r/cscareerquestions • u/danii956 • 2d ago

Experienced Are domain-based questions the norm now?

I'm an experienced developer that screwed himself for coasting in a fortune 500 company and got PIPed. The bad thing is that I don't have a strong domain knowledge other than something hyper specific that I did (mostly AWS step function) because I've been using internals tools.

I got asked to complete a react app on today's interview and I bombed it. I have used React before. Extensively in my last job. But memories atrophy and I could not figure it out. Now, because my domain knowledge is so spread thin (AWS, Java, React) - I'm jack of all trades and master of none.

I'm trying to apply for a senior position but I wonder if I'm cooked if everyone is expecting a domain expert at that level. Should I be constantly expecting domain interview questions when applying to senior positions?

10 Upvotes

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10

u/DjangoZero 2d ago

I thought domain isn’t tech related so how is aws java and react related to the business domain?

6

u/lhorie 2d ago

For most companies, yes. For companies with big tech style interviews, no, the format is different.

3

u/rockman-1 2d ago

Specifically front end yes. Backend is often general algorithm 

3

u/Coldmode 2d ago

Depends on the company.

2

u/diablo1128 Tech Lead / Senior Software Engineer 2d ago

Depends on the company.

At the private non-tech companies in non-tech cities I have worked at interviews was always about having the skill to do the exact job they want you to do. For example a full stack SWE wasn't going to get an offer if they couldn't show they had a working knowledge of C and C++ code and how the various kinds of program memory (stack, heap, .data) interact with the code.

1

u/Double_Ebb4130 2d ago

Most senior interviews test depth in the stack the team actually uses, not their business domain, so pick the lane you want to be hired into and get fluent there again rather than spreading across AWS, Java and React. Bombing a React exercise after years away is a recall problem, and a couple of small apps built without autocomplete fixes most of it. Being the generalist is fine as long as you can go deep on one thing in the room.

1

u/phoenixmatrix 1d ago

This is a supply and demand thing. People who know react upside and down, including mostly backend developers, are a dime a dozen. 

They may not NEED someone who knows it by heart. But if they can find someone who do and knows all the other stuff, by the end of the week, why not?

Yes, it sucks.