
My Interview Questions for Potential Employers - era86
http://www.runtime-era.com/2013/03/my-interview-questions-for-potential.html
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TamDenholm
I'm a contractor so long term questions are irrelevant to me, but my standard
questions are the following:

Will i have the freedom to use whatever OS and software i want?

If the answer to this is anything other than Yes, i dont take the gig. Give me
the tools to do my job and trust me to do it, i'll even bring my own tools, i
like a mac and sublime. I once had a potential employer tell me that i was
only allowed to use windows, only allowed to use eclipse and i'd be issued an
MSDN license even though they admitted it wasnt relevant to me, because that
was standard IT policy. Sorry, no thanks.

Is the office a relaxed environment?

I can usually answer this myself if i'm doing a face to face just by looking
at how people are dressed and such, but a lot of the time i have a phone
interview first, and then i ask this. I absolutely will not work anywhere
where i cant wear jeans and a t-shirt and if i walk in at 9.08am and you're
going to moan at me for it, no thanks. I've also seen places where they dont
allow employees to leave the building except at pre-defined lunch and break
times, again, no deal.

While these might seem petty to some people, to me they're indicative of an
overall culture of not trusting employees and excessive micromanagement and i
have the luxury of totally avoiding places like that, so i'm going to.

~~~
jkubicek
I used to ask what a company's email quota was. Not a big deal at my last two
employers, but previous jobs (banking and state government) had very low
quotas, something like 20-50MB. At levels that low you can't just archive your
email, you've got to decide what stays and what goes and carefully file away
any attachments you might want to retrieve in the future. Not only a waste of
time, but it adds unnecessary cognitive overhead to the simple act of checking
your email.

~~~
nathan_long
That's an incredibly outdated policy.

A 4TB hard drive now lists for $150. This means that 50MB costs a fraction of
a penny, and the price is dropping.

Every second that a minimum-wage employee spends deleting emails to get down
to that low a quota is a flagrant waste of money. The higher-paid the
employee, the more flagrant the waste.

This is seriously like paying your employees to collect individual pieces of
pine straw so you can save money on landscaping.

Not to mention the fact that those emails probably contain data that's worth
more than their storage cost, especially if they're searchable.

~~~
T-hawk
> That's an incredibly outdated policy.

Indeed. Hence the question is a useful filter, to identify and avoid companies
who have incredibly outdated email systems and technology policies. They won't
be leading-edge in anything else either.

Similar: "What does your company use for email? Lotus Notes?" (Unless you're
applying to IBM itself.)

------
simonsarris
If during an interview the question gets asked "What's your greatest
weakness?" I try to answer as best I can and then I make a mental note to ask
this later:

"Since you asked me what my greatest weakness was, I think it's fair to ask:
_What's the worst thing about working here?"_

I've only been able to ask it once, and didn't really get a good answer, but I
think it has the potential to elicit some thoughtful (or telling) responses.

~~~
btilly
My attitude about the "greatest weakness" question is to treat it as a
softball for whatever I would like to most be accommodated on in the
workplace. Here are some random example answers to demonstrate. (For each one,
I have known someone who that example fits.)

"I live a ways away, and to avoid rush hour won't ever be at the office before
11 AM."

"I can come in to work early, but I always have to leave by 4 PM to be home in
time to pick up my children."

"I am an observant Jew and have to leave early on Fridays."

"I have life threatening condition X (asthma, diabetes, whatever) and will
need accommodation Y."

And so on.

I originally got this idea from a secretary whose issue was that she was very
talkative, she needs to have people she can talk to throughout the day. So she
started answering the weakness question that way, and found that her bosses
wouldn't complain about her talkativeness because she had already told them
that up front.

~~~
greenyoda
I'm not sure any of those things would qualify as someone's "greatest
weakness"; they're incidental matters. Turning it around, would you say that
the ability to be at work at 9:00am every day could be considered to be
someone's greatest strength?

