
Assessing a Company: Questions you need to ask in an Interview - mikeinterviewst
http://blog.interviewstreet.com/2011/12/assessing-a-company-questions-you-need-to-ask-in-an-interview/
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jacques_chester
Interviewers do "leak" information to interviewees. I once turned down a
lucrative job offer because, during the interview, the interviewer had told me
"hilarious" anecdotes about the CEO changing his mind every few days.

Here's a more technically-slanted list of questions I've used during
interviews:
[http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/apae9/interview...](http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/apae9/interviewing_for_a_programming_job_does_anyone/c0iqgve)

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nigelsampson
I've found a lot of companies don't like giving feedback of negative outcomes
for fear of opening themselves up to some sort of liability around
discrimination.

Realistically it shouldn't be a problem if they handled the interview
correctly, but some prefer not to take the risk.

~~~
jacques_chester
> I've found a lot of companies don't like giving feedback of negative
> outcomes for fear of opening themselves up to some sort of liability around
> discrimination.

In itself, this is a useful indicator of corporate culture.

~~~
Peroni
Very valid point. Whilst it's not necessarily indicative of a 'bad' company as
such, anyone who refuses feedback as a matter of course is generally a company
driven by compliance. not always a good thing.

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jroseattle
This is a really good starting point. Questions can obviously go deeper,
relative to the particular industry, to learn more about a company. The main
point is not only the information you get, but gauging responses to those
questions.

If you're being interviewed, turn yourself into the interviewer at this stage.
Be prepared -- take notes, bring materials from the website or other content
to reference during the conversation, and have your questions planned out
thoughtfully ahead of time.

Generally, a recruiter is not the best person to ask questions, though. Try to
ask questions to the hiring manager. Strive to learn the
organizational/corporate pain points. Ask questions to gain information, but
also to get beyond understanding "culture" to understanding biases and
preferences. Rarely do interviewers make that clear, in spite of the
intentions of their communication.

Last, one general comment about questions: if they can't be answered to your
satisfaction, mark it as a red flag. If you, the candidate, can think about
something in the short term and a business that's focused on that thing can't
or won't respond in a way that's clear, that should be a clear indication of a
problem.

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asanwal
This is a fantastic guide that I think anyone thinking of working at a startup
should read. There is far too much hype, personality and gimmickry it seems
around startup hiring much of the time.

We're interviewing lots of folks these days and here are some more questions I
think candidates should ask or which we've been asked which I appreciate:

1\. How many months (or years) of cash do you have in the bank?

The founder might not say the exact number of dollars, but they should be
willing to give you a # of months/years left esp if they're not revenue
generating and are reliant on other people's money (VCs, angels). If it's 3 or
6 months, I'd think twice as there are no guarantees of funding being raised
and do you really want to be job-seeking in 3 or 6 months or get laid off cuz
of the Last In, First Out principal? There are no guarantees of more money
being raised. Plus they might be exaggerating about how much they actually
have. If I were a candidate, I'd love to hear 2 years but 1 year at a minimum.
2 years only happens generally if the business is real (making
revenues/profits)

Clarification: On the money in bank question, you're looking for real money in
the bank now. Not what they expect based on their projections or if they land
that big customer they are "on the verge of landing" or the "we have
termsheets from investors and will be closing in the next few weeks" -- none
of those are money, they are promises/hope. So perhaps the better way to ask
this is "If you earned no more revenue or got more financing after today, how
long will the money you have in the bank today last the company?" -- Also,
this is a question you should only ask of a founder, CEO as they'll prob be in
the best position to actually answer it.

2\. What specific projects do you see me working on if I were to join?

This may in all likelihood change by the time you join, but they should have a
clearly defined plan for the areas your talents and skills be used. This will
help give you a sense for what you'll be doing as well and whether it's
interesting. I also think if they articulate some nasty, unpleasant work
you'll be doing, that is good as well. Jobs are rarely all rainbows and
butterflies so someone who is going to be honest with you about the good, bad
and ugly up front is probably better than someone trying to sugarcoat up front
with all the amazing stuff you'll be doing every day to "change the world and
make people's lives better."

My only comment on the post is the question about "What technologies do you
want to be utilizing?"

Technology enables solutions to problems. So whether some company is adopting
some new, shiny technology is less relevant than whether they're using
technology in a way that is solving a real problem and ideally becoming a
real, fast-growing business.

I think the better question is to somehow gauge their receptivity to being
flexible about technology if there is a real benefit to doing so. Not sure the
right question to test for "technology rigidity" but that is the question I'd
ask if I were a candidate talking to us or any startup.

~~~
jacques_chester
> On the money in bank question, you're looking for real money in the bank
> now.

Another way to put this: "can I see your current balance sheet and cashflow
statement"?

Serves two purposes:

1\. If they say yes, you get to see their actual assets and cash flow, unless
they're flat out liars.

2\. Whether they say yes or no, their degree of reluctance or acceptance is
informative about managerial culture.

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temphn
For one data point: as an employer, if someone asked me that in a job
interview I'd think they were complete mercenaries and highly
distrustful/cynical. Would smile, respond with something noncommittal about
how the board won't let us share that kind of information, and cut short the
interview as soon as possible.

Think about it from our perspective: part of the point of being a non-public
company is that you can keep some things close to the vest, like profits and
balance sheet. Perhaps 50% of the people we interview don't end up getting a
position. What if you take that info and share it with competitors, or plaster
it on TechCrunch?

This is particularly true if this was a follow up to a previous question
(which is borderline) about how many months of cash were in the bank.

Should you judge the financial health of a company? Sure. Look them up on
CrunchBase, observe the surroundings, do some research into market size
yourself. But have some tact.

