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20 Questions To Ask A Recruiter When Looking For A New Tech Job

Andrew Stetsenko on June 19, 2019

So, you’re looking for a developer/any other tech job. How do you ensure that the vacancy and the company suit you maximally? The first thing you s...
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Shawn McElroy

These are great questions. One thing that helped me be better in an interview, was to realize that I need to be interviewing the company as well. They want to know what kind of person I am, my goals, If I will be likeable, get along with the team, etc. But you are interviewing them as well. I have worked for some shady startups.

You should be interviewing them as well to make sure they are a good fit for you. With the right questions you should be able to get an idea of how the company is managed, likelihood of it being a hostile work environment, whether you would like them, their values (yes a companies values IMHO are important too), and everything else the above questions would tell you. Also look for where they might be dodging questions which is a red flag.

Overall, good post. Some good questions in there.

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Andrew Stetsenko

I completely agree with you. It's important to remember that you're interviewing the company, too, to define whether the organization and the vacancy meet your expectations.

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Brent Fitzgerald

Awesome list. Most recruiters won't have deep answers to some of these questions, especially about technology and engineering practices. But there's no harm in asking, and these are certainly worth digging into on the phone screen with an engineering team member or manager.

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Andrew Stetsenko

Thank you! Before starting to search for a new tech specialist, a recruiter should arrange an intake meeting with a hiring manager. Perhaps the answers to the tech-related questions won't be deep, but a recruiter should know at least the basic information.

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Torben

Nice points you're making!

I also really like the Joel Test with these points:

  1. Do you use source control?
  2. Can you make a build in one step?
  3. Do you make daily builds?
  4. Do you have a bug database?
  5. Do you fix bugs before writing new code?
  6. Do you have an up-to-date schedule?
  7. Do you have a spec?
  8. Do programmers have quiet working conditions?
  9. Do you use the best tools money can buy?
  10. Do you have testers?
  11. Do new candidates write code during their interview?
  12. Do you do hallway usability testing?
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Debashis Dip

thank you so much, I actually have an interview tomorrow morning, and I was wondering what might be the questions that I need to ask.

5, 7, 10, 12, 13, 15 and 19 are the most important ones for me 🙌🏻

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Andrew Stetsenko

Thanks for your feedback! Good luck with your interview :)

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Lautaro Lobo

Thanks men! Some of this are really good!

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Marco Carrozzo

Thanks! I wrote myself a similar list, but this is much more complete!