Job interview

What question give you a better understanding of one's skill?

1. Tell me about a project that you work on that was a success, and tell me about your contributions.
2. Tell me about a project that you work on that did not go according to plan, and tell me what went wrong and what you learn from this experience.

I personally found the second question more insightful. It is a well known fact that software development is a risky business. Unless the project you are working on is well defined and all unknowns are well documented, the chances of things going wrong are high.

So what do you get from someone that articulates his shortcomings on a project? 

• Well for starters, he/she is comfortable with the unknowns and the risks that comes when embarking on a project. 
• He/She is able to use his/her previous experience to identify potential problems. 
• And most important, he/she acknowledge that this profession is difficult and complicated, and that every project have something new to teach us.