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Ask HN: Interview tomorrow – How to learn whether an org is “healthy”?

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Re: Ask HN: Interview tomorrow – How to learn whether an org is “healthy”?

#51

Post by [deleted] »

JSeymourATL wrote: post #37
gyardley wrote: post #10

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…

> Talk to as many people as you can at the company, especially people who aren't in leadership positions. Solid advice, do try to connect with the junior & overseas staff. Listen to the substance of their answers. Is it an "Us" and "Them" corporate culture? Areas to explore: Ask, What are things that the group does well and should keep doing? What are some things you'd like to change? What is it you're afraid a new l…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Interview tomorrow – How to learn whether an org is “healthy”?

#52

Post by mud_dauber »

mathattack wrote: post #44

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!

Re: Ask HN: Interview tomorrow – How to learn whether an org is “healthy”?

#53

Post by [deleted] »

ktRolster wrote: post #45
eric-hu wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question, do you know many people who enjoy jumping into dysfunction and making it better?

do you know many people who enjoy jumping into dysfunction and making it better? It's as much fun as solving any problem. And even more fun if you get paid extra for it.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Interview tomorrow – How to learn whether an org is “healthy”?

#54

Post by mud_dauber »

mjevans wrote: post #28
MilnerRoute wrote: post #17

A friend of mine once said he asked an interviewer, "so just how screwed up is this company"? Not because he expected a straight answer, but because he wanted to watch the interviewer's first reaction -- if their facial expression showed genuine surprise, or a knowing nod, maybe even an incriminating smile...

Serious question here: Are there any companies that aren't at least a little messy? They are run by humans, so if there's NO dirt at all isn't that a tell as well?

Exactly.

Re: Ask HN: Interview tomorrow – How to learn whether an org is “healthy”?

#55

Post by dajohnson89 »

mjevans wrote: post #27
cobralibre wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do the employees hide their flasks in their desks and sip furtively and alone? Do they cry in the restroom before or after meetings? Is it a Dilbert cartoon on the fridge or is it XKCD? Are the only Pokémon to be found Rattatas? What is going on with the coffee?

How far away is the nearest gym? Are there even any 'stops where you might meet others for lunch? Pretty much, what is the density of the tech-aware crowd in that area? Another good one: are the near by ash trays in use? If you're a non-smoker (like me) this is a red flag too.

Just curious -- why is evidence of tobacco use a red flag to you?

Re: Ask HN: Interview tomorrow – How to learn whether an org is “healthy”?

#56

Post by ryandrake »

thinkingkong wrote: post #26

Communications issues are usually two-sided so I'd lean more heavily towards figuring out what those could be. 30 people split between 3 timezones is challenging. 1) Ask why the other person is leaving for real. They should be vulnerable and tell you the truth. Sometimes they'll hide behind something like "thats confidential" which you can't really argue with, but I'd dig into it. If they get nervous walk away. 2) As…

> 3) How will you be evaluated in your role. Sometimes there are unclear expectations from managers or any other "leadership" style role at a company. This isn't OK because it might just take one person to change their mind about how you're doing for you to be "not good enough". Again; dig into it.

This one is key. Good answer is: "You will have these N observable, measurable KPIs. Good performance means meeting them, excellent performance means exceeding them by P%, etc." Bad answer is if they can't tell you or anything subjective (Your manager vaguely "evaluates" your performance each year).

> 4) How is the company doing from a financial perspective. Whats the burn? Whats the revenue? What's the LTV/CAC? If they can't answer or won't, I'd consider that a red flag.

I've seen business owners take great offense to being asked about these "company health" type questions. Often due to the answer not being pretty. As if I, as a potential employee, am not a stakeholder. If they get cagey about this it's definitely a red flag.

Re: Ask HN: Interview tomorrow – How to learn whether an org is “healthy”?

#57

Post by scottlilly »

titomc wrote: post #21

check the coffee machine, general cleanliness of the office especially breakroom if they are clean and well stocked,look for notices on printers or washroom's that "xxxxx is not working & repairs has been notified". See if they have a gym,check the condition of office chairs,are they ergonomic ?. Ask about appraisal process and career path. If they dont answer well and the interviewer is not clear on that,it means an…

Checking the bathroom is a trick I learned a long time ago. If they're messy, that's almost certainly a sign that your potential co-workers and managers are disorganized, undisciplined, and/or don't care about their work.

Re: Ask HN: Interview tomorrow – How to learn whether an org is “healthy”?

#58

Post by mikestew »

compiler-guy wrote: post #33

I like to ask things like, "If you could change one thing about the company engineering practices, what would it be?" The answers can be telling. If they give an answer like, like, "I wish we would adopt $random_programming_language." That, to me, indicates a fairly healthy organization, because this is just one guy's technical preference. If they give an answer like, "We need need to stop thrashing", that gives a di…

To follow up on the potential acceptable answers vs. bad answers: 1. "I wish we'd use git instead of SVN" vs. "I wish we'd use source control instead of backing up .zip files of the tree." 2. "I wish we used Jenkins instead of $OTHER_BUILD_TOOL." vs. "I wish we'd set up a build server instead of pulling bits of a random dev's machine." 3. "I wish we we'd use OCMock to eliminate dependencies in our tests." vs. "I wish we were given time to write unit tests."

Sure, you might think you're the one to get them fixed up with what they need. But there are good reasons that things are they way they are, and it's not always because the ICs are lazy.

Re: Ask HN: Interview tomorrow – How to learn whether an org is “healthy”?

#59

Post by BurningFrog »

rb2k_ wrote: post #29
Raphmedia wrote: post #7

Observe the employees. Is the office full after 5 - 6 PM? Is everyone looking at the floor when the boss walk in? Is everyone's nails bitten to a bloody mess? Are there any female employees? Are the desk too clean and absent of personal items?

I like my desk clean and absent of personal items :(

I FOUND THE PROBLEM EMPLOYEE!

Re: Ask HN: Interview tomorrow – How to learn whether an org is “healthy”?

#60

Post by bsamuels »

dajohnson89 wrote: post #55
mjevans wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How far away is the nearest gym? Are there even any 'stops where you might meet others for lunch? Pretty much, what is the density of the tech-aware crowd in that area? Another good one: are the near by ash trays in use? If you're a non-smoker (like me) this is a red flag too.

Just curious -- why is evidence of tobacco use a red flag to you?

Have you ever watched silicon valley? It's extremely accurate.

https://www.quora.com/Is-there-a-strong-anti-smoking-culture...

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