Simon is a hands-on software architect and has a BSc (Hons) in Computer Science from the University of Reading. Over the past 12 years, he’s been involved in projects ranging from rich desktop clients and web applications through to highly scalable distributed systems and service-oriented architectures; predominantly within the finance industry. He's also undertaken consulting and training roles with a broader focus on people, process and technology.
Interviewing architects
Open questions let you explore and get a feel for experience
In Architect Level Interview Questions, Joe Walker shares some of the interview questions that he uses to quiz architects. For me, the comment that sums up the essence of Joe's questions is as follows.
These are not trick questions - there is generally no one correct answer; just opinions.
Whenever I interview architects, I always go for the open questions too. Some of my current favourites include "how would you define architecture?", "what are the responsibilities of an architect?", "how do you start chasing down a performance problem in a J2EE system?" and "how do you take requirements through to design?". Open questions allow you to really get involved in a two-way dialogue, which subsequently lets you explore and get a feel for experience. Of course, like Joe, I still like to throw in a few very specific technology questions (if applicable) to ensure that they *do* have experience with technology X.
I really enjoy interviewing because it's a great way to learn about other architectures and helps broaden *my* experience. If you interview architects, what are your favourite questions?