~~~
btilly
In a workplace environment, all can cause problems.

~~~
illuminate
They're potential problems for the employer, but not "weaknesses".

------
HarryHirsch
How about the standard questions:

* How much money is in the bank, i.e. how long can they go until the next investment round?

* Where does the company see itself in five years?

* What opportunities are there for employee development?

And please, please stop with the cultural fit! Some people do not want to have
to go for beers every other night or play Xbox tournaments all Friday!

~~~
noarchy
The "cultural fit" stuff is a sore spot with me. If you have any kind of life
outside of work (or want one), this can be a real stumbling block. Maybe I
want to take a walk during lunch, and relax, and not be forced to talk about
work during communal lunches. I might want to go see non-work friends or
family once the day's work is done, and not go to the bar and show everyone
that I like the same microbrews that the office likes. And Friday evenings?
Forget about me wanting to stick around the office.

~~~
Eclyps
Cultural fit is a huge deal to me, and I think it's pretty essential, at least
for the small company that I work for. We don't force people to come out for
drinks or for lunch or anything (although most people are happy to). You can
still be a great cultural fit without spending _any_ extra time outside of the
office with your coworkers. It's how you work together on a day-to-day basis.
We have an atmosphere that not everybody will like. Some of us tell really
terrible and unfunny jokes. We typically leave the lights off first thing in
the morning. We talk through a lot of our internal stumbling blocks and are
open about them. The cultural fit is to make sure that you'll be able to work
in the atmosphere that the company has established, not to make sure you'll
come get drunk with us.

~~~
noarchy
What you've described is what cultural fit _should_ be, I suppose. It is just
that I've seen it too often degenerate into how the company can control your
non-work hours. But yes, it is certainly important that the work environment
be compatible with the way you like to work. In that regard, cultural fit
makes a lot of sense.

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btilly
Here is a fun one.

 _Why and when did the last 3 people who left your group, leave?_

The answer tells you volumes of useful information. It gets at what
organizational turnover is, what people are unhappy about, and something about
how much blame there is. Furthermore the question is so specific and
unexpected that you sometimes get startlingly honest answers.

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ratherbefuddled
Three of the four questions are closed.

Try instead:

What was the last thing Potential Co. did to invest in your professional
development?

What would you most like to improve about the team's process and workflow?

What was the last thing you did together as a team outside of work?

A couple of others that usually yield interesting results:

What's the most challenging thing about working at Potential Co?

If you could reverse a single technical decision affecting your product, what
would it be?

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gesman
Trick question: "If you paid for employee's training and he quits, would you
keep investing in training of other employees?"

\------ Source:

"The only worse thing to training employees and losing them is not training
them and keeping them". -- Zig Ziglar

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mrcharles
Questions I have learned to ask (the hard way):

-Do you do performance evaluations / raises?

-Do you block any part of the internet?

-Do you allow working remotely?

-Do you have a sane sick day policy?

-What kind of basic hours per week do you expect?

~~~
mrcharles
Just so people understand where these questions come from, since some of the
replies are suggesting I was asking the wrong questions:

-I worked at a place for 4.5 years without a single raise.

-I worked at a place that blocked every port other than 80, and that blocked most websites that used post operations, all email websites, and all personal file transfer apps (like dropbox).

-I worked at a place that literally did not allow working remotely, even though it was the kind of place where that actually would have been useful and productive, especially for emergencies.

-I worked at a place that only gave you three sick days per year. After that you were expected to either use your vacation days or accept unpaid days.

-I worked at a place that required 60 hours per week as a bare minimum, but in reality, expected more like 80+

(And these were all high tech companies)

~~~
niggler
I don't think you are asking the wrong questions, but I also don't think you
will get the answers you want.

"-I worked at a place for 4.5 years without a single raise."

Did this place have solid revenues? They very well may not have earned a
penny, in which case the backers wouldn't necessarily OK a raise.

"-I worked at a place that blocked every port other than 80, and that blocked
most websites that used post operations, all email websites, and all personal
file transfer apps (like dropbox)."

