Code review experience
Part of the Full Stack Developer Roadmap
In short
"Tell me about feedback you got on your code" checks two things: can you take criticism without getting defensive, and can you give it kindly and usefully?
Questions about how you give and receive code review feedback — a strong signal of technical communication skills and humility.
Think of it like this
A friend proofreading your SOP
A good friend doesn't just say "it's bad". She circles one line, says why it's weak and suggests a better version. And you don't sulk; you thank her and fix it. That's a healthy code review in both directions.
Watch it happen
A STAR answer about feedback you received
1/5"During my internship I opened a PR adding a new orders endpoint."
The big ideas
What you need to know
Receiving: listen first
Ask questions to understand the comment. Push back with reasons, not feelings, if you disagree.
Giving: specific and kind
"This query runs once per item; could we join instead?" beats "this is slow".
What you look for
Correctness, security, error handling, tests and readability, roughly in that order. Style is for linters.
Small PRs
Small pull requests get faster, better reviews. Mention that you split big changes on purpose.
Save yourself the pain
Common mistakes
Oops
Saying "I've never had any review comments".
Do this instead
That sounds unaware, not skilled. Pick a real comment that taught you something.
Oops
Describing reviews you gave as catching "bad code" from others.
Do this instead
Focus on the problem and how you helped fix it, not on the person who wrote it.
Your mission
Practise both sides
Quick check
Which review comment is most helpful?
Go deeper
- 1Prepare an example of catching a meaningful bug in someone else's PR, and how you raised it.
- 2Prepare an example of receiving tough review feedback and how you responded.
- 3Practice explaining your review philosophy: what you look for, how you phrase feedback.
More behavioral at this stop
Explain your projects
Debugging approach
Team collaboration
Trade-off discussions
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