Most failed interviews aren’t about not knowing React or Vue or whatever framework is trendy this month.
They fail because fundamentals are weak.
Think about that.
Companies would rather hire someone who deeply understands how JavaScript works than someone who memorized 50 React hooks but can’t explain a closure.
And there’s more.
The old-school “whiteboard coding” and pure theoretical questions? They’re disappearing.
Interviewers are moving toward practical scenarios.
Real problems. Conversations about how you actually work.
The Questions That Actually Come Up
Let me break down what real Filipino developers report getting asked.
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Programming Fundamentals (These Come Up Constantly)
“Can you explain the JavaScript event loop?”
“What is a closure and why would you use one?”
“Explain object-oriented programming and when it matters.”
These sound basic. That’s the point.
If you’re a developer, you should be able to explain these clearly. To anyone. Without jargon.
If you’re an employer, these questions tell you everything.
A developer who truly understands fundamentals can learn anything else. A developer who just memorized framework syntax will struggle when things break.
Problem-Solving and Scenario Questions
“Walk me through how you’d approach solving this business problem technically.”
“Tell me about a technical challenge you faced and how you overcame it.”
This is where interviews get interesting.
Notice these aren’t asking for code. They’re asking for thinking.
The best answers show your process. How you break down problems. How you consider different solutions. How you decide what to build.
One developer shared: “I got hired because I admitted I didn’t know the ‘perfect’ solution, but I walked them through three approaches and explained the tradeoffs of each.”
That’s what good interviewers want to see.
Your Actual Project Experience
“Tell us about the hardest project you’ve worked on.”
“What was your exact role and contribution in this project?”
“Why did you choose this technology stack?”
Here’s a common mistake: Giving generic answers.
“I worked on an e-commerce site” doesn’t tell anyone anything.
“I built the payment integration for an e-commerce site. We had to handle multiple payment providers and reconcile failed transactions. I chose to implement a queue system because…” — now that’s a real answer.
Be specific. Show what you actually did. Not what your team did. You.
Communication and Team Collaboration
“Describe a time you explained something technical to a non-technical person.”
“How do you handle disagreements about technical approaches?”
“Tell me about a time you had to learn something completely new to finish a project.”
Filipino developers often work with distributed teams. With clients across timezones. With people who don’t speak the same technical language.
Companies know this. They’re looking for people who can navigate these situations.
If you’re hiring, these questions reveal maturity. If you’re interviewing, have real stories ready. Not rehearsed corporate-speak.
Learning and Staying Current
“How do you keep your skills up to date?”
“What’s your take on [new technology trend]?”
“What’s the last thing you learned and why?”
The tech world moves fast. Everyone knows this.
What separates good developers from great ones? Curiosity. Initiative. A genuine interest in understanding how things work.
The worst answer to these questions? “I take online courses.”
Better answer? “I rebuilt my side project using X because I wanted to understand how it handles Y problems differently than Z.”
Cloud, DevOps, and Infrastructure (For Mid-to-Senior Roles)
“What’s your experience with AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud?”
“How would you deploy and scale a web application?”
“Explain your approach to CI/CD.”
These questions come up more for backend and senior positions.
If you’re hiring for these roles, these questions matter. If you don’t understand the candidate’s answers, that’s fine.
Ask them to explain it simpler. That tests communication skills too.
The Resume Deep Dive (Especially for Entry-Level)
“Tell me about this project on your resume.”
“What stack did you use for your thesis?”
“Walk me through the code for this feature you built.”
For fresh grads and junior developers, expect this.
Everything on your resume is fair game. If you listed a project, you better be ready to explain every part of it.
Don’t pad your resume with stuff you barely touched. Interviewers will know. Within two questions, they’ll know.
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What Filipino Developers Should Prepare
Stop grinding LeetCode (unless you’re applying to Google or Facebook, which most people aren’t). Instead, do this:
Know your fundamentals cold. Not just definitions. Deep understanding. Practice explaining concepts out loud. To your cat. To your roommate. Until it’s natural.
Have real stories ready. Three projects you’re proud of. Specific challenges. Specific solutions. What went wrong. What you learned.
Be honest about what you don’t know. Every senior developer I’ve talked to says they respect candidates who say “I don’t know that, but here’s how I’d figure it out.”
Prepare questions to ask. Passive candidates who just answer questions don’t stand out. Curious, engaged candidates do.
Practice talking about your code. Not just writing it. Explaining it. Defending your decisions. Considering alternatives.
And here’s something that keeps coming up in developer communities: Don’t give AI-generated answers. Interviewers can tell.
They’ll dig deeper until your surface-level knowledge breaks down.
What Employers Should Actually Ask
If you’re hiring Filipino developers, forget the puzzle questions.
Forget the trick questions.
Ask about real work. Real scenarios. Real decision-making.
Give them a small problem to solve and watch how they approach it. Do they ask clarifying questions? Do they consider edge cases? Do they communicate while they work?
This is exactly what trial tasks are for. Create a paid or unpaid task. Assign it to specific applicants. Review their actual work before making any hiring decisions.
It’s the closest thing to seeing how someone actually performs on the job.
Better yet, do pair programming. Fifteen minutes of working together tells you more than an hour of quizzing.
And talk to them like a human. About their career goals. What they want to learn. What kind of environment they work best in.
The best hiring happens when both sides are interviewing each other. Not when one side is interrogating the other.
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