Questions to ask the interviewer

The Role

1. Can you tell me more about the day-to-day responsibilities of this job?
   • What are the daily tasks I would do?
   • Can you walk me through a typical day?
2. How does the onboarding process look like?
3. How much freedom for decision making do individual developers have?
4. What is your definition of success for this role?
   • What is it expected of me, both in the beginning and in general?
5. Can you show me examples of projects I would be working on?

Technology

1. What are the usual stacks used at the company?
   • Do you use open source?
   • Do you contribute to FOSS?
2. What tools do you use, payed/free?
   • What tools does the team use to communicate each day?
3. How do you integrate and deploy changes? Is it CI/CD?
4. Do you have documentation for your code?
5. Are all developers allowed to have local admin access of their computers?
6. Can developers choose their own Machine/OS/Editor?

The Team/Working experience/Zen

1. How does my team look like?
   • How big is my team going to be?
   • How is it structured?
   • What are the roles in my team?
2. Is the work on this team more collaborative or independent?
3. What kind of methodology do you use for working?
4. Who sets the priorities / schedule?
5. How are requirements/expectations communicated?
6. How are expectations and goals set, and who does the setting?
7. What kind of meetings will I have to attend and how often?
8. How does a code review process look like here?
9. What’s the promotion/performance process like?
   • What are the common career paths in this department?
10. Are there any company-wide resources for learning available?
    • Are there ebooks subscriptions, or online courses?
    • Do you have a budget for conferences or certifications?
11. Can I work remotely/from home from time to time?
12. Do people work overtime?
    • How often?
    • What is the payment for extra hours?

Coworkers/Bosses

1. What role will I fill in the team?
2. Who will I work with most closely?
3. Who will I report to?
4. Who do developers tend to learn from? Are there mentors? Will I mentor somebody?
5. Is my boss’ performance evaluated based on how well they develop the talent and skills of the team?
6. How long has the longest team member been there?
7. How long is the average tenure of an employee?
8. What would you change if you could at this company?

Drama/Circlejerk

1. What happens when the team is under pressure and commits to work over their capacity / velocity?
2. What happens when the team misses a release target?
3. How are differences of opinions resolved?
4. What are the biggest challenges of this job?
5. What do you think are the most rewarding or gratifying aspects of working in this position?

Company/Business

1. Why are you hiring? Is it because:
   • the company grew,
   • are there new projects,
   • is this a new role,
   • someone left etc?
2. How many people work in this office/department?
3. Do you expect to do more hiring in the next six months?
4. Why do you think people leave the company?
5. How has the company changed over the last few years?
6. What are the company’s values?
7. Are there any non-compete or non-disclosure agreements I’ll be asked to sign?
8. Are you profitable?
9. Where do the money come from?
10. Who is your biggest competitor?
11. What have you identified as your competitive advantage?

FUD

1. Has anyone failed in this position?
   • If so, why?
2. Is there anything about my background or resume that makes you question whether I am a good fit for this role
3. Is there anything we haven’t covered or that I can do that would help you with your decision?
4. What about my background interested you for this position?
5. How do I compare with the other candidates you’ve interviewed for this role?