Were you in a regulated company? (I know you said high-tech but even within
that area there are companies bound by various regulations like HIPAA)

"-I worked at a place that literally did not allow working remotely"

See above

"-I worked at a place that only gave you three sick days per year. After that
you were expected to either use your vacation days or accept unpaid days."

How many vacation days did they give you? I've seen some companies give more
vacation days but force you to take vacation days when you are sick. All in
all, I think I would prefer 4 weeks vacation and no sick days versus 2 weeks
vacation and 2 weeks sick days.

"-I worked at a place that required 60 hours per week as a bare minimum, but
in reality, expected more like 80+"

I'm reminded of the office space scene with the flair. Especially when you are
joining an early-stage company, you should expect to work long hours initially
(which should taper off as the business settles.

~~~
mrcharles
1\. Yes, a solid revenue stream from previously released projects. The company
had no problem spending money on frivolous shit.

2\. No, it was a videogame company.

3\. See above.

4\. Two weeks, though in my case I was able to argue them to three because I
had previously received three weeks at a different job.

5\. It was not an early stage company, also it was a company with no proper
goals or direction, and massive amounts of mismanagement. You weren't at work
for 60-80 hours because you had a lot to do; you were there because they
expected you to be there, whether you had work to do or not. Leaving 'early'
was cause for shaming because of "letting down all the other hard workers".

edit: I am now working for a company that had answers to all the questions,
and did not lie about them, and it is effectively a dream job. Part of asking
questions is making sure you get answers, and if you don't, then bail.

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Frencil
These are all very good questions and underscore the need to come to an
interview prepared to do no less.

As a manager who frequently interviews developers nothing is more deflating
than an applicant who, when asked if they have any questions, fumbles an
awkward "no, not really" and the interview comes to an abrupt end.

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nathan_long
>> "Does Potential Co. value the professional development of its employees?"

This is a good question, but I'd avoid yes/no questions and ask for examples
instead. "What are some things you do to encourage employee learning and
growth?"

It's easy to say "yes", even if they're not doing much.

------
michael_nielsen
"Describe a time you chose principle over immediate short-term interests."

This question can be asked of a prospective boss, a co-worker, or adapted to
the company as a whole.

~~~
joosters
But whose principles? The employee or the company?

~~~
michael_nielsen
It doesn't matter. What does matter is how strong a commitment is shown to
principle. Giving up a million-dollar contract because it supported something
shady is impressive. By contrast, someone who ums and ahs and comes out with
something lame may well be someone who always puts themself first.

~~~
rmc
It's a good question, but some companies may not have had the opportunity to
do anything principled/unprincipled.

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at-fates-hands
I learned to take asking questions of the interviewer really serious since the
few times I was so enamored by the company, I didn't ask the right questions.
A few months later, I was miserable.

The three main questions I ask are:

What do you do that separates yourself from your competition?

Who do you see as your biggest competitors?

How much have you been working with (insert some cutting edge technology -
lately for me, it's been stuff like Backbone.Js or Parallax Scrolling)?

In terms of barometer, it gives me a solid idea of where the company is going,
and how they view possible new technologies. These also tend to get, "Wow,
that's a great question" from whomever is interviewing me.

------
apunic
"Do you have any questions for me?" is usually asked by the potential employer
in order to politely signal the end the interview and not because he's
interested in your questions.

~~~
sib
I don't have data on "usually" but I always find it a good way to determine
whether the candidate is: (1) prepared; (2) interested; and (3) thoughtful.

------
mjbellantoni
I'm a hiring manager. Almost by definition, I expect a good candidate to be
someone who is asking me as many questions as I am asking them.

~~~
drewcoo
Otherwise it's probably not a good hire. I agree. Huzzah!

I tend to go for "curious" people. They have to ask a lot of quesstions of me
(or at least previous people in the interview loop) to show they want to be
there. Asking questions about the company/team is a sign that the candidate
wants to buy.

------
mountaineer
>> "What's the most interesting thing you've worked on since you started at
Potential Co.?"

