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My Questions for Potential Employers

This document is organized by subject area. Subjects TBD and always evolving PKToDo: APIs - Let people up/down vote each question. (as well as comment why??? maybe they need to add a comment and then their comment can also be up/down voted and after N comments as well as N upvotes they unlock new features)

About the Position​

  • What happened to the last person who worked in this position?
  • Is it a new position?
    • If so, why?
    • Is there just too much work?
    • Is the team missing a specific skillset?

Team, Culture, and Work Habits​

Team Dynamics and Collaboration​

  • Can you describe the team I'll be working with?
    • What is the teams mission?
    • How long have you been part of the team?
    • How is the team structured? (How many members and what are their roles)?
    • How much does the team get to collaborate with end users?
  • How does the team typically collaborate on projects?
  • Can you tell me about a recent team success and how it was achieved?
  • How is feedback typically given within the team?

Company Culture and Values​

  • How would you describe the company culture here?
  • What are the core values of the company, and how are they reflected in daily work?
  • Can you give an example of how the company puts its values into action?
  • How does the company support professional development and growth?

Work-Life Balance and Flexibility​

  • What is the company's approach to work-life balance?
  • Are there options for flexible working hours or remote work?
  • How does the team manage workload during peak times?

Communication and Decision-Making​

  • How is communication typically handled within the team and across the company?
  • Who typically makes decisions on a project – is it more hierarchical or collaborative?
  • Can you describe a situation where the team had to adapt to a significant change?

Performance Evaluation and Recognition​

  • How is performance typically evaluated here?
  • Can you tell me about any recognition or rewards systems in place?
  • How does the company support employees in achieving their career goals?

Team Challenges and Problem Solving​

  • What are some of the challenges the team has recently faced and how were they overcome?
  • How does the team handle disagreements or conflicts?
  • Can you give an example of how innovation or creativity is encouraged within the team?

Integration and Onboarding​

  • What does the onboarding process look like for new team members?
  • How are new employees integrated into the team?
  • What kind of support can a new employee expect to receive?

Future Outlook and Development​

  • What are the upcoming projects or goals for the team?
  • How does the company stay updated with industry trends and developments?
  • Where do you see the team and company heading in the next few years?

Tech​

Basic Tech Clarification​

Could you just give me a rundown of which tools the team uses and how flexible this is?

  • OS
  • IDE
  • Cloud
  • Stack
  • Test Suite
  • Project Mgmt

And how flexible we are on this... example of using tools for MVPs vs large scale (e.g. Django vs Golang database/sql pkg (no orm))

How do you and the team/company (for direct manager/skip level or maybe HR) feel about...​

  • Test Coverage
  • ORMs
  • CI/CD

Questions that Reflect My Values​

  • How close is this team to the end user?

    • How do we gather feedback on features?

  • How are ideas managed? So basically I'm trying to gauge how mature your ideas ecosystem lifecycle process is

    • So let's say I come up with an idea. How then:
      • Where is this idea stored?
      • How do colleagues access this idea. Can they upvote it, refine it, etc.
      • How are these ideas organized and prioritized?
        • Is there a tagging system?
        • Are there effort estimation buckets?