Top 27 Front-End Developer Interview Questions (+ Answers)
When you’re hiring a Front-End Developer to join your team, how do you know you have the right person with the right skills for the job?
You need to start by asking the right Front-End Developer interview questions. ✅
In your next interview, come prepared with these unique interview questions to help identify your candidates’ potential strengths and struggles. A strong line of questioning will help you in your hiring process to enable you to find the best person for your engineering team.
Read on for the top interview questions, plus the types of answers you should be listening out for in an ideal Front-End hire.
<div class="inpage-callout-container"><p class="inpage-banner-text">💡 Remember: A job interview is a two-way street—your candidate is also interviewing you about what it is like to work at your company. They need to feel confident in their decision to join your team. Be ready to answer candidate questions and share information that’d get them excited about accepting an offer.</p></div>
📣 Free Front-End Developer job description template to spark your candidates’ interest
General interview questions
Ask these general interview questions for Front-End Developers to get a better sense of their background, what they’re looking for in their next role and why they’re interested in joining your engineering team.
<h3 class="h3-small">1. What are you hoping to gain from your next role that you lacked in your previous role?</h3>
This question can help you gauge whether the candidate’s career aspirations align with your needs as a company. It will also help you gain a deeper understanding of their motivators which is an integral part of keeping team members happy and productive so they stick around for longer.
Listen for: What makes this person tick and what it will take to keep them around for the long haul. That could be money, growth opportunities or a passion for the work. It’s important to listen without judgment and try to meet them where they are at.
<h3 class="h3-small">2. Which of our company values do you most identify with and why?</h3>
A candidate who wants to work for your company will have done their research. This question allows you to find out how much and potentially spot someone genuinely interested in your work and what they admire most about your company.
Listen for: Someone who is particularly interested in your business’s future. People who are already thinking of ways to benefit your company are valuable assets.
📣 How to conduct a job interview candidates will write home about
<h3 class="h3-small">3. What’s the top strength you have that would make you a good fit for this role?</h3>
Ask this Front-End Developer interview question to get an idea if your potential hire has a strong understanding of what the role will require of them and if they believe they can do the job.
Listen for: Examples of strong communication skills, a collaborative spirit and leadership qualities. Their answer should also demonstrate their organizational skills and attention to detail.
📣 50 job application questions to get the right person for the job
<h3 class="h3-small">4. What do you see as being one of your most significant challenges in this role?</h3>
This interview question will give you insight into both what the candidate thinks they struggle most with at work and how they have overcome those challenges in the past.
Listen for: Someone who is transparent in their answer. Pay attention to how they overcome their challenges and limitations in the workplace, and how they put focus on this in their answer. Also, listen out for their adversity- and problem-solving skills.
<h3 class="h3-small">5. How do you maintain balance in your work and personal life?</h3>
You must know how your candidate maintains their focus and balance in their personal life and work. If they don’t have a proper answer to this question, they may be more prone to burnout.
Listen for: Things like resting, logging off at the end of the day and turning off notifications. Being able to take time off to recharge is the sign of a Front-End Developer candidate who values rest and recovery so they can bring their best selves to work.
<h3 class="h3-small">6. What kind of work environment do you do your best work in?</h3>
Ask this question to get a better idea of what type of environment your candidate might succeed in and consider if this is something your company can offer.
Listen for: There’s no right or wrong answer to this question — work environments are all about personal preference. The purpose of this question is to make sure you’re aligned with your candidate.
<h3 class="h3-small">7. What are you passionate about outside of work?</h3>
Remember there are no wrong answers here! This interview question aims to get to know your candidate better on a more personal level. It may be best for a second or third interview.
Listen for: Anything! You’ll want to hear a true sense of passion about anything they enjoy in their personal life.
Hard skills questions
You could always ask specific questions based on the various tools and coding a Front-End Developer might know. But apart from the more obvious, high-level technical questions, we recommend throwing in some of these questions in your next Front-End Developer interview.
<h3 class="h3-small">8. In your opinion, what are some of the most important skills you can have as a Front-End Developer?</h3>
There are many different hard skills that a Front-End Developer needs to be successful in their role. This interview question will help you gain an understanding of your candidate's knowledge of the job and what it entails.
Listen for: Strong attention to detail, a sense of visual design, and proficiency in coding languages like HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Additionally, you want to identify their skills in testing and debugging.
