Empathy
1.What role does empathy play in your life and how has it helped you? Empathy has played a big part in my life. It has helped me relate to people, understand what someone is growing through, improve my communication, be a better team player.
2.How does empathy help you build better software? If you understand what your user needs, why they need it, why it's important to them, who they really are, you'll build software that means something to them, that makes their experiences better and have a product they'll stick with.
3.Why is empathy important for working on a team? Empathy is important for working on a team because it makes you a better listener, creates synergy and helps you avoid errors because you're paying attention to what your team members care about, what they do and what makes them tick.
4.Describe a situation in which your ability to empathize with a colleague or teammate was helpful. I was taking my teamates moodiness and curt, snappy behavior personally and that affected how I was acting and became a big stumbling block in our work. We were avoiding each other and our process was slowed down tremendously. It was only when I sat him down and really talked and listened that I realized what was going on in his personal life and that helped me sympathize and not take things the wrong way. We ended up becoming good friends and great teamates after that.
5.When do you find it most difficult to be empathetic in professional settings? How can you improve your skills when faced with these scenarios? I find it most difficult to be empathetic when I'm really nervous because I'm in fight or flight mode. I can improve my skills by taking a deep breath, breathing and forcing myself to be mindful and in the moment.