3 ms·

"Do you have any questions?" I've come up with a load that I like to ask. Some of them are naturally answered during an interview process anyway, but generally

by pgl 12y ago

"Do you have any questions?" I've come up with a load that I like to ask. Some of them are naturally answered during an interview process anyway, but generally there are at least a few left: TEAM: * How big is the team I would be working with? * Do team members socialise out of hours? * What is the average age of team members? * How long has the longest member of the team been there? * What language is spoken in the team - both socially and for business reasons? * Does the company have a "no arseholes" rule (or "no brilliant jerks")? THE WORK: * What kind of projects would I be working on? * What software development methodology do you use? * Does the company release any software as open source? COMPANY: * How old is the company? * Is the company constantly recruiting, or has it recently started hiring more people? * How would I progress in the company? What opportunities for promotion exist? COMPENSATION: * What kind of salary range are you offering for this position? (I realise that it depends on skill and experience, but hopefully you should have a good idea of that based on my CV.) * Does the company provide any relocation assistance?

logfromblammo 12y ago
I never ask the money questions directly, during the interview. It's a red flag for some companies, who seem to think that people should love the work and be paid for it as a happy coincidence. Salary negotiation happens after the company decides it wants you, and then you come in with a sack of potential nickels and dimes in benefits that they can give you in lieu of higher base pay. But you save all that until it is already clear that they want you. Instead of asking about the salary range, ask about what local neighborhoods the employees live in. Look up the home prices later, on a real estate site. Instead of asking about promotion paths, ask about how the roles of the employees have changed as the company has matured. Instead of asking about relocation assistance, ask about how much experience the company has in hiring non-local candidates. You can also ask about what the <position title> can do individually to increase the revenues of the company. That answer will give you an idea about how flexible they are on salaries for <position title>.
- pgl 12y ago
  I understand why you wouldn't want to talk about money questions earlier on, but for me there's two main reasons to bring it up: 1) Employers have always me about my salary expectations. If they want to know from me, why shouldn't they answer as well? 2) If the range expectations are way off, you don't have to waste your time going through a series of interviews only to find out that their salary range is 10k less than you were expecting, or they don't offer relocation, or whatever. Personally, I only ever want to be paid a fair wage; I'm not after the most I can possibly get. So finding out whether the range matches what the market seems as fair early on is important.
  - logfromblammo 12y ago
    1) It's a double standard. You don't have the power to enforce fairness in the interview process. You can only react to prevailing tactics in a way that best preserves your position. Your best options are to not apply to positions that post a range too low, and to not discuss salary at all until an offer is on the table. If you already have a job, and the prospective employer asks you for your expectations, defer and delay. If they will not proceed without your answer, WALK AWAY. Otherwise, name a price 20% higher than what you would be happy with, and qualify it by saying that what you learn later in the interview process may merit a revision. 2) $10k is peanuts to the company. If they really can't afford to monetize your efforts enough to pay you what you are worth, they should really be up front about that themselves, and put their range in the ad. Otherwise, any company above a certain size can pretty easily justify budgeting $200k or more in salary and benefits for even a mediocre developer. A mediocre developer will never be able to actually get that much because of market pressures, but if a company can justify hiring their own developers at all, they can justify paying a little more for a good one. That's why the logical progression is to first find out how much you will be worth to the company, and then determine the compensation package that makes you a profitable employee. You don't want to work for a company that determines compensation first, then scrambles to figure out how to pay for it. In summary, always make the employer say their salary number first. If they won't, they are already trying to cut the costs you represent to them, before even hiring you. The fair wage is the most you can possibly get [while still earning profit for the company].
JoshTriplett 12y ago
> * How big is the team I would be working with? In particular, you'd want to distinguish between the people you directly collaborate with on a daily basis and the broader organization working on the same or similar technologies. > * Do team members socialise out of hours? Depending on your preferences, that can be a good question or a critical one. If you want to socialize out of hours, it's good to know if the team likes to do so. On the other hand, it can be critical to know that you're getting into a company where you have to socialize out of hours to fit in. Don't work somewhere where you're going to be utterly at odds with the company culture. > * What is the average age of team members? That's a very strange question; why do you think that matters, or that it's reasonable to ask? As an interviewer, I'd find that question extremely offputting. > * How long has the longest member of the team been there? Now that's an interesting question. Good to know the turnover of the team. Goes along with "how long has the team been around?". > * Does the company have a "no arseholes" rule (or "no brilliant jerks")? As much as I think this is a very critical item for a good work environment, do you think an interviewer is likely to answer that question any differently whether they do or not? Sure, if they come right out and say that they're willing to tolerate such behavior, run away fast. But otherwise, they either do have such a policy, or they'd like to think they do but they really don't in practice, or they'd like you to think they do. > * How old is the company? You should know that before you ever go to the interview. > * Does the company release any software as open source? If you can't find that out before going to the interview, the company isn't doing very well at it.
- pgl 12y ago
  > That's a very strange question; why do you think that matters, or that it's reasonable to ask? It's just to find out more about who I might be working with. It didn't feel weird to ask - but perhaps you're right. Often it's been explained before as part of the "how sociable is the team" question. ("Well, we're all family people, so...", or "Most of the team are in their early 20s so often out on a Friday night" etc.) > As much as I think this is a very critical item for a good work environment, do you think an interviewer is likely to answer that question any differently whether they do or not? This question is generally one I would ask someone who I would be working with as part of the team, and while you might not get a direct answer, you can tell a lot from how they answer. If it's a bit vague, then they probably don't have anything specific in place. But I've also had very enthusiastic replies along the lines of "Yes we do! In fact that's very important to us!" This can make a difference if there's multiple offers on the table and you're trying to figure out which offer to take. The other questions are, yes, obvious, but they're basically leading questions. Asking about the company history can often give you some insights into recent events that might not be obvious from their website (and other sources), and replies to the question about open source are useful to see whether they're aware of open source practices inside the company (depending on the size of the company, there might be different things going on).
x0x0 12y ago
I've found that asking each interviewer what he or she is looking for in the role for which he or she interviewed you is enlightening. If the answers are very different between team members, it's a danger sign.

