What to ask during the interviews?

2nd of August, 2023•5 minute read

When you're on the hunt for a new job, it's essential to gather as much information as possible to ensure a good fit. Asking the right questions during the tech interview process can help you paint a clearer picture of the company, team, and role, while also demostrating your prepareness, critical thinking and curiousity. Before jumping into the questions here are a few tips:

• Think about the person you're speaking with, what is their role, what should they know? Don't be surprised if the recruiter doesn't know about tech debt.
• You'll get some of this information organically as you go, follow up questions are always a good idea.
• Don't rely just on me, Google has a ton of resources!

Understand the company

• How are the business and engineering departments aligned? Is engineering seen as a magic box?
• What is the relationship between product and engineering? How do these teams collaborate?
• How are priorities defined and changed in the company or department? Do you use OKRs/KPIs?
• How is high performance acknowledged and rewarded in the organization?
• What does the company's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policy look like?

Engineering culture

• Can you tell me about the team I'll be working with?
• How do cross-team or cross-department projects happen?
• What level of autonomy does the team have in decision-making?
• How reliable is the team with delivery? How do they handle estimations vs. actual outcomes?
• What support is available for engineering growth? Can you provide examples?
• What does the technology stack look like?
• How does the team handle technical debt and bugs?
• Are the systems well-documented and mapped in diagrams?

Good to know

• What does success look like in this position?
• What are the biggest challenges faced by the team, department, or company?
• Can you share an example of a recent challenge the company has overcome? Is there anything they'd do differently?
• What are the interesting problems the company aims to tackle in the near future?
• Is the company profitable, and what does the runway look like?
• Are there any plans for scaling or growth?
• Is there anything else you would have liked to talk about with me?

For you

• Could you clarify the compensation package, including salary, benefits, and any equity?
• What are the next steps in the interview process? Is there anything I should prepare for?

Remember it's likely not all of these are relevant, or that you'll ask them all, however I hope it helps provide you a baseline to expand on.