Interview Questions a Developer Asks

When applying for a job, it is important to realize that despite that the company is interviewing you for a position, you also need to interview them to ensure the place is in line for what YOU are looking for as well.

Below are a list of questions I like to ask during the interview process to get a good overview of the company and the position I am applying for.

Typically what happens is a recruiter, or someone from HR, will reach out to do an initial interview to gauge if you have the skills and personality they are looking for. Once they determine you are a good fit, then the resume is passed on to the proper personnel to schedule the more technical interviews. These are the questions I have documented in a spreadsheet that I follow through for each possible employer to refer to.

Recruiter / HR

• Do you support continued education?
• What are the company's goals for moving forward in the next 5 years?
• How would my performance be measured?
• Why do you enjoy working here?
• How many people are on a team, typically?
• How flexible is the work schedule?
• What is the work/life balance? Would I be able to work from home if the weather is bad or have something happening at my house that I need to be there for?
• Are there any travel requirements?
• What do you feel like makes <company name> stand out?(if not remote)?
• What does a developer work area look like? desk, wall, monitors, etc.(if not remote)
• (If not remote) What is the dress code?
• (If not remote) Do the staff get together outside of work?

Development Questions

• Which source control do you use? Git or SVN?
• If Git, ask the workflow used in Git to incorporate branches and releases
• What databases do you use, if any?
• Do you have any IDE preferences?
• What build system do you use? Maven, Gradle, Ant?
• Do you have company code standards?
• Do you use code analysis tools like Checkstyle and/or PMD?
• Do you have nightly builds?
• Do you use Jenkins?
• How are projects planned and prioritized?
• How are tasks managed?
• Do you have a wiki for documentation?
• What is the deliverable of my work? Update systems, software release, etc.
• Do you use Agile?
• What would a typical day as a developer look like?
• What do you feel like makes <company name> stand out?
• Do you have an instant messaging system? Slack, Mattermost, Skype?
• Why do you enjoy working here?
• Do you have testers? Are developers expected to write tests as well?
• Are there any other technologies the company uses that have not been talked about?
• Would there be anything you recommend I become more familiar with if I was to start to make my ramp-up time easier?

I hope these questions help out! If you have any other good ones you like to ask, please let me know as I would love to expand this out more.

Best of luck in your job search!