--- title: "2 Helpful Interview Questions to Ask Your Backend Engineering Candidates | CoderPad" description: "Give your backend candidates realistic coding exercises with these two technical interview questions." canonical: "https://coderpad.io/blog/interviewing/2-helpful-interview-questions-to-ask-your-backend-engineering-candidates/" last_modified: "2026-04-17 06:02:38" --- [Back to blog](https://coderpad.io/blog/) # 2 Helpful Interview Questions to Ask Your Backend Engineering Candidates July 31, 2023 3 Minute Read By Ken Swearengen [Interviewing](https://coderpad.io/blog/interviewing/) As businesses aim to attract elite tech professionals, the journey to discover skilled back-end developers is both exciting and challenging. All too frequently, identifying or evaluating the ideal candidate proves tough. According to the latest findings from our [2023 State of Tech Hiring survey](https://coderpad.io/survey-reports/coderpad-and-codingame-state-of-tech-hiring-2023/), back-end developers not only rank as THE most sought-after job role for recruiters but they are also anticipated to be the 2nd most challenging positions to fill. What job roles are recruiters looking to fill right now? Consequently, filling these roles will consume a significant amount of time and financial resources. To avoid wasting valuable time and money, it is crucial to ensure that you make the right hiring decisions when selecting a back-end developer for your company. Repeating the hiring process multiple times is far from a wise use of your limited time and resources. Therefore, to identify and hire the most suitable back-end developer, it is essential to evaluate their back-end skills thoroughly – for instance, skills like processing form input and communicating with data-enriching microservices through API calls. In addition, an understanding of web application architecture and expertise in HTTP/Rest protocols are equally important, taking into account your company’s applications, databases, and web storage requirements. One of the most effective methods to evaluate these essential skills in potential candidates is to conduct collaborative coding exercises in a realistic environment. Thus, developing well-crafted technical interview questions becomes a vital aspect of the interview process that deserves special attention. In this article, we will explore two interview questions specifically designed for assessing back-end developers. > ![✅](https://coderpad.io/assets/emoji/2705.svg) Although the questions samples below are presented with specific programming languages – Node.js in this case – we also offer them in [Django, Rails, and Spring](https://coderpad.io/languages/). Alternatively, you can adapt them to align with your own technical stack and needs. ## Question 1: Shopping List This question tests a candidate’s ability to create model(s) for the data structure, insert hard-coded data into a database, modify tables and fields in a database, and write endpoints to interact with data. Part 1 Create a model for the shopping lists and items located in app/data/data.ts. Part 2 Store the shopping lists and items located in app/data/data.ts in the database. Part 3 Modify the database such that a price field can be stored for each item. Part 4 Multiply the quantity of each item in the shopping lists by two. Part 5 Create API endpoints to dynamically get a list of shopping lists and items. ### Assessing the candidate The candidate should create models for a shopping list and items. They should then write code to create the tables necessary and insert the data into the tables. Additionally, the candidate can be asked to edit the data in the tables and add additional fields. Finally, endpoints to interact with the data can be created. ## Question 2: Galaxy Data Ingestion and Planetary API Server This question tests the candidate’s ability to fetch data from a GraphQL source, create model(s) for the data structure, and write CRUD endpoints to interact with data. Here are the instructions for the candidate: The goal of this exercise is to retrieve data from an external source, store it in an appropriate database structure, and create a CRUD RESTful API to interface with the database. Goals 1. Read the data from this GraphQL endpoint —`https://swapi-graphql.netlify.app/.netlify/functions/index`— with the following query: `query Query {allPlanets{planets{name population terrains climates}}}` (You can view the shape of the data [here.)](https://studio.apollographql.com/public/star-wars-swapi/explorer?explorerURLState=N4IgJg9gxgrgtgUwHYBcQC4QEcYIE4CeABAIq6FHAA6SRRAhgDaMAKj9SCKAzpTXXQAO7Tjz60BdJPUT9JRQREEx2KAJYQkcySnx56apN20CojNXHq7jEugF85DpHZB2gA&variant=current) 2. Store the data from the GraphQL endpoint in the database and create appropriate models 3. Write RESTful Create, Read, Update, and Delete endpoints to interact with the database ### Assessing the candidate The candidate should create a model to represent a`Planet`entity, a way to load the data from the GraphQL endpoint to the database, and REST endpoints to do CRUD operations (get, put, post, delete). ## More interview resources Evaluating developers goes beyond assessing their technical prowess. To better gauge their suitability for your team, consider exploring our additional interview guides listed in the Related Posts below. ## Subscribe for more CoderPad insights ## Trending Articles Previous slide Next slide [Hiring Developers ## 4 ChatGPT Prompt Templates to Enhance Your Coding Interview Process Learn how to easily streamline your coding interviews with ChatGPT. Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/hiring-developers/4-ways-to-use-chatgpt-to-enhance-your-coding-interview-process/) [Engineering Management ## A Holistic Guide to Diversity and Inclusion in the Technical Hiring Process Today, diversity and inclusion present a major opportunity for the tech industry. Research shows that a diverse workforce leads to higher performance and more resilient companies. This guide outlines a set of best practices to make the best possible hires and promote a diverse, representative workforce. Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/interviewing/a-holistic-guide-to-diversity-and-inclusion-in-the-technical-hiring-process/) [Hiring Developers ## How to Test Developers’ Coding Skills Before Hiring Are you looking for ways how to test developers while hiring? Here we listed 5 ways to check developers’ coding skills. Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/hiring-developers/test-developers-skills-before-hiring/) [Interviewing ## 5 Skills of the Future Developer: A Framework for Evaluating AI Fluency According to CoderPad’s State of Tech Hiring 2026 report, 82% of developers now find GenAI useful — up from 76% just a year ago. More telling: 54% of developers would experience a measurable productivity drop if AI tools were removed tomorrow. AI isn’t a productivity booster anymore. It’s infrastructure. With this shift, it’s no surprise […] Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/interviewing/5-skills-of-the-future-developer-a-framework-for-evaluating-ai-fluency/) [Hiring Developers ## Q&A: Musings of a CEO on Tech Interviews, Cheating and AI In this Q&A session on cheating and AI in tech interviews, Amanda Richardson emphasizes the importance of trust and effective interview design. Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/interviewing/qa-musings-of-a-ceo-on-tech-interviews-cheating-and-ai/) [Engineering Management ## How To Use CoderPad To Interview Software Architects Software architects are the masterminds behind the design and structure of software systems, ensuring that projects are scalable, maintainable, and aligned with business goals. Unlike more hands-on engineering and development roles, assessing architect skills in an interview relies much less on watching them code and more on their ability to drive software design principles and […] Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/interviewing/how-to-use-coderpad-to-interview-software-architects/) [Hiring Developers ## “Don’t Expect Candidates to Have Everything Memorized”, the Dos and Don’ts of Cheating Prevention With Nathan Sutter Sure, you want to prevent cheating. But you also want to feel good about your hiring process. So how do you do that? Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/hiring-developers/dos-and-donts-cheating-prevention-nathan-sutter/) [Interviewing ## Crafting Effective Technical Interview Questions: A 4-Step Guide Writing great technical interview questions can be hard. We're here to help. Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/interviewing/crafting-effective-technical-interview-questions-a-4-step-guide/) [Interviewing ## Viral TikTok Layoff Videos: What You Need to Know So, you’ve heard about these viral TikTok layoff videos, but you’re unsure how concerned you should be? Read about what you can learn from this content, and how it should impact your company’s HR practices. Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/interviewing/viral-tiktok-layoff-videos-what-you-need-to-know/) [Interviewing ## 8 Steps Recruiters Can Take to Instill Inclusivity in Tech Interviews As TA professionals, you have the power to create an inclusive interview environment for your interviewers and interviewees. Want to know how? This guide will help you. Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/interviewing/inclustive-technical-interview-guide/) [Engineering Management ## These 9 Red Flags Are Scaring Away Candidates During Interviews Don't let your name be dragged into a bad Glassdoor review. Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/engineering-management/these-9-red-flags-are-scaring-away-candidates-during-interviews/) [Interviewing ## Best Platforms for Remote Interviews Discover how the modern employment landscape is embracing remote work and virtual interviews. Dive into the capabilities of platforms like Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meets for general use, and explore specialized options like HireVue, Codility, and CoderPad for technical hiring. Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/interviewing/best-platforms-for-remote-interviews/) ## Hire with confidence. See why engineering teams trust CoderPad to evaluate developers with realistic, AI-ready hiring workflows. [Request a demo](https://coderpad.io/sales/)