~~~
jacques_chester
> For one data point: as an employer, if someone asked me that in a job
> interview I'd think they were complete mercenaries and highly
> distrustful/cynical.

Now this is interesting. What triggers that reaction? Is it asking for the
particular documents, or is it the request for meaningful information?

> Perhaps 50% of the people we interview don't end up getting a position. What
> if you take that info and share it with competitors, or plaster it on
> TechCrunch?

Good point, and looking at it from your perspective, sure, I'd be reluctant to
open the kimono too. The main thing that stops _me_ , since we're swapping
data points, is that it would be the wrong thing to do. Betraying confidences
is both unethical and often contrary to the protections of common law.

> This is particularly true if this was a follow up to a previous question
> (which is borderline) about how many months of cash were in the bank.

If you then smiled and cut me short, _I'd_ be suspicious. It sounds like we
both lost.

~~~
temphn
> Now this is interesting. What triggers that reaction? Is it asking for the
> particular documents, or is it the request for meaningful information?

It's sort of like a woman who asks you what car you drive right off the bat,
on the first date. It indicates she is only in it for the money. And that she
also lacks the social intelligence necessary to gain information without
revealing that she's only in it for the money.

For a startup to succeed its people need to be a bit irrational. A pure profit
maximizing strategy for a good developer is just to do something boring at
Google. You aren't joining a startup to do median case profit maximization,
you're doing it to (a) do something interesting for a change and (b) have a
shot at a big payday.

Now, there's a certain undercurrent here at HN that says "F you, pay me". OK,
but this is not the type of personality that is likely to build something
great. They are the first ones to bail when things get rough, the first ones
to trash their former (or current) employers, the first ones to lay blame.

There is a role for highly skilled mercenaries, just as there is a role for
really beautiful golddiggers. But they should gravitate to Google/really rich
men, as that's where they'll find a mutually satisfactory exchange.

~~~
jacques_chester
What about the "runway" question?

It's the same thing: I want a sense of the risk I'm taking, but without
signalling (incorrectly IMO) that I'm just such a mercenary.

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polymatter
Research is something everyone stresses, but it is something I struggle with
and I would really like to see more advice on it. Advice on parsing the data I
get rather than more data.

Now I've gotten into the habit of only looking at directors statements on
their annual reports when I need to research a company. I get so little from
the rest of their website, I can spend hours and not understand anything more
than the names of their products/services. I have the distinct impression that
coding teaches me to only believe what is stated, whereas parsing marketing
text is all about reading the lines, which I am terrible at.

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lemming
In addition to the excellent questions here about revenue and runway, if
equity is a significant part of your comp (read: if you could make more money
elsewhere and you're not taking the pay hit because it's the job of your
dreams) there are more things you need to know. I'd want to know total
investment, the liquidation preference and if the preferred stock is
participating. This will give you a good idea of the exit required for your
stock to actually be worth anything. Knowing the makeup of the board is useful
too, i.e. how many are VCs compared to common holders.

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codenerdz
I would love to be able to find the following information without seeming to
be afraid of working hard:

"How often do you expect your employees to work extreme hours in order to be
competitive in your company?"

If the culture of the company supports 60-80 hour weeks, it may not be
apparent in a job interview... and even if it doesn't, asking this question
incorrectly may paint you lazy or unwilling to put in time if(hopefully
infrequently) necessary

~~~
Tichy
If you are unwilling to work 60-80 hour work weeks, what is the point in lying
about it? Would you make an exception for some companies?

~~~
codenerdz
There is a difference between working 60-80 hour weeks all the time vs putting
in a week of crunch time that happens rarely. Latter is oftentimes inevitable,
whereas the former is a sign of poor time management IMHO.

There was nothing in my question about lying, It just seems that is very tough
to emphasise your dislike of constant 60-80hr weeks and still be able to
convey the fact that you wont shy away from a late night work when absolutely
necessary.

~~~
nandemo
That's why the author writes " _How often_ do you expect...". Of course you
can choose a different wording if you want to be clearer. Also, note that this
happens in a face-to-face conversation, so you can always gauge the reaction
of the interviewer, qualify your question, etc. I usually ask "how are your
working hours like?", and add that I'm _used_ to working overtime and weekends
-- that not only avoids the impression you mention, but also makes the
interviewer more likely to be honest in their answer.

By the way, I wouldn't call someone who doesn't want to do overtime "lazy".
For instance, just because I'm "used" to working long hours doesn't mean that
I'm indifferent to it.

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troels
_If you left them with an impression you don’t agree with, the fact of the
matter is you did leave them with that impression so you simply need to figure
out how to make the same mistakes next time round._

Or, you know, how to avoid them ;)

Good advice by the way. I have always made a point of asking this my self, and
when I have been hiring, I would always try to answer as well and honest as
possible, if candidates ask for it.

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johnobrien102
These might be questions to ask after you get the offer, but IMHO you'll
likely decrease your chances of getting the job if you ask them early in the
interview process.

~~~
Peroni
I couldn't disagree more (obviously).

There is nothing in those questions that could lead an employer to think that
you wouldn't be suitable. They are intelligent, natural questions and the
answers are very relevant to someone applying for a job.

Once an offer has been made, the opportunity to ask detailed questions is
gone. If someone posed these questions to me _after_ the offer I'd simply
think why didn't they ask during the interview if it was important.

~~~
johnobrien102
Well perhaps you are right.

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aherlambang
i completely agree with the fact that you should never take a job just solely
because of the money...sometimes its hard because if you share your pay with
other, they would say, but why?? only you yourself can feel good about it