by pgl 12y ago

logfromblammo 12y ago

I never ask the money questions directly, during the interview. It's a red flag for some companies, who seem to think that people should love the work and be paid for it as a happy coincidence. Salary negotiation happens after the company decides it wants you, and then you come in with a sack of potential nickels and dimes in benefits that they can give you in lieu of higher base pay. But you save all that until it is already clear that they want you. Instead of asking about the salary range, ask about what local neighborhoods the employees live in. Look up the home prices later, on a real estate site. Instead of asking about promotion paths, ask about how the roles of the employees have changed as the company has matured. Instead of asking about relocation assistance, ask about how much experience the company has in hiring non-local candidates. You can also ask about what the <position title> can do individually to increase the revenues of the company. That answer will give you an idea about how flexible they are on salaries for <position title>.

pgl 12y ago
I understand why you wouldn't want to talk about money questions earlier on, but for me there's two main reasons to bring it up: 1) Employers have always me about my salary expectations. If they want to know from me, why shouldn't they answer as well? 2) If the range expectations are way off, you don't have to waste your time going through a series of interviews only to find out that their salary range is 10k less than you were expecting, or they don't offer relocation, or whatever. Personally, I only ever want to be paid a fair wage; I'm not after the most I can possibly get. So finding out whether the range matches what the market seems as fair early on is important.
- logfromblammo 12y ago
  1) It's a double standard. You don't have the power to enforce fairness in the interview process. You can only react to prevailing tactics in a way that best preserves your position. Your best options are to not apply to positions that post a range too low, and to not discuss salary at all until an offer is on the table. If you already have a job, and the prospective employer asks you for your expectations, defer and delay. If they will not proceed without your answer, WALK AWAY. Otherwise, name a price 20% higher than what you would be happy with, and qualify it by saying that what you learn later in the interview process may merit a revision. 2) $10k is peanuts to the company. If they really can't afford to monetize your efforts enough to pay you what you are worth, they should really be up front about that themselves, and put their range in the ad. Otherwise, any company above a certain size can pretty easily justify budgeting $200k or more in salary and benefits for even a mediocre developer. A mediocre developer will never be able to actually get that much because of market pressures, but if a company can justify hiring their own developers at all, they can justify paying a little more for a good one. That's why the logical progression is to first find out how much you will be worth to the company, and then determine the compensation package that makes you a profitable employee. You don't want to work for a company that determines compensation first, then scrambles to figure out how to pay for it. In summary, always make the employer say their salary number first. If they won't, they are already trying to cut the costs you represent to them, before even hiring you. The fair wage is the most you can possibly get [while still earning profit for the company].

JoshTriplett 12y ago

> * How big is the team I would be working with? In particular, you'd want to distinguish between the people you directly collaborate with on a daily basis and the broader organization working on the same or similar technologies. > * Do team members socialise out of hours? Depending on your preferences, that can be a good question or a critical one. If you want to socialize out of hours, it's good to know if the team likes to do so. On the other hand, it can be critical to know that you're getting into a company where you have to socialize out of hours to fit in. Don't work somewhere where you're going to be utterly at odds with the company culture. > * What is the average age of team members? That's a very strange question; why do you think that matters, or that it's reasonable to ask? As an interviewer, I'd find that question extremely offputting. > * How long has the longest member of the team been there? Now that's an interesting question. Good to know the turnover of the team. Goes along with "how long has the team been around?". > * Does the company have a "no arseholes" rule (or "no brilliant jerks")? As much as I think this is a very critical item for a good work environment, do you think an interviewer is likely to answer that question any differently whether they do or not? Sure, if they come right out and say that they're willing to tolerate such behavior, run away fast. But otherwise, they either do have such a policy, or they'd like to think they do but they really don't in practice, or they'd like you to think they do. > * How old is the company? You should know that before you ever go to the interview. > * Does the company release any software as open source? If you can't find that out before going to the interview, the company isn't doing very well at it.

pgl 12y ago
> That's a very strange question; why do you think that matters, or that it's reasonable to ask? It's just to find out more about who I might be working with. It didn't feel weird to ask - but perhaps you're right. Often it's been explained before as part of the "how sociable is the team" question. ("Well, we're all family people, so...", or "Most of the team are in their early 20s so often out on a Friday night" etc.) > As much as I think this is a very critical item for a good work environment, do you think an interviewer is likely to answer that question any differently whether they do or not? This question is generally one I would ask someone who I would be working with as part of the team, and while you might not get a direct answer, you can tell a lot from how they answer. If it's a bit vague, then they probably don't have anything specific in place. But I've also had very enthusiastic replies along the lines of "Yes we do! In fact that's very important to us!" This can make a difference if there's multiple offers on the table and you're trying to figure out which offer to take. The other questions are, yes, obvious, but they're basically leading questions. Asking about the company history can often give you some insights into recent events that might not be obvious from their website (and other sources), and replies to the question about open source are useful to see whether they're aware of open source practices inside the company (depending on the size of the company, there might be different things going on).

x0x0 12y ago

I've found that asking each interviewer what he or she is looking for in the role for which he or she interviewed you is enlightening. If the answers are very different between team members, it's a danger sign.