<h3 class="h3-small">9. How do you stay up to date on industry trends?</h3>
With this Front-End Developer interview question, you’ll get a feel for your candidate’s involvement in technology and continuous learning.
Listen for: Any mentions of their favorite forums or webinars for gaining industry insider knowledge. Additionally, they may enjoy taking on unique or personal projects to develop their skills.
📣 Hiring remotely? Check out these interview questions for hiring remote employees
<h3 class="h3-small">10. Tell us about a project that you worked on developing. What tools did you choose to use and why?</h3>
The answer to this question should give you some insight into the methodology of your candidate as a Front-End Developer. They should demonstrate a strong knowledge of the tools of the trade.
Listen for: The specific tools that they used for the project. They should also display an in-depth knowledge of the tools and explain why they were the best for the job.
<h3 class="h3-small">11. What is the most challenging programming problem you’ve dealt with recently?</h3>
For a Front-End Developer, there will always be challenges requiring creative problem-solving measures. You need to be sure that your candidate has the analytical skills to handle those challenges professionally.
Listen for: A demonstrated aptitude for collaboration and problem-solving in their answer. Make sure they provide specifics when speaking about how they overcame the challenge. If they don’t, ask a follow-up question.
<h3 class="h3-small">12. How do you ensure your code is clean and your documentation is thorough?</h3>
This hard skills interview question helps you understand your candidate’s approach to coding and how they stay organized. In software development, it’s key to be able to understand what another Developer who worked with the code did.
Listen for: If they see the value in being able to communicate clearly with the next person who’s working on the code.
📣 A Guide to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in the workplace
<h3 class="h3-small">13. Do you have any coding projects on the go?</h3>
Someone passionate about technology and growing their skill set will almost always have a project they are willing to share. Find out about what they’ve learned from the project thus far and also get an idea of how much they love to code!
Listen for: Proficiency in coding and any takeaways that they have from their project at this point. If the project is unfinished, ask them about the end goal and how they plan to get there.
Soft skills questions
While you might be looking for a Developer with all the skills and abilities necessary to get the job done, you also need candidates with the attributes required to work productively and harmoniously with other folks on your team. 🕊️
<h3 class="h3-small">14. How do you collaborate with people who have varied personality types?</h3>
This question will help you establish if your candidate is going to be able to work well with your team. Working in a collaborative environment requires shared mutual respect amongst everyone.
Listen for: Talk of communication, mutual respect, teamwork and participation. Your candidate should display a sense of empathy, patience and openness.
<h3 class="h3-small">15. How do you feel about getting constructive feedback and how do you handle it?</h3>
Feedback is a vital part of anyone’s professional growth and development. As an employer, you need to know that your candidate will be able to embrace any constructive feedback in a productive way.
Listen for: Someone who can speak of feedback as an opportunity for growth and development. They can both receive and deliver feedback professionally and positively.
<h3 class="h3-small">16. How do you relay important information to your team?</h3>
How does your candidate pass along key information during busy times? You’ll want to know they understand the importance of this and that they have the skills necessary to communicate effectively and efficiently.
Listen for: A clear and concise communication style with their answer. Additionally, their response should indicate a willingness to provide follow-up clarification.
<h3 class="h3-small">17. How do you handle conflict within your team?</h3>
It’s only natural that conflict amongst team members will happen. When it does, it must get resolved quickly. The end goal should also be to avoid demoralizing the rest of the team when conflict does arise.
Listen for: Your candidate’s ability to de-escalate a situation. Pay close attention to their conflict resolution skills.
<h3 class="h3-small">18. How do you stay organized when managing multiple projects?</h3>
With their answer, your candidate should display prioritization and multi-tasking skills. Additionally, they should be able to identify tools or techniques they go to often to stay organized in their Front-End work.
Listen for: How they prioritize their workload, manage time and if they delegate work to other team members or if they work independently.
<h3 class="h3-small">19. How do you minimize distractions during the workday?</h3>
Remote or in-office, distractions at work are nothing new. In a sense, they’re unavoidable. How your candidate acknowledges this struggle and the tactics they use to avoid distractions matters.
Listen for: Various tactics they rely on to avoid getting distracted: taking regular breaks, setting boundaries, rewarding themselves or breaking down large tasks into small, bite-sized tasks.
