Rules for job seekers to evaluate software companies? • Hacker News Board

Re: Rules for job seekers to evaluate software companies?

#11

Post by ElectricMind » Tue, Jun 08, 2021, 12:53 PM UTC

nyokodo wrote: post #4

markus_zhang wrote: post #3

A few random thoughts: 1. Check out their toilet if it's on-site. 2. How does the team do requirement analysis? Do they have a dedicated business analyst team or you guys have to do it, or no one is doing it and everyone is fighting for his own tickets? 3. Does the company HR/Admin send light-heart newsletters every once for a while? 4. How tight is discipline monitored?

> 1. Check out their toilet if it's on-site. This! It’s a distillation of the whole group you’re dealing with from top to bottom (pun intended.)

OMG yes. This is so crucial step :)

Re: Rules for job seekers to evaluate software companies?

#12

Post by greyhound » Tue, Jun 08, 2021, 6:51 PM UTC

atlgator wrote: post #8

Ask to see the supply closet. If they cheap out on the small things (pens, for example), they will definitely cheap out on the big ones.

Is there any evidence to back this up?

Re: Rules for job seekers to evaluate software companies?

#13

Post by quickthrower2 » Tue, Jun 08, 2021, 8:31 PM UTC

markus_zhang wrote: post #3

A few random thoughts: 1. Check out their toilet if it's on-site. 2. How does the team do requirement analysis? Do they have a dedicated business analyst team or you guys have to do it, or no one is doing it and everyone is fighting for his own tickets? 3. Does the company HR/Admin send light-heart newsletters every once for a while? 4. How tight is discipline monitored?

I’ve worked where the toilet is on a different floor and that’s hell enough.

Re: Rules for job seekers to evaluate software companies?

#14

Post by quickthrower2 » Tue, Jun 08, 2021, 8:32 PM UTC

greyhound wrote: post #12

atlgator wrote: post #8

Ask to see the supply closet. If they cheap out on the small things (pens, for example), they will definitely cheap out on the big ones.

Is there any evidence to back this up?

Probably not. I work at a generally generous company that doesn’t pay too much attention to expensive pens etc. they would order anything you wanted though but most devs are happy with a biro and spiral notebook.

Re: Rules for job seekers to evaluate software companies?

#15

Post by quickthrower2 » Tue, Jun 08, 2021, 8:36 PM UTC

mateo411 wrote: post #9

readonthegoapp wrote: post #6

a waste of money to have devs test their own code? interesting.

I think developers should test their own code. They should write unittests, they should have integration tests, and running these test suites should be automated. If you are planning on keeping the code base around for a while and you are going to make changes to the codebase, then you are going to want this. Otherwise those expensive developers are going to take longer to implement the new features and they will int…

Two different disciplines though. It depends if you want to train your coders on how to test effectively. Not saying you shouldn’t and maybe there is a hidden advantage in doing so. But it’s definitely not a clearcut decision.

Even if they can it’s a hat switching thing. Building something from 9-10 and then trying to break the shit out of it from 10–11 requires some mental discipline.

For quality I’d rather have testers. Developers will test their own work anyway if they know shit work will be sent back.

Re: Rules for job seekers to evaluate software companies?

#16

Post by logicslave » Tue, Jun 08, 2021, 10:32 PM UTC

Honest opinion is the compensation has always largely correlated with the quality of the job and how youre treated. Companies that pay less often want to squeeze out more.

Re: Rules for job seekers to evaluate software companies?

#17

Post by Joltik » Wed, Jun 09, 2021, 1:06 AM UTC

jaredsohn wrote: post #2

There is the Joel Test from way back in 2000: https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/08/09/the-joel-test-12-s... Searching for newer versions of that may be useful.

This is exactly it. You are the BEST!!

Re: Rules for job seekers to evaluate software companies?

#18

Post by sloaken » Wed, Jun 09, 2021, 5:11 PM UTC

markus_zhang wrote: post #3

A few random thoughts: 1. Check out their toilet if it's on-site. 2. How does the team do requirement analysis? Do they have a dedicated business analyst team or you guys have to do it, or no one is doing it and everyone is fighting for his own tickets? 3. Does the company HR/Admin send light-heart newsletters every once for a while? 4. How tight is discipline monitored?

re Check the Toilet ...

There was a company, that to save money, had cut the hot water in the restrooms.

Another company visited to discuss having said company provide provide their IT as a service. This was long before the AWS et el. Both companies were Fortune 100 at the time.

The visitors, made the mistake of going to a restroom that was not in the executive suits area. They inquired about the lack of hot water.

The deal, which was hours from complete, fell apart.

If that company treated their employees so poorly, how can we expect them to treat us....

Yes visit the toilet to see if they care or just provide lip service.

Re: Rules for job seekers to evaluate software companies?

#19

Post by atlgator » Thu, Jun 10, 2021, 6:01 AM UTC

quickthrower2 wrote: post #14

greyhound wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there any evidence to back this up?

Probably not. I work at a generally generous company that doesn’t pay too much attention to expensive pens etc. they would order anything you wanted though but most devs are happy with a biro and spiral notebook.

Don't put words in my mouth. Pens don't have to be expensive, just not cheap garbage. Same with notebooks and so on. It's about having the most basic tools to do your job.

Re: Rules for job seekers to evaluate software companies?

#20

Post by schwartzworld » Thu, Jun 10, 2021, 10:21 AM UTC

quickthrower2 wrote: post #15

mateo411 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think developers should test their own code. They should write unittests, they should have integration tests, and running these test suites should be automated. If you are planning on keeping the code base around for a while and you are going to make changes to the codebase, then you are going to want this. Otherwise those expensive developers are going to take longer to implement the new features and they will int…

Two different disciplines though. It depends if you want to train your coders on how to test effectively. Not saying you shouldn’t and maybe there is a hidden advantage in doing so. But it’s definitely not a clearcut decision. Even if they can it’s a hat switching thing. Building something from 9-10 and then trying to break the shit out of it from 10–11 requires some mental discipline. For quality I’d rather have tes…

The more devs you have on a project, the more testing becomes vital. If there are tests, you can work on the code with confidence that you aren't going to unwittingly break things.

Frankly, I think thorough testing makes my code better too. If you can't figure out how to test a function you just wrote, how are you going to get any real reuse out of it later? I don't do TDD, but often testing will lead me to refactor things to be clearer.