7 ms·

I recently did a round of interviews with a few companies, and I came up with a list of fun questions for the interviewer, mostly based on my own gripes with my

by mabbo 5y ago

I recently did a round of interviews with a few companies, and I came up with a list of fun questions for the interviewer, mostly based on my own gripes with my then-employer or things other companies were doing that I didn't like. I caught everyone I asked these to off-guard. > "Every company gets criticized. What's a piece of criticism your company has received that you felt wasn't really accurate? What about the opposite- any criticism that you agreed with?" > "Does your company have any policy that enforces a specific minimum number of people let go per time period? IE: Stack ranking, 'Unregretted rate of attrition (URA)', etc" > "What are the company's non-compete rules? If I wanted to make and sell an app in my spare time, is that allowed? What isn't allowed?" > "How does promotion and career growth work? If hired, what steps would I need to take to get my next promotion? What holds people back in those situations?" I got great answers though. I learned a lot about the companies because I asked these to a number of people at each company. Those answers lead me to pick a company that was offering less money, but was a better place for me to be.

Buttons840 5y ago
> "What are the company's non-compete rules? If I wanted to make and sell an app in my spare time, is that allowed? What isn't allowed?" I would not be surprised at all if the people interviewing me gave a nice answer and then on day one I'm asked to sign a contract that doesn't match what they said. Ask if you can see the employment contract before accepting an offer.
- rjzzleep 5y ago
  > Ask if you can see the employment contract before accepting an offer. I'm a bit puzzled by this answer. What's wrong with: "I read the contract and I don't like the terms sorry"
  - passerby1 5y ago
    Nothing. Time is wasted. However I doubt it's easy to see a contract before signing offer.
  - Buttons840 5y ago
    Usually there's a surprise contract waiting for day one of a job, after you've left your other job. Yes, you can still walk away, but it's better to review that contract sooner. If you don't ask to see the contract, it will almost certainly be a day one surprise. And even if you do ask, the legal department, who neither you nor the people interviewing you frequently communicate with, might still have some surprises in store.
    - anitil 5y ago
      I've been sprung with these before. Usually trivial, unenforceable issues, but annoying none the less. The worst was I once even had a background check _after_ accepting and signing. Nothing came up, but that could have left me with no job and no recourse. How do you avoid this? It's a particular kind of institutional trickery that may not even be intentional but is very frustrating.
      - hiptobecubic 5y ago
        Don't quit until you sign something that says they will be hiring you and paying you until one of you decides to terminate the agreement?
        Buttons840 5y ago
        How would that help? Whether it's written or not, the agreement is as you say, until one party decides to end it. And even with such an agreement, they might still ask you to sign something on day one. If you don't sign it, they may very well decided to "terminate the agreement" on day one.
        nosefrog 5y ago
        If you're fired, you're eligible for unemployment. You're also eligible if you quit your job for a new company but then they rescind the offer. That's basically as much protection as you get in the US, since most states are at-will.
- rad_gruchalski 5y ago
  Signing means accepting an offer. To sign, one needs to get a copy of a contract. So one always sees a contract before signing, no? Let’s look at it from a different angle. One does not file a resignation before receiving a countersigned copy from the company.
  - ohazi 5y ago
    It's always a moving target. To continue working at a company, you are usually expected to sign every piece of paper that they put in front of you throughout your tenure. If you don't, the consequences could range from absolutely nothing, to being pestered every six months, to being kept off a project or not promoted, to being fired. If at some point you become popular or are seen as critical, you may be able to spend some of your political capital to get around signing some of the papers that you don't particularly want to sign, but this doesn't always work, and you can't always get away with this indefinitely. An amendment to your offer of employment that tries to prevent you from moonlighting could come after your first day, or after your third month. They get to choose the timing, and the more unscrupulous will absolutely use this to their advantage. They won't give it to you after the first day or week, so you don't just walk -- they'll wait until you've settled in and are more likely to concede in frustration.
