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Ask HN: What are your personal red flags when you're interviewing at a company?

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Re: Ask HN: What are your personal red flags when you're interviewing at a company?

#111

Post by paulcole »

kelnos wrote: post #84
avgDev wrote: post #54

* Open office bonus points for adding "because we like collaboration" * No remote or hybrid * Unlimited PTO can potentially be a red flag depending on other aspects * Dinners at the office * Business model that is not generating any revenue * Needing 5 references for a junior position and they had to be people I worked with(my team was 3 devs). So, I listed other people I knew. One of them a VP of a tech company, who…

> Unlimited PTO can potentially be a red flag depending on other aspects The key on this one is to then ask your interviewers how much PTO they usually take per year. If the answers are below what would make you happy, then that's a problem. At my last company with unlimited PTO, at my height I was taking ~8 weeks per year. I was highly productive and my boss knew that even losing me for two months out of the year, I…

Wanting to work for a company that doesn’t lose money is “pretty limiting”?

I also disagree with asking interviewers how much vacation they take in an unlimited PTO situation. Instead just ask, “What’s the limit?” Any company that offers an unlimited PTO policy should be able to answer this easily. The only objectively incorrect answer is “There is no limit.”

Re: Ask HN: What are your personal red flags when you're interviewing at a company?

#113

Post by oj179933 »

For remote interviews, when the interviewer(s) have their cameras turned off. Or the camera is on but they look completely disinterested or disengaged. Once I had a guy's phone go off and he checked the messages while he was asking me a question...

Re: Ask HN: What are your personal red flags when you're interviewing at a company?

#114

Post by asdz »

1 Interview time - if the interviewer schedule the interview time out of office hour (like 8PM or 10PM), it's likely overtime is a common thing for them

2. Interviewer asking template questions and doesn't show any interest - if interviewer asking those basic questions and don't understand even what the job means, it's a sign that they don't even bother, they are just there to filter you

3. Interviewer pushing for the interview ASAP - it's very likely the position is needed as soon as possible, sometimes this could be something really serious and they are hiring someone to put out the fire, sometimes it's already a crisis and they expect someone to save the day

Re: Ask HN: What are your personal red flags when you're interviewing at a company?

#115

Post by ceron »

hoerzu wrote: post #8

Coding challenge, HR more involved than engineers, not remote friendly

What is wrong with coding challenges? With a simple challenge you can get a hint of coding style (flashy vs pragmatic), accordance to current best practices, is TDD being used, clean code accordance and so on. And then you have something you can talk about in your final interview which can be helpful. Does the applicant take criticism well, can he explain his code or specific decisions etc.

Re: Ask HN: What are your personal red flags when you're interviewing at a company?

#116

Post by lukehefson »

For any early-career people reading this thread– take the responses with a pinch of salt. As they may be very true for more senior folk but not always true if you're trying to get your foot in the door and/or find a place you can grow quickly.

Re: Ask HN: What are your personal red flags when you're interviewing at a company?

#118

Post by tg986 »

1. Interview questions where it's clear the interviewer wants a specific answer even if it's not the only correct answer. Especially true if that interviewer would be your boss.

2. I once had a technical interview where I was given a Jupyter notebook that set up a problem and then asked me several questions about it. The interviewer was on the other side of the desk watching me on a separate monitor. The interview itself was 1 hour long but he wouldn't stop talking for more than a minute or so. I didn't have time to read and understand the problem, nevermind design and execute a solution. Instead, he kept asking me questions, breaking my concentration... just a total nightmare.

3. Keeping me locked in a room all day. I've interviewed at several places over the years where I'd go, sit in a meeting room, and have a day's worth of interviews. Sure, I got a brief tour of the office, but even my lunch I'd eat in that meeting room. If I can't talk with employees in their natural habitat then how am I supposed to get a real feel for the office culture?

4. Interviewers who don't seem to know why they're interviewing you. I've had this happen many times. They don't know what the position is for, they never work with the person in that position, why bother?

5. Your potential boss can't give you a reasonable description of the work you'll do. Huge red flag.

6. Too many detailed questions about work I do at my current job that I obviously cannot get in to. If they can't respect my inability to tell them company secrets then there's a problem.

Re: Ask HN: What are your personal red flags when you're interviewing at a company?

#119

Post by DocColorado »

I interviewed with Dell during their acceleration rise around 1999. The big red flag for me was all the interviewing people were late and in a ultra hurry to get the interview over. I had a would be peer that said he "Was tired of people being hired & then leaving within 30 days because of the chaotic work load!" This was a management/executive position.

Re: Ask HN: What are your personal red flags when you're interviewing at a company?

#120

Post by Original_SYN »

I get linked to threads like these in a newsletter, and I’m just curious. Are these threads only for coders or do coders just happen to be the majority of respondents?

Or will interviewers actually be sending me homework for an interview where I have to code something when the job is a SOC analyst or incident response?

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