Today’s link is a companion to my earlier post with resume advice. After resumes come interviews, and in those you’ve got to ask your interviewer a few questions. When you’re just starting out it’s really hard to know what’s okay to ask or what you would even want to ask. Fortunately Jen Hamilton compiled a fantastic list of questions to ask interviewers from various sources (they’re linked at the bottom) and her own interests and experiences.
A couple of questions I’d like to highlight are these ones:
Flex time/core hours? Is variability tolerated or is everyone expected to be on the same schedule?
Is it possible to work from home, say, 1 or 2 days a week? Does anyone do this?
Just because a lot of companies that hire developers work normal 9-5 hours doesn’t mean they all do. I’ve heard enough horror stories to strongly recommend asking exactly when you are expected to be in the office/available online and whether it’s going to be a big deal to work from home to let the field tech in to fix your internet connection.