Behavioral interview questions
Behavioral interview questions are all about asking candidates for examples of how they’ve handled certain situations. Listen carefully to their answers and be sure to ask follow-up questions if you need more information. These questions help you uncover how your candidate might behave in specific, future scenarios.
<h3 class="h3-small">20. Can you tell me about a time when you went above and beyond to solve a problem at work?</h3>
While it’s essential for people to maintain healthy boundaries to protect their work-life balance, occasionally, the job might require experience navigating tasks and situations that aren’t necessarily part of the job description. This question will help you assess those abilities.
Listen for: A real-world scenario. You want to hear that they displayed sound judgment, applied logic to the situation and collaborated with their team to resolve the problem.
📣 Ready to kickstart your hiring? Check out the best recruiting software for small businesses
<h3 class="h3-small">21. What do you do when a team member is having a bad day?</h3>
You want to understand how your candidate will be affected by the moods of others. You also want to see what this person would do to help improve the situation, like checking in with the team member and keeping the rest of their team on track to reach their goals.
Listen for: Behaviors that will help contain and defuse negativity within the group. Someone who can approach a situation like this with empathy, reasoning, calm and understanding will be an ideal addition to your team.
<h3 class="h3-small">22. Tell me about a work accomplishment you’re most proud of.</h3>
This is your candidate's chance to brag and demonstrate their abilities. It will give you a glimpse into their personality, passion and dedication to their work.
Listen for: Excitement or pride as they talk about their accomplishments. Listen out for what motivates them and consider if you as an employer can meet that motivational need.
<h3 class="h3-small">23. Has there ever been a time when your outside-the-box thinking helped solve a problem?</h3>
Sometimes a problem requires a different way of thinking. You want your candidate to have the ability to see issues from different angles and develop creative solutions to overcome challenges.
Listen for: Behaviors that display creativity, adaptability and solution-based action.
<h3 class="h3-small">24. If your colleagues could describe you in three words, what would they be?</h3>
The words they pick can say much more about a person than you might think. It gives you additional insight into what their soft skills are, how they collaborate on a team and how they approach work.
Listen for: Words that would describe the ideal candidate for the open role, like “adaptable,” “patient”, “flexible” and “collaborative.”
<h3 class="h3-small">25. What do you do when you feel overwhelmed by the tasks on your to-do list?</h3>
For Front-End Developers (and any team member!), it’s normal to feel stressed and overwhelmed once in a while by to-do list priorities. What’s important to look for in a candidate is someone who acknowledges that this can happen and has ways they combat it so that they feel balanced and healthy.
Listen for: Task prioritization. They may have some unique tactics they use to prioritize competing tasks. They should mention delegating and asking for help when they need it. The right candidate should be able to admit when they need help!
<h3 class="h3-small">26. Can you tell me about a time you made a mistake at work?</h3>
As we learned on Sesame Street, everyone makes mistakes! This isn’t a “gotcha” question. The goal of this Front-End Developer interview question isn’t to highlight a candidate’s flaws or errors, but to hear how they acknowledge previous mistakes, what they learned from them and how they resolved them.
Listen for: A sense of self-awareness that no one is perfect. They should also share the lessons they took away from this experience and how they came up with a solution (if a solution was possible!).
<h3 class="h3-small">27. What’s the most valuable feedback you’ve received?
Ask this interview question to hear what kind of constructive feedback has helped your candidate the most in their career or even in their personal life.
Listen for: A real-life scenario and how they took on this feedback to improve themselves. Their answer doesn’t have to be limited to a workplace example — feedback from their personal life may also be incredibly relevant and enlightening for you as an interviewer!
Hire your next Front-End Developer with Homerun
There are a lot of Front-End Developers out there, and evaluating whether a certain candidate is right for your team is less than simple.
On top of finding a good fit, you also have the entire hiring process to worry about. You need to organize your hiring pipeline, get the rest of your team involved and provide potential hires with a positive candidate experience. All while making sure you recruit and hire the right person with the right skills.
That’s where hiring software comes in.
Homerun helps you organize and streamline your entire hiring workflow, and make a good impression with Developer candidates while you’re at it. Once you get past the job application stage, you can involve the rest of your team: share feedback on the candidates, get a visual of the hiring workflow, email candidates, invite them to final interviews, share Front-End coding exercises and keep everything organized in one place.
Improve your hiring and interview workflow so you can focus on hiring your next Front-End Developer.
.png)
