

Ask HN: What do you look for in a company (as a programmer)? - sownkunz

I&#x27;m starting to look for new job opportunities after having a bad experience at my current employer.<p>One thing dawned on me: that I think it&#x27;s better if I have a highly technical manager (as opposed to a non-technical manager).  As a programmer, I just have a hard time respecting non-technical managers at work.<p>Any other insights others have gained over the years?
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davismwfl
If I was interviewing now here are things I'd be on the lookout for:

Team dynamics: How do they interview (individually or as a team), do they
undermine each other during the process, do they not play well together, is
there obvious clique behavior, is it a fraternity, have they all worked
together for awhile, is it a new team, what's the team lead like, has the team
lead/mgr done the role before etc. Does the lead/mgr seem to respect his team,
does he defer to them during the process at times or always take the lead?

Software: Are they chasing the latest trends, behind the times, or a mix of
using new tech but keeping things stable. Look for their thought processes,
questions they ask are generally tailored more then they even realize to their
environment. Are they more worried about getting a smart person that can
figure things out or trying to find the guy who has esoteric answers to
questions.

Company: Does anyone outside the tech team interview you. For SMB's and/or
startups, do they discuss the financial condition of the company? Do they
avoid answering any questions you ask about the company from a financial
aspect or team aspect etc. Is their culture open or closed? What are the
working conditions like. When you tour is everyone heads down and no one is
talking etc? Do you see any team members having some fun, laughing etc.

These are just ways I like to start evaluating companies. I don't really
interview anymore as I run my own firm, but when we are engaging from a
consulting perspective these are similar things that I do to gauge who the
company is and who the team is we would have to work with. It tells me if we
will have trouble with the team, if we should even take the job etc.

No matter what, good luck.

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mak4athp
Everybody has different needs and expectations. Some of those even evolve or
180 over the course of a single career.

Speaking to your own concern, the tradeoff is that many technical managers are
only there because they fell upward. They may understand your job
responsibilities well based on their own experience, but they may not be good
at advocating for their team or understanding how team members might have
different needs and productivity then they themselves delivered. They also
might loathe and stress excessively over their own job, which is no good for
anybody. You can have a great manager that happens to be highly technical, but
you may often find that you have a highly technical manager who's an awful
manager. So as you learn what they are, keep an open mind to the skills that
are applicable to management itself --being a manager isn't the same as being
a technical lead.

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wikwocket
Here is my list, compiled after a lot of soul searching in my last job hunt. I
recommend spending some time determining the kinds of things that are really
important to you, and prioritizing them.

\- Compensation: pay, bonus, benefits, PTO, perks

\- Commute and/or openness to remote work

\- Software development methodology, tooling, PM, environment (e.g. Joel Test)

\- Role clarity for target position, and time likely to spend coding

\- Company and team culture, team size, team consists of people smarter than
me

\- Company's organizational stability and steady growth (neither stagnant nor
extreme)

\- Institutionalized personal development/training, growth and advancement
options

\- Company's focus on tech, company's long term plans/prospects

\- Future: will this position help me in my next job search?

~~~
sownkunz
Good idea!

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brudgers
Joel Spolsky's twelve things have become known as the *Joel Test".
[http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000043.html](http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000043.html)

