4 ms·

The questions aren't bad per se, but they lack substance. Here's my go-to list after a series of rookie mistakes: 1) What's your version control system? (if no

The questions aren't bad per se, but they lack substance. Here's my go-to list after a series of rookie mistakes: 1) What's your version control system? (if not git or hg just don't bother, they're a lost cause) 2) What's your testing strategy before releasing to the trunk and/or the client? 3) What's your continuous integration system looks like? (Again flee if you hear "huhhh") 4) What's your typical release cycle time? (lower is better) 5) What kind of Agile method do you follow? Corollary to that, ask them "at which frequency your teams meet directly with clients?" (The second question is to see if they're faking agile) 6) Can you give examples of concrete objectives your typical employee has to accomplish for career advancement?

em-bee 6y ago
questions 1-4 are interesting only if that really matters to you. but why should it? these things depend on the business and the nature of the job, and just because they use CVS or something worse, doesn't mean that working there has to be bad. hmm, i'd say these questions matter more in large companies than in small ones. for question 5 i'd focus on the specifics: do you have daily standups? how frequently does the team meet? questions about meeting culture...
- TeeMassive 6y ago
  > questions 1-4 are interesting only if that really matters to you. but why should it? >these things depend on the business and the nature of the job, and just because they use CVS or something worse, doesn't mean that working there has to be bad. A fair point. The problem is not really in the technology or methods of development in themselves but the reason why they have them. In my own experience it's because they only focus on product delivery and extinguishing fires left and right, not too dissimilar to the Phoenix Project. For example right now I work for a company that still uses TFS with an in house build system, it's fine because I as hired for my experience in devops and to push our move to git and it's more of an opportunity than an obstacle and they have made that clear at the beginning that they wanted to move forward. But had they lied by omission to me like some other companies did I wouldn't be working there. > or question 5 i'd focus on the specifics: do you have daily standups? how frequently does the team meet? questions about meeting culture... Standups are a meme at this point. Most companies implement Agile as "Water Scrum Fall" as a DSM in the morning. Not that it's bad per se, since most companies I've worked for were designing their hardware, but those are superficial and doesn't really answer the important important that Agile really shines for: small releases, frequent feedback from the users, adapt the plan often.

em-bee 6y ago

questions 1-4 are interesting only if that really matters to you. but why should it? these things depend on the business and the nature of the job, and just because they use CVS or something worse, doesn't mean that working there has to be bad. hmm, i'd say these questions matter more in large companies than in small ones. for question 5 i'd focus on the specifics: do you have daily standups? how frequently does the team meet? questions about meeting culture...

TeeMassive 6y ago
> questions 1-4 are interesting only if that really matters to you. but why should it? >these things depend on the business and the nature of the job, and just because they use CVS or something worse, doesn't mean that working there has to be bad. A fair point. The problem is not really in the technology or methods of development in themselves but the reason why they have them. In my own experience it's because they only focus on product delivery and extinguishing fires left and right, not too dissimilar to the Phoenix Project. For example right now I work for a company that still uses TFS with an in house build system, it's fine because I as hired for my experience in devops and to push our move to git and it's more of an opportunity than an obstacle and they have made that clear at the beginning that they wanted to move forward. But had they lied by omission to me like some other companies did I wouldn't be working there. > or question 5 i'd focus on the specifics: do you have daily standups? how frequently does the team meet? questions about meeting culture... Standups are a meme at this point. Most companies implement Agile as "Water Scrum Fall" as a DSM in the morning. Not that it's bad per se, since most companies I've worked for were designing their hardware, but those are superficial and doesn't really answer the important important that Agile really shines for: small releases, frequent feedback from the users, adapt the plan often.