and mockups, and more.
Web developers build and maintain websites. Responsibilities include writing and reviewing code, testing web applications, troubleshooting problems, and more.
Software developers create software. Responsibilities analyzing user needs, designing each unique piece of a system or application and planning how the work together, building models or diagrams, and more.

Web designers and web developers work closely together, with web developers bringing web designers’ vision to life.

Software developers and web developers both write code, but they create different products.

How to Recruit Web Developers

Before you can start interviewing potential employees, you first need candidates to apply for your web developer role. To attract top IT talent, you need to be realistic about both the job and the job market. These tips will help you hire the ideal web developer for your team.

Be clear and concise in your web developer job description

When putting together the job description, be sure you are communicating your expectations. First of all, what kind of web developer do you need? Generally speaking, web developers can specialize in one of three roles:

front-end developers
back-end developers
full-stack developers

After you determine what kind of web developer you need, then you can elaborate on the other details. What are the minimum qualifications and the “nice to have” qualifications? What are the typical duties and responsibilities?

A strong and accurate job description will attract the right job applicants.

Understand the market and set an appropriate budget

The market for good web developer positions is high — and will only continue to grow. So, it’s important to understand the current market and set a realistic budget. For example, a full-stack developer has more experience than a front-end developer or a back-end developer, so they command a higher salary.

Web developer salaries range from $49,000 to $129,000 or more.

Establish what level of experience you need in a web developer, look at the local market, and budget accordingly.

Broaden your search

In addition to posting job openings on LinkedIn and job boards, share your web developer job listings on social media. Post on Facebook, Twitter, reddit, and even Mastodon. Word of mouth is a great way to attract IT talent.

Web developer hiring process

Web developers have applied for your open position, and you have reviewed their resumes. Now that you have a short list of candidates to interview, what next? Here are the potential stages of hiring a web developer, depending on your company’s needs.

Keep in mind that with the current demand for web developers, they are most likely interviewing for multiple roles. A speedy web developer interview process is one way to stand out from other companies. Consider combining some of the stages below if you can, like the aptitude test and the coding test.

Initial interview

The initial interview is often a phone call or video call with the hiring manager. This meeting is an opportunity for the hiring manager to learn more about the candidate’s skills, experience, and career interests.

If both parties feel that there is a potential fit, the hiring manager will then invite the candidate to the next stage of interviews.

Aptitude test

Some companies may require an expertise or skills test to be administered as a part of the hiring process. Aptitude tests measure cognitive skills, problem-solving abilities, and critical thinking skills.

Using aptitude tests during the hiring process is a great way to screen candidates based on their abilities. This can help overcome an unconscious bias for candidates who attended a certain school or worked at a prestigious company. Aptitude tests are also useful when recruiting entry-level web developers to assess their potential for success.

Technical coding test

Similarly, companies may require a technical coding test as part of the hiring process. Coding tests are pretty self-explanatory — they measure a candidate’s ability to code.

A technical coding test can combine both written questions and live coding exercises to assess the candidate’s knowledge in areas such as front-end development, back-end development, or database design. This test aims to see if the candidate has the necessary expertise required for the role.

Interview with the team

A team interview is a great way to include multiple stakeholders in the web developer hiring process. This is especially important if the hiring manager doesn’t have a technical background. When deciding to include in the team interview, think about who will work most closely with the web developer. Not only will they ask web developer questions specific to the role and upcoming projects, but they can also assess the candidate for culture fit.

Final interview

When hiring for a senior web developer or a technical director, it’s a good idea to have a final interview with senior leaders and executives. At this point, web developer interview questions will focus more on strategy and leadership, and less on specific technical skills.

Strategic Web Developer Interview Questions

Hard skills and soft skills are necessary to succeed in any role. For that reason, web developer interview questions can’t be limited to just technical experience. For an effective interview process, choose a few questions from each of these categories. Coordinate with any other interviewers to minimize too much overlap of questions.

technical interview questions
interview questions about company culture
personality interview questions
behavioral interview questions

Technical interview questions

These web developer interview questions are best asked by a technical director or another leader from the web development team. Not all of these questions will apply to every role, which is why it’s important for someone with web development experience to decide which questions to ask.

1. What programming languages are you experienced with?

2. How do you optimize images for the web?

3. How do you handle cross-browser compatibility issues?

4. What experience do you have with React or Angular?

5. What is your experience with AJAX?

6. What is your favorite programming language?

7. Can you tell me about a time when you had to use JavaScript?

8. How do you handle a broken link on your website?

9. What is the difference between a front-end developer and a back-end developer?

10. What is your experience with database design?

11. What is inheritance in OOP?

12. How do you reduce web page load time?

13. How do you make web pages responsive?

14. How do you create a responsive web app?

15. Explain responsive web design.

16. What is cross-origin resource sharing in web API?

17. What are Google pagespeed insights? How do you interpret their data?

18. Why do we need constructors in JavaScript?

19. How will you reverse a linked list?

20. What trends do you predict in the future web development?

21. What is the most important skill for an entry-level web developer?

22. What are your skills in web development?

23. How would you go about solving a problem with CSS or HTML?

24. Do you know how to optimize a website for SEO?

25. What are some common front-end development issues that you have seen?

26. What is a common problem you have come across while debugging code?

27. What’s your experience building dynamic and responsive user interfaces?

28. What is the difference between a while loop and a for loop?

29. Why is it important to use comments in your code?

30. What’s your experience with CI/CD?

31. How familiar are you with WordPress?

32. What is the difference between HTML and CSS?

33. How do you handle errors in code?

Company culture interview questions

Even in a small business, web developers don’t work alone. It’s important to find out their expectations of company culture as well as their experiences working with (or managing) other people. These web developer interview questions will help you assess a candidate’s suitability for your company.

34. How would you describe your work style?

35. What is your ideal company culture?

36. Are you comfortable with traveling for work?

37. What is important to you when deciding whether or not to accept a job offer?

38. What are your expectations for this role?

39. How would you describe your ideal company culture?

40. Can you tell me a bit about your experience working in a team environment?

41. What are you looking for in your next job?

Personality interview questions

By asking personality questions, you learn more about the candidate as a human being and not just a potential employee. These questions can also assess the developer’s soft skills and work habits.

42. How do you feel about working remotely or setting your own hours? Do you have any issues working occasional nights if needed?

43. What is your favorite thing about working in the tech industry?

44. Why did you choose to become a developer?

45. What do you like about your current job?

46. What do you dislike about your current job?

47. Will you prefer a freelance web developer role over a regular one?

48. What are some things that excite you outside of work?

Behavioral interview questions

Behavioral interview questions ask a candidate to explain how they handled a past situation. These questions also give web developers the opportunity to explain their experience in detail.

49. Have you ever had a conflict with a coworker, and how did you handle it?

50. Have you ever encountered a difficult problem at work, and how did you solve it?

51. Tell me about a time when you had to lead or manage a project.

52. Can you tell me about a time when you had to work on a project under pressure?

53. Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a difficult customer or client.

54. How do you handle criticism?

55. Tell me about a time when you had to work with someone who was not as competent in their job. How did you deal with this situation?

These web developer interview questions will help you find the best talent for your team. If you’re looking to hire for multiple IT roles, contact Insight Global today. We’re experts in IT staffing, whether you’re looking for a web developer, a help desk professional, or any other IT role.