    - rad_gruchalski 5y ago
      I’m so used to the European way of employment that this blows my mind.
  - Kranar 5y ago
    This isn't true unfortunately and there are absolutely horror stories of this happening to people. For example at some FANG companies you sign what you think is your regular employment contract and then move on down to the Valley excited to start your new job on the agreed upon terms... then as soon as you introduce yourself at reception just before orientation, you're made to sign a secondary agreement with terms you will likely have never seen before. If you so much as object or raise an issue about it you risk being terminated there and then. There was just such an article posted to HN years ago about this happening at... I want to say Google... but my memory of that is hazy.
- mabbo 5y ago
  I was asking developers, not hiring managers and recruiters. The developers have no reason to bullshit me. And they didn't.
user_named 5y ago
What was the response rate? In my experience companies don't like "critical" questions like these. Not a culture fit.
- utucuro 5y ago
  It is bad to be a cultural fit in a company where critical thinking is discouraged.
majormajor 5y ago
> "How does promotion and career growth work? If hired, what steps would I need to take to get my next promotion? What holds people back in those situations?" This one's mathematically interesting. Orgs are generally shaped in a way that literally most people can't "get a next promotion" after a certain point. Something like "what do I need to do to ensure a good review and good compensation adjustments" would at least work better hold up better in managerial roles where "the next promotion" is possibly the job held by the person interviewing you. :)
skeaker 5y ago
How do you go about bringing these up over the course of the interview?
- mabbo 5y ago
  Almost inevitably the interviewer saves a few minutes at the end for "do you have any questions about <company>?" And yes, yes I do.
fouc 5y ago
I would assume the interviewer is potentially under a non-disparagement clause on their employment contract. So the criticism question might not be a good one.
jollybean 5y ago
The questions in the article are decent. This one 'what steps would I need to take to get my next promotion?' - this is probably not the right way to ask the question. The implication is that 'promotion' is kind of like progress you'd see in school, i.e. you get to stage 1, then 2 then 3 with increasing responsibility, experience and comp. But reality is not like that, the company is interested in creating products, services, making money, and almost all organisations are pyramids in terms of operational structure. This means that 'promotion' beyond just the lowest levels inherently competitive. Obviously it's political and nobody likes that part, but the reality is 'to get promoted to manager you need to be better than 80% of your peers and to director better than 98% of your peers' and what 'better' means is very subjective, and notably, not everyone gets promoted. Also, instead of asking about the 'benefit to you' i.e. 'promotion' you might want to put it in terms of the value you can provide, and soften the question a bit by asking about 'career progress' etc. and avoiding the word 'promotion'. It's a fair thing to ask about, but it's delicate.
- mabbo 5y ago
  I think you and I have worked at very different companies. In large organizations, typically, promotions come from proving you are working at a given level. It's not a competition at all. Promotion also doesn't mean "becoming the manager"- I mean promotion to a higher level as an individual contributor. Junior Dev, Senior Dev, Staff Dev, etc. And the question was very well received when I asked it.
  - jollybean 5y ago
    "It's not a competition at all." It's absolutely a competition. The thresholds for promotion resonate around capabilities designed at certain thresholds. The organization is a pyramid, they are not going to just promote everyone along a tract, even if it's not managerial. And, very few companies have seriously well developed tracts for technical staff. There are 'bands' within every company surely, but most of the world is not like the FAANGS in this regard.
ghostbrainalpha 5y ago
These are really great. I'm saving this.

