Galactic Reverse Interview Guide (i.e., the questions to ask those who are interviewing you)
Well, yes, even you who are going to be interviewing as a candidate can ask questions of those who are selecting you. In fact, it’s not just that you can: you have to ask them!
Asking questions is useful for so many different reasons:
retrieving as much information as possible about the company you are about to interview for
showing an interest in the company
getting as complete a view as possible of the role, the duties, the team, and many other key things
not play dumb to the classic “so, do you have any questions for us” question?
At this particular moment in history (and this applies not only to the tech world but to so many different industries) it is the candidate who has negotiating power, because companies are struggling to find motivated and qualified people. In general, therefore, it is not only the company that chooses but also the candidate who, inevitably, can (and must, in my opinion) choose the right company for him or herself at that particular time in his or her personal and professional life.
So here is a list of questions, broken down by “theme,” that you might use during a job interview.
Ah, one last thing (needless to say, but I’ll say it anyway): of course, don’t ask them all because otherwise the interview would last about 7 hours. Choose the set of questions for you best suited to the company you are approaching, also considering that so much information about the company can now be easily found online.
Are you ready? Let’s go!
- What will be the daily tasks that I will be faced with?
- Are there specific goals that you expect me to achieve in the first 30/60/90 days?
- Is the work schedule the typical 9-6pm or do you allow flexibility?
- Is the work organized by objectives (thus, without any specific schedule)?
- Is there a model for evaluating my performance/goals that I achieve?
- How will the team in which I go to work be composed?
- What task management tools do you use?
- How did you come to define the technology stack currently in use in the company?
- Are you in the habit of writing technical documentation?
- Who within the company or my future team decides priorities?
- How many calls/meetings are typically scheduled in a week?
- Will I have the opportunity to do 1to1s with my manager/senior/tech lead/superior?
- Are there any particular critical issues that the team is facing at this time?
- Is there a chance to do pair programming?
- Is the industry in which the company operates economically healthy?
- How much turnover has the company had in the past two years?
- What turnover is expected in this year/next year?
- Is there a personal budget dedicated to training?
- How does the personal/professional review process work?
- Do you have an internal ladder that regulates professional/salary growth?
- Is there budget for certifications?
- How is the onboarding process structured?
- What collective bargaining agreement do you apply?
- What benefits are there (meal vouchers, production bonuses, corporate welfare, psychotherapy sessions, wellness in agreement, other)
- Does the company sponsor/support Open Source projects?
- Does the company sponsor/support/encourage people internally to take part as speakers at industry events?
- What value does the company place on work-life balance?
- What do you see as the biggest challenges relative to the industry in which you operate?
- Why should I choose your company?
- Why should you choose me? What has impressed you positively?
- What % turnover have you had in the past year?
- Is there a budget provided for the home office?
- What is the vision and mission of your company?
- What is the planned investment budget for the area in which I will be placed?
- Is the company a partner/sponsor of projects that have a social impact?
- What is the corporate life and how does the latter embrace your values?
- What version of (technology/language/framework) do you use?
- Do you use version control? If so, which one?
- Do you do software quality contracting?
- Do you do unit testing?
- Do you do automated testing?