This is my new go-to question. Plus, it works both ways, great to ask
interviewees and interviewers. It really opens up the conversation and
immediately gets to the core of the company/applicant.

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ChuckMcM
I really liked this article for two reasons; one as an interviewer I feel
better about a candidate when they ask me questions, and second because
knowing that a place isn't right for you really helps with deciding if you
want the job or not.

As an employer and an employee what I want is _engagement_ not "headcount"
that shows up to the milking barn on schedule, gets drained, and kicked back
out into the field.

~~~
rhizome
I think you caught a little catachresis at the end there.

~~~
ChuckMcM
Oh I _like_ that word. I get that a lot. But In this case I think it is more
of a management speak thing. Engagement as the act of 'active participation'
as opposed to "passivity" or having things happen around you without either
encouraging or challenging them.

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kaffeinecoma
I like to ask "What's the worst thing about working here at Potential Co?" In
addition to (potentially) learning what the group's pain points are, it also
allows the interviewer to blow off steam a bit (being on the other side of the
table can be stressful too!) And if they dissemble or try to say that there
are no downsides, well that's useful knowledge too.

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mosselman
Sorry, but to be honest I find all the comments in here a lot more useful than
your pretentious questions. Just be natural at job interviews, that is much
more convincing than feigning interest in how well the team is doing, bla bla
bla. Any interviewer who is worth anything will introduce the company's
history to you anyway.

------
michaelochurch
I just mention my blog. Not on my CV because of HR walls, but in interviews, I
mention its existence. If they still want to talk to me, then they're probably
forward-thinking people.

If they don't look it up and are surprised that a certain level of talent
inevitably comes with a certain level of anti-authoritarianism, it's not my
fault. They were warned.

------
adnam
Another article about the tech-industry entitlement culture.

[edit] It's quite fascinating that I get heavily down-voted every time I
mention the entitlement-culture phenomenon. It really makes me cringe to read
things like this, when less fortunate (but equally skillful) professionals
have a hard time just getting an interview. The pendulum will swing back
sooner or later, and we'll look back on this as the golden era of being a
Software Engineer.

~~~
nikomen
It has nothing to do with entitlement. It has to do with the fact that there's
apparently a shortage of developers in the world which means that one can be
more "picky" about what they expect from an employer. Also, I want a job where
my responsibility is to get work done, not be required to follow unnecessary
policies or accomplish things that have nothing to do with the task at hand. A
lot of companies implement policies "just because" even if they hinder getting
actual work done.

~~~
adnam
I think it's the same thing, isn't it? My wife is an Architect -- a real
Architect, not a BillG wannabe -- and is gobsmacked at the arrogance of people
in the tech industry towards hiring.

"I'm not here to be interviewed, I'm going to interview you" "These tremendous
company benefits totally suck" "It is my divine right to work from home" "Co-
workers are to be seen and not heard" etc etc

~~~
nawitus
So it's okay for a corporation to be entitled but not individual people? Says
quite a lot about you.

~~~
adnam
"Let me cram these words in your mouth, and point out how much that says about
you". Erm..?

I can't reply so [edit], now you're going to tell me "that's how language
works"? I stopped reading right there.

~~~
nawitus
My point was presented as a question, you have the right to clarify your
thoughts if you disagree. People make interpretations out of what other people
have said. That's how language works, actually.

It just seems that you say it's wrong for the employees to have the edge, but
not for the employer to have it. In another industry there's a lot more job
seekers than available positions (e.g. the supply of jobs is lower than the
demand). In those industries the company has the edge, it's entitled to hold
all power in an interview situation, and can filter applications that try to
make certain demands.

In the tech industry, there's big demand for experienced developers. Software
engineers can choose a job from several good options. Therefore the applicants
are entitled to make certain demands, like asking questions from the employer.

Besides, many employers except this, and say in the beginning of the interview
that it's a "two-way interview".

Your comment made it seem that it's okay for only one side to be entitled,
that is the company instead of the individual.

