Look at the company's products. If they blow you away, then at least some people at that company get to do work that blows customers away. Now you've reduced

Look at the company's products. If they blow you away, then at least some people at that company get to do work that blows customers away. Now you've reduced the task to evaluating whether you'll be one of those people - ask the right interview/followup questions :) Who knows, maybe by framing yourself right to begin with, you can move into being one of those people in short order... On the whole, of course, it's impossible to tell who gets to do interesting work, and who does mundane work...except by talking with your future colleagues and trying to ask a lot of questions :) Don't forget, that at a tiny company (3-5 people say), you will be far more likely to have to do things that are ridiculously mundane and boring: at the smallest companies it's just part of the job description. I think there's a better chance at a company where for the position you're filling, the job description is making mountains move.