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Back when in-person interviews were a thing, I’d use the opportunity to just look at the office space. Specific red flag signals: 1. Dominated by Windows 2.

Back when in-person interviews were a thing, I’d use the opportunity to just look at the office space. Specific red flag signals: 1. Dominated by Windows 2. Too many people in formals 3. Nobody wears badges (and other indicators of a lax security policy) 4. Old/worn out office furniture 5. Low resolution displays 6. Old laptops 7. No evidence of people collaborating or chatting at a microkitchen etc.

silverquiet 2y ago
I like working at places small enough that we don't need badges because everyone just knows each other. I remember way back at an old company (that was quite large by the time I joined) learning that someone had quit rather than wear a badge as the company "grew up". I thought it was nuts back then, and I still would be willing to make that compromise myself, but I get it a lot more these days.
bruce511 2y ago
What's this "office space" you're talking about? :) But seriously, we'd fail 1, 3 (we've never had anything like badges to wear), 4 (some of it is old, not too much us worn out though - chairs get replaced, desks are pushing 25 or more now), 5 (every one, including receptionist has multiple monitors but they're standard 300dpi), 6 (depends what you mean by old), probably 7 as well as most folk are remote now. I guess we're not for you. On the up side we dress very informally.
swatcoder 2y ago
Fascinating! Depending on the size and age of the company, most of those hint towards a product-focused organization that often cultures careful, reliable engineers. It might not be fun or flashy, but there's good odds that a place like that knowns how to build their product and does a consistent job of it. They're often a great place for senior engineers to settle down and focus on low-drama productivity and for junior engineers to witness durable best practices in action.
Turing_Machine 2y ago
> 6. Old laptops Salesmen have Mac Pros or fully decked-out gaming rigs, programmers are still on Pentiums.

silverquiet 2y ago

I like working at places small enough that we don't need badges because everyone just knows each other. I remember way back at an old company (that was quite large by the time I joined) learning that someone had quit rather than wear a badge as the company "grew up". I thought it was nuts back then, and I still would be willing to make that compromise myself, but I get it a lot more these days.

bruce511 2y ago

What's this "office space" you're talking about? :) But seriously, we'd fail 1, 3 (we've never had anything like badges to wear), 4 (some of it is old, not too much us worn out though - chairs get replaced, desks are pushing 25 or more now), 5 (every one, including receptionist has multiple monitors but they're standard 300dpi), 6 (depends what you mean by old), probably 7 as well as most folk are remote now. I guess we're not for you. On the up side we dress very informally.

swatcoder 2y ago

Fascinating! Depending on the size and age of the company, most of those hint towards a product-focused organization that often cultures careful, reliable engineers. It might not be fun or flashy, but there's good odds that a place like that knowns how to build their product and does a consistent job of it. They're often a great place for senior engineers to settle down and focus on low-drama productivity and for junior engineers to witness durable best practices in action.

Turing_Machine 2y ago

> 6. Old laptops Salesmen have Mac Pros or fully decked-out gaming rigs, programmers are still on Pentiums.