This flips your question on its head a bit, but are you going into this offer excited to try and get the teams to work better together, or because you want a role leading teams that are already working really well? If you expect to inherit fully functional teams I think you're probably not going to enjoy the gig. If, however, you're excited about the chance to get a group of developers firing on all cylinders again t…
Honest question, do you know many people who enjoy jumping into dysfunction and making it better?
If fixing that is your core skill, I expect you'd look for that kind of job.
Some interesting advice I got from another thread a while back: During your interview excuse yourself to the restroom at some point. The general cleanliness there says a lot about how they value employees.
>During your interview excuse yourself to the restroom at some point. And annoy the hell out of the interviewer because you can't time a toilet visit to fall outside of a key event? No thanks
Before, after, or during multiple interviews. That being said, if you have an individual interview that lasts more than 90 minutes you could also excuse yourself briefly if you need to use the bathroom.
This flips your question on its head a bit, but are you going into this offer excited to try and get the teams to work better together, or because you want a role leading teams that are already working really well? If you expect to inherit fully functional teams I think you're probably not going to enjoy the gig. If, however, you're excited about the chance to get a group of developers firing on all cylinders again t…
I really like this approach - because I am indeed viewing this as a turnaround opportunity.
There's plenty of good advice in this thread, but ultimately you won't know until you work there. After 20 years in the business, what I've done and would advise people to do, is to negotiate a 6 month contract-to-hire arrangement. This way it's all out in the open that you'll be evaluating each other and there's less hard feelings if you walk at the end of the contract.
Talk to as many people as you can at the company, especially people who aren't in leadership positions. Ask if you can talk to a couple of the people who'd be reporting to you. A scheduled interview is like talking to a provided reference, while an unscheduled interview is like calling up someone not on the provided reference list - you're more likely to get something interesting from the latter. Whether it's a sched…
I don't think this would work on me if I were being asked questions by a candidate. I would just lie and say everything's fine no matter how much they insist. Telling some random stranger "I hate this fucking company and wouldn't be surprised if it goes bankrupt within a year" gives me no benefits and puts me at a lot of risk; plus it's just awkward.
Not being able to get more than "everything's fine" out of someone is a pretty big indicator. :)
If you can't tell me why it's fine, it probably isn't from your perspective. And if your answer isn't convincing, likewise.
How much prep would you really put into giving a good, convincing, story about how great the company is that wouldn't be noticable compared to other people's answers?
There's plenty of good advice in this thread, but ultimately you won't know until you work there. After 20 years in the business, what I've done and would advise people to do, is to negotiate a 6 month contract-to-hire arrangement. This way it's all out in the open that you'll be evaluating each other and there's less hard feelings if you walk at the end of the contract.
That's an interesting angle. I've always assumed that the C-to-H arrangements were for the benefit of the employer, not necessarily the employee.
Talk to as many people as you can at the company, especially people who aren't in leadership positions. Ask if you can talk to a couple of the people who'd be reporting to you. A scheduled interview is like talking to a provided reference, while an unscheduled interview is like calling up someone not on the provided reference list - you're more likely to get something interesting from the latter. Whether it's a sched…
I don't think this would work on me if I were being asked questions by a candidate. I would just lie and say everything's fine no matter how much they insist. Telling some random stranger "I hate this fucking company and wouldn't be surprised if it goes bankrupt within a year" gives me no benefits and puts me at a lot of risk; plus it's just awkward.
Most people can detect a lie like that. It's not what you say, but how you say it. Mumbling "Oh, I love working here, it's great" in a level tone of voice while staring at the floor is very different from exclaiming "Oh, I love working here, it's great" while looking you in the eye, standing up straight with your shoulders back and relaxed.
A few things: 1) Reach out to people who used to work there. You have to discount the negativity somewhat, but if the response is positive then that's a good sign. 2) Rather than ask "Are there communications problems" you should ask "What are the biggest communication challenges?" Also ask, "What are the 2-3 most important managerial areas for me to fix on day one, and the 2-3 most important areas for me to leave al…
It's a department within a large company, so the Glassdoor data may not help. But thank you!
Look for personal networks who can give you the scoop.
At a prior company, the new head of sales reached out to the outgoing head of sales.
There are a lot of things you can ask for that will red flag an organization as a whole. Are you being given stock. Ask for a cap table and learn to read it. Tell them your wiling to sign an NDA, and that you want to look at the repository. Tell them that you may need to ask follow up "who is who" questions to pin checkins. Code never lies. Embattled areas of code, and comments are great targets for your search. Ask…
But we are talking about interviewing for a leadership position. Judging the health of a place by how its current tech looks might be valid if you are just going to be a coder, but as a leader, you will be expected to identify and fix problems. So it is OK if there are problems. It is much more important to figure out how people communicate, how they are treated, how the other leaders think, what they want their cult…
My sense of the problem is that it's not so much a tech stack issue and more of an operational, "keeping the train on the tracks" challenge.