by mabbo 5y ago

Buttons840 5y ago

> "What are the company's non-compete rules? If I wanted to make and sell an app in my spare time, is that allowed? What isn't allowed?" I would not be surprised at all if the people interviewing me gave a nice answer and then on day one I'm asked to sign a contract that doesn't match what they said. Ask if you can see the employment contract before accepting an offer.

rjzzleep 5y ago
> Ask if you can see the employment contract before accepting an offer. I'm a bit puzzled by this answer. What's wrong with: "I read the contract and I don't like the terms sorry"
- passerby1 5y ago
  Nothing. Time is wasted. However I doubt it's easy to see a contract before signing offer.
- Buttons840 5y ago
  Usually there's a surprise contract waiting for day one of a job, after you've left your other job. Yes, you can still walk away, but it's better to review that contract sooner. If you don't ask to see the contract, it will almost certainly be a day one surprise. And even if you do ask, the legal department, who neither you nor the people interviewing you frequently communicate with, might still have some surprises in store.
  - anitil 5y ago
    I've been sprung with these before. Usually trivial, unenforceable issues, but annoying none the less. The worst was I once even had a background check _after_ accepting and signing. Nothing came up, but that could have left me with no job and no recourse. How do you avoid this? It's a particular kind of institutional trickery that may not even be intentional but is very frustrating.
    - hiptobecubic 5y ago
      Don't quit until you sign something that says they will be hiring you and paying you until one of you decides to terminate the agreement?
      - Buttons840 5y ago
        How would that help? Whether it's written or not, the agreement is as you say, until one party decides to end it. And even with such an agreement, they might still ask you to sign something on day one. If you don't sign it, they may very well decided to "terminate the agreement" on day one.
        nosefrog 5y ago
        If you're fired, you're eligible for unemployment. You're also eligible if you quit your job for a new company but then they rescind the offer. That's basically as much protection as you get in the US, since most states are at-will.
rad_gruchalski 5y ago
Signing means accepting an offer. To sign, one needs to get a copy of a contract. So one always sees a contract before signing, no? Let’s look at it from a different angle. One does not file a resignation before receiving a countersigned copy from the company.
- ohazi 5y ago
  It's always a moving target. To continue working at a company, you are usually expected to sign every piece of paper that they put in front of you throughout your tenure. If you don't, the consequences could range from absolutely nothing, to being pestered every six months, to being kept off a project or not promoted, to being fired. If at some point you become popular or are seen as critical, you may be able to spend some of your political capital to get around signing some of the papers that you don't particularly want to sign, but this doesn't always work, and you can't always get away with this indefinitely. An amendment to your offer of employment that tries to prevent you from moonlighting could come after your first day, or after your third month. They get to choose the timing, and the more unscrupulous will absolutely use this to their advantage. They won't give it to you after the first day or week, so you don't just walk -- they'll wait until you've settled in and are more likely to concede in frustration.
  - rad_gruchalski 5y ago
    I’m so used to the European way of employment that this blows my mind.
- Kranar 5y ago
  This isn't true unfortunately and there are absolutely horror stories of this happening to people. For example at some FANG companies you sign what you think is your regular employment contract and then move on down to the Valley excited to start your new job on the agreed upon terms... then as soon as you introduce yourself at reception just before orientation, you're made to sign a secondary agreement with terms you will likely have never seen before. If you so much as object or raise an issue about it you risk being terminated there and then. There was just such an article posted to HN years ago about this happening at... I want to say Google... but my memory of that is hazy.
mabbo 5y ago
I was asking developers, not hiring managers and recruiters. The developers have no reason to bullshit me. And they didn't.

user_named 5y ago

What was the response rate? In my experience companies don't like "critical" questions like these. Not a culture fit.

utucuro 5y ago
It is bad to be a cultural fit in a company where critical thinking is discouraged.

majormajor 5y ago

> "How does promotion and career growth work? If hired, what steps would I need to take to get my next promotion? What holds people back in those situations?" This one's mathematically interesting. Orgs are generally shaped in a way that literally most people can't "get a next promotion" after a certain point. Something like "what do I need to do to ensure a good review and good compensation adjustments" would at least work better hold up better in managerial roles where "the next promotion" is possibly the job held by the person interviewing you. :)

skeaker 5y ago

How do you go about bringing these up over the course of the interview?

mabbo 5y ago
Almost inevitably the interviewer saves a few minutes at the end for "do you have any questions about <company>?" And yes, yes I do.

fouc 5y ago

I would assume the interviewer is potentially under a non-disparagement clause on their employment contract. So the criticism question might not be a good one.

jollybean 5y ago

The questions in the article are decent. This one 'what steps would I need to take to get my next promotion?' - this is probably not the right way to ask the question. The implication is that 'promotion' is kind of like progress you'd see in school, i.e. you get to stage 1, then 2 then 3 with increasing responsibility, experience and comp. But reality is not like that, the company is interested in creating products, services, making money, and almost all organisations are pyramids in terms of operational structure. This means that 'promotion' beyond just the lowest levels inherently competitive. Obviously it's political and nobody likes that part, but the reality is 'to get promoted to manager you need to be better than 80% of your peers and to director better than 98% of your peers' and what 'better' means is very subjective, and notably, not everyone gets promoted. Also, instead of asking about the 'benefit to you' i.e. 'promotion' you might want to put it in terms of the value you can provide, and soften the question a bit by asking about 'career progress' etc. and avoiding the word 'promotion'. It's a fair thing to ask about, but it's delicate.

mabbo 5y ago
I think you and I have worked at very different companies. In large organizations, typically, promotions come from proving you are working at a given level. It's not a competition at all. Promotion also doesn't mean "becoming the manager"- I mean promotion to a higher level as an individual contributor. Junior Dev, Senior Dev, Staff Dev, etc. And the question was very well received when I asked it.
- jollybean 5y ago
  "It's not a competition at all." It's absolutely a competition. The thresholds for promotion resonate around capabilities designed at certain thresholds. The organization is a pyramid, they are not going to just promote everyone along a tract, even if it's not managerial. And, very few companies have seriously well developed tracts for technical staff. There are 'bands' within every company surely, but most of the world is not like the FAANGS in this regard.

ghostbrainalpha 5y ago

These are really great. I'm saving this.