Finding qualified Azure developers can be time-consuming, especially if you have a small human resources team. Conducting rigorous interviews can help you find the best Azure developer for your company and reveal applicants’ personalities, preferences, education, and soft and hard skills. You can then use this data to determine the best hire for your team.
This article discusses Azure developers and provides sample questions and answers for entry-, mid-, and senior-level Azure interview questions. It also explains how Revelo can help your company find talent, line up interviews, and coach you through the interview process to streamline hiring top Azure developers to join your team.
What Is an Azure Developer?
Azure developers use Microsoft Azure to create cloud applications and services. Also known as Azure, Microsoft Azure consists of over 200 products and cloud services for helping companies bring new solutions to life. It provides the following benefits:
- Ironclad security: Azure offers proactive compliance backed by a team of experts. Start-ups, enterprises, and governments alike trust the Azure portal.
- The ability to operate hybrid seamlessly: As a cloud services provider, Azure meets your needs whether you operate on-premise, at the edge, or across multiple clouds.
- The option to build on your terms: Because it's open-source, Azure supports all languages and frameworks. As a result, developers have complete freedom to design, create, and optimize cloud applications.
- Updates to remain feature-ready: Microsoft frequently releases new updates to Azure virtual products, equipping developers and companies with an Azure subscription for the future.
Azure developers participate in all development phases, from application design and development to deployment and testing. Azure architects partner with cloud database administrators (DBAs), cloud solution architects, stakeholders, and clients to implement solutions.
Employers expect Azure developers to have a strong understanding of services in Azure, experience in various programming platforms and languages, and expertise in cloud-based computing and cloud development. Azure developers generally have at least a bachelor's degree in computer science.
Entry-Level Azure Developer Interview Questions
Entry-level Azure developers have zero to three years of relevant working experience. They are usually boot camp or university fresh grads with limited working experience outside of co-ops or internships. As such, employers generally require them to have fewer skills and experiences. Entry-level Azure developers need a mid-level and senior-level Azure developer mentor to assist them in gaining career skills.
To hire suitable entry-level Azure developers, you must ask technical questions to gauge candidates' understanding of basic cloud concepts. You should also ask personal questions that reveal candidates' personalities, soft skills, and work ethic. Here are some sample entry-level Azure interview questions and answers.
What is cloud computing? What kind of computing did it replace?
Ask this question to evaluate prospective hires' understanding of cloud concepts. Candidates should be able to answer this fundamental question confidently, concisely, and accurately. If they don't, they may not be a suitable hire for your company.
A good response should mention that cloud computing is the on-demand delivery of IT resources via the internet with pay-as-you-go pricing. It gives companies computing power, databases, table storage, and other technology services as needed through a cloud provider such as the Microsoft Azure marketplace.
The response should also mention that companies used on-premise systems, the traditional computing method, before cloud computing. On-premise systems require companies to buy and install servers and technologies on their own hardware infrastructure, such as their workstation hard drives.
What are the differences between Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS)?
This is another fundamental question for testing candidates' understanding of simple cloud concepts. If an applicant can't answer this question accurately, concisely, or confidently, move on to the next candidate.
The best answers should touch on at least three of the following points:
- Microsoft created the Azure platform, while Amazon created AWS.
- Although Azure and AWS both support hybrid cloud, Azure has better hybrid support.
- Azure has a virtual network public cloud, but AWS has a virtual private cloud.
- Azure provides security by giving permissions to the whole account, while AWS offers security through defined roles with permission control features.
- Azure table storage is more robust with 140 availability zones, while AWS only has 61.
- Azure provides MS SQL and SQL Sync for database services, while AWS offers Oracle, MySQL, and DynamoDB.
- Azure has a free trial and a per-minute pricing model, while AWS has free, per-hour, free trial per minute, no charge for stopped, and pay for EBS volume tiers.
How did you learn to use Azure?
This question reveals candidates' passion as an Azure administrator and how they learned their Azure skills.
Good answers should mention the following:
- Why the candidate decided to learn Azure
- How the candidate learned Azure
- The candidate's favorite university or boot camp and Azure or cloud platform computing coursework
- How long the candidate has been learning the Azure application
- The candidate's technical Azure skills, including programming, Azure DevOps and the Azure Resource Manager
- Projects the candidate has worked on, including school and passion projects
Mid-Level Azure Developer Interview Questions
Mid-level Azure developers have four to six years of professional experience. Mid-level Azure interview questions should test applicants’ proactivity and ability to lead and mentor junior-level developers. They should also assess prospective hires’ intermediate technical skills, such as familiarity with application programming interfaces (APIs), Azure App Services to create web apps, and Azure functions such as blob storage.
Here are some sample mid-level Azure developer interview questions and answers for experienced candidates.
Why is Azure Diagnostics Application Programming Interface (API) necessary?
This technical question evaluates whether hires know how to use APIs to gather data from applications running on Azure.
A strong answer should mention that Azure Diagnostics API helps teams gather diagnostic data from applications running on Azure, such as performance monitoring and system event logs. Users must enable Azure Diagnostics for cloud service roles. Data analysts can later use the data to create visual representations for better monitoring.
What is Azure Blob Storage?
This question reveals whether applicants can use Azure Blob Storage to store unstructured data.
A good answer should mention that Azure Blob is an object storage solution for Azure Cloud services. Blob stands for Binary Large object, which includes multimedia files and images. Blobs are unstructured data because they don't follow any particular data model. Unlike Azure data center storage, typically associated with data analytics and lakes, Blob storage focuses on common Azure storage purposes. It includes objects personal users often store, such as documents, videos, and photos.
What is your approach to mentorship?
This personal question assesses hires' ability and approach to mentorship. Mentorship refers to the guidance provided by a more experienced person in a company. Mid- and senior-level hires often provide mentorship to entry-level developers.
A good answer should mention the following:
- Why the prospective hire is interested in mentoring entry-level talent
- The candidate's experience with mentorship
- What the candidate seeks to achieve through mentorship
- The candidate's approach to mentorship, including how they would talk to the mentee and what kind of exercises they would use to teach the mentee
Senior-Level Azure Developer Interview Questions
Senior-level Azure developers have over six years of professional experience. They lead Azure development teams, consult with clients and stakeholders, collaborate with other departments and the C-suite, and mentor mid- and entry-level developers.
Senior-level Azure developer questions should test applicants’ ability to lead junior and mid-level staff and communicate with stakeholders and the C-suite. They should also evaluate job seekers’ advanced technical skills, such as PowerShell scripts.
Here are some questions for assessing senior-level Azure developers' hard and soft skills.
What is cmdlet in Azure?
This question tests senior-level Azure developers' understanding of PowerShell scripts.
The ideal answer should mention that a cmdlet is a lightweight mini script for performing common tasks. It is part of the Microsoft PowerShell environment. Users can summon cmdlets by using Windows PowerShell to automate scripts in the command line. Windows PowerShell invokes cmdlets automatically via Windows PowerShell APIs.
What is the Azure Service Level Agreement (SLA)?
Ask this question to determine an applicant's understanding of Azure's availability. Availability in cloud computing refers to the ability of customers, employees, and other users to use data, products, and tools in your cloud.
A good answer should state that the Azure Service Legal Agreement (SLA) describes Microsoft's commitments to connectivity and uptime for Azure. Each Azure service has its own SLA with associated limitations, terms, and service credits. SLA uptimes typically range from 99.5% to 99.99%. Microsoft regularly updates SLAs, and each SLA has a version number. As of July 2023, only Azure DNS has a 100% SLA.
How would you communicate complex concepts to stakeholders and the C-suite?
Senior Azure developers often must advise C-suite and stakeholders about cloud projects and implementation. This question reveals senior Azure developers' strategies for accurately and confidently communicating complex cloud concepts to stakeholders and the C-suite.
The ideal hire should mention at least several of the following strategies:
- Avoid overly technical terms
- Use key performance indicators (KPIs) to gauge progress
- Use data to propose solutions to problems
- Set clear expectations about cloud costs and development
- Share insights on the most costly cloud features
- Explain the impact of new initiatives on cloud costs and development
Hire Azure Developers With Revelo
Sourcing, vetting, and hiring Azure developers can be challenging, especially if you have limited time and HR talent.
Fortunately, Revelo can accelerate hiring by matching you with highly qualified Azure developers. We thoroughly screen our developers for English proficiency, soft skills, and technical skills to ensure you’re matched with top-tier talent. Revelo can also support companies and provide seamless hiring by managing benefits administration, payroll, local compliance, and taxes, so you can focus on growing your business.
Contact us to start hiring today.
