Ask HN: How to pick team at my new job?

6 points by senordevnyc 6y ago ