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Describe Your Developer Experience: Present Perfect or Past Simple?

A2-B1 Level

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Review the grammar first

Question 1 of 200 correct so far

Question 1

Complete the interview answer.

I (have) responsibility for technical support for the past three years, and I still lead that part of the work.

Grammar review

An interviewer may ask what you have done so far, then ask for a specific example. Use the present perfect when the period reaches now: I've worked in support for three years. Use the past simple when the job or event is finished: I wrote the guide during my 2021 internship.

Find the time period before choosing the verb. “Since” and “so far” connect earlier work to now; “in 2022” and a previous job place it in a finished period. Read both sentences when an example gives more than one clue. In your own answer, you can use one tense to summarise your experience and the other to explain a finished project.

Summary or finished example?

Experience up to now: present perfect | Finished period: past simple

1.I have worked in technical support for three years.
2.I joined the testing team in 2023.
3.I have helped with three launches so far.

Want more practice with these two tenses?

Try the general present perfect versus past simple exercises next.

They use a wider range of contexts beyond job interviews.

Practise the tense contrast

💡 Tips for Success

•Use the present perfect to summarise experience in a period that continues up to now, or across your career so far.
•Use the past simple for an event, project or role in a finished period.
•Interviewers often ask for a general summary and then a specific example; choose the tense that fits each time frame.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use both tenses in the same interview answer?

Yes. The present perfect can summarise your experience up to now. The past simple can then give a finished example: “I have helped with several releases. I wrote the guide for the May release.”

Which tense describes my current role?

Use the present simple for what you normally do. Use the present perfect for how long you have held the role or what you have done so far. Use the past simple to say when you joined.