

Ask HN: What do you ask a potential employer - a_developer

What questions do you ask a potential employer during a developer interview? In particular, I&#x27;m interested in what you ask to see if you&#x27;re walking into a poorly-run organization or a bad codebase. I&#x27;m also interested in what you ask in terms of perks and benefits.<p>Some questions I ask:<p>What are the best, worst, and most surprising things about working here?<p>What IDEs are used here? (Preferred answer: Something from JetBrains, Reasonable people can disagree answer: vim&#x2F;emacs&#x2F;eclipse, Warning sign answer: Notepad)<p>Would I be allowed to work on outside projects?<p>How is off-hours support handled?<p>This seems like the sort of thing that would have been discussed many times here, but I couldn&#x27;t find it using hnsearch or google. If you have the search-fu, teach me your ways.
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kohanz
This is really tough because, as someone who has sat on both sides of the
table, the good organizations will be honest and the bad ones will either omit
or massage their answers to remain attractive-looking.

That's not to say that your questions will not help you attain more
information, but in some cases it is impossible. In the same way that
companies with good intentions can make bad hires, candidates can accept
offers from employers that are a bad fit for them, even though they asked the
right questions.

My recommendation, in addition to the good ones here, is that if you have a
good read on personalities, try to identify the person (assuming you have
multiple interviewers) that feels the most open, honest, and genuine to you
and direct your most probing questions to them. If someone feels too slick,
marketing-like, or just seems to drink a little too much of their own Kool-
aid, their answers are less valuable. Put more weight on the answers of those
who don't paint a 100% rosy picture.

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Peroni
I wrote a blogpost on this exact topic last year:
[http://hackerjobs.co.uk/blog/2012/5/16/assessing-a-
company-q...](http://hackerjobs.co.uk/blog/2012/5/16/assessing-a-company-
questions-you-need-to-ask-in-an-interview)

If you want me to elaborate on anything, just say the word.

~~~
a_developer
I really like your question about the impact if they can't fill the position.
It seems like a tough one to get away with, though. It could come off as too
cocky, or as too much of a salary negotiation setup. Does this one go over ok?
What kinds of responses have you gotten?

Also, on feedback: have you ever gotten useful feedback from an interview that
didn't result in an offer? I've tried, but rarely gotten anything, and even
then it was so vague as to not really be useful.

~~~
Peroni
Personally, I think the 'impact' question is completely valid and not even
remotely cocky. It's important to avoid structuring the question in a way that
sounds like "what's the impact of not hiring _me_ " and make it clear you're
interested in hearing about what's important for the business. It shows
commercial awareness which is usually quite lacking in technical interviews.

As for feedback, unfortunately most companies fail to offer useful feedback if
you aren't successful in getting the job as you're no longer considered to be
of any importance to the business. Some companies have policies that prevent
them from giving you too much detail and some simply refuse in order to avoid
opening up a legal can of worms. One seemingly harmless question that you
could ask _after_ you get rejected is "What one thing should I work on to
improve my chances of working for your company in future?". Take the advice
and address it in your next interview with the next company.

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chrisbennet
In addition to the usual "What's you work flow?" type questions I like to ask
the following:

I tell them that I always like to be learning new things. "Given my resume,
what new things I could expect to learn at your company?" This has the
unexpected side effect of having them "sell you" on working for their company
- flipping the usual job seeker dynamic (you trying to "sell" yourself to
them).

I like ask them what problems they are working on to see how I can bring my
talents to bear - I don't want to work someplace where I can't deliver real
value.

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thebenedict
+1 for the "worst/most challenging thing about working here". I saw it
suggested on HN a few months ago and tried it once in an interview and once in
casual conversation. At first I was concerned about offending the interviewer,
but both times the person was honest and forthcoming, and seemed to appreciate
the question.

In the post I saw the author suggested that good people/companies will open up
and tell you what's not working, and bad ones will lie and say everything's
great.

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ragatskynet
I always like to ask about how a "normal" workday goes. When to arrive, can I
have a coffee in the morning, how large are the offices, how much do I need to
use my phone or anything.

The other question I like to always ask - how do you treat professionalism? Of
course every employer says that you need to be professional and your work has
to be professional. But there are many places where quality is not really
matters (lets say it this way). So why do they need professionalism then? (I
hope I was clear.)

Also asking about possible challanges is a good thing in my opinion. Some
employers might mean high workload and high stress under the term challange.
(Dynamic, young team is also a term which makes me afraid sometimes.)

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vojant
Working on side projects policy, it's my main question. Career path is also
important.

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brd
What percent of time should I expect to be doing support work vs. new
development?

-Gives you a sense of how messy the code base is and/or the role they expect you to play in the company

What big projects do you have on the 6 month, 1 year, and 3 year horizon?

-Gives you a sense of direction and ambition of the organization

What sort of work are you expecting to see me produce over the first year?

-Provides a bar for you to measure yourself against. Important for better appreciating the seniority and importance of the role and helps with negotiating a raise if you're exceeding expectations.

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esw
If you're considering a long-term gig, ask about the career path.

~~~
pjungwir
I've interviewed maybe 5 times in the last 2 years, and even at seemingly
well-run companies I've yet to get an answer to this question. "We're a flat
organization," "We don't have anything formal," "Well, we're growing, so
something will open up," etc. This is one of the major reasons I'm still
freelancing. No only am I earning more, but there is way more potential.

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a_developer
Thanks for all the responses. I thought of one other thing I'd like feedback
on: When it comes to salary negotiations, do people ask for signing bonuses
these days?

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PetoU
Where do you see this company in 1 / 3 / 5 years ?

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daliusd
I ask how their typical day looks like (especially if I speak with
developers).

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ratsimihah
"Can I bring my dog to work?"

