Which Tech-Company should I join?

And other Questions New Software Engineers (SWEs/SEs) should ask.

Published in

On Technology

6 min readDec 8, 2023

Tech-Companies hiring SWEs run interviews. And in the interviews, the candidate SWEs get asked questions.

But these interviews are, not one way, but two way. If you are an interview candidate, while the folks from the company are interviewing you, you must interview the company — to make sure the company is good for you — just as they are checking if you are good for the company.

But how? What questions should you ask?

Who are you?

The most important thing about a company is its people. And you must try and find out as much as possible about your future co-workers.

Obviously, “Who are you?” is not a question you can ask directly. But you can try and answer the question indirectly.

More specifically, try to find out if there are people at the company who are in a position you’d like to be in in 3–6 years — people you can look up to, depend on for mentorship, and learn from. If the company has no people like this, forget about it🚩.

Usually, most of the people who interview you will be from your own role — that is, Software Engineers will be interviewed by other Software Engineers. If you’re interviewing for a SWE role, and no SWE interviews you — this is a huge 🚩red flag. It either means that the company has no or few SWEs. Or it means that they look at people in the role less as people and more as a “resource”.

You can also “research” the company and its employees on the internet. But be aware (and beware) that a lot of information (like LinkedIn profile) are “marketing” material and could be misleading.

How much will I get paid?

People will tell you that especially earlier in your career, you shouldn’t optimize for money. These people are idiots, or at least missing the big picture.

Yes — you should optimize for money. But not your monthly salary, but how much you are going to get paid in the next 10 years or longer, in aggregate.

To understand this, you should not try and understand how much you are going to get paid in your first month but understand how fast you are going to grow and become a better SWE. To find this out, you must try and understand what senior SWEs at the company do — and if these things are interesting, creative, and difficult. People who do interesting, creative, and difficult things generally get paid very well.

Conversely, if you are not seriously impressed by what the companies best SWEs do, drop it🚩.

What is the Work-Life Balance Like?

Understanding the work-life balance at a company is crucial.

You need to know if you’ll be spending late nights at the office regularly or if you can expect a reasonable balance. Don’t be shy to ask about the average work hours, flexibility, and the company’s stance on overtime.

Work-life balance is not only good for life — but is also good for work.

You can’t do interesting and creative things if you are not getting enough sleep. And companies with employees who look like they’ve not slept in 3 days, are unlikely to be doing anything creative or interesting.

A good proxy for Work-Life balance is to see how many female SWEs the company employs. Whether you are male or female, a tech-company with very few or zero female SWEs should be a big 🚩red flag.

What is the Company Culture Like?

Company culture is more than just free snacks and TT (ping-pong) tables. It’s about the values, ethics, and environment that you’ll be working in. Ask about the team dynamics, how successes and failures are handled, and what the company does to foster a positive workplace.

Beware, companies that talk a lot about culture or organize a lot of “team building” and “cultural events” probably have rotten internal cultures — that’s why they have to be seen to be doing superficial things about it🚩. The strongest signal that the company has a good culture is happy and engaged employees.

How Does the Company Handle Performance Reviews and Feedback?

Constructive feedback — accurate and delivered often, is the most important thing you need to grow. Without it, you are in the dark.

Understanding how performance is evaluated and how feedback is given is essential. Ask about the frequency of performance reviews, the criteria used for evaluation, and how feedback is delivered. This will help you gauge if the company’s approach aligns with your expectations and if it offers a constructive environment for personal and professional growth.

Ask your interviewers what the best piece of feedback they got from a co-worker in the last month was. If they have to think for too long, that’s a 🚩red flag.

What is the Company’s Vision and Future Direction?

Knowing the company’s long-term vision and how your role fits into this picture is important.

Ask about the company’s goals, upcoming projects, and how they plan to evolve in the next few years. This will help you understand if the company’s future aligns with your career aspirations.

In some companies, this type of information is restricted to high level management and not SWEs. In these companies, SWEs are effectively 2nd class citizens. You don’t want to work for a company that practices apatheid.🚩Big Red flag!

How Does the Company Handle Innovation and Creativity?

In the tech industry, human creativity is key. AI is fast making this even more crucial.

Ask about how the company fosters creativity and innovation among its employees. Are there opportunities to work on new and challenging projects? How does the company encourage out-of-the-box thinking? Understanding the company’s attitude towards innovation will help you gauge if it’s a place where you can truly unleash your creative potential.

Ask your interviews about the last thing they did which was on their own initiative, as opposed to being asked to do it by there manager. The more different this sounds from the things the company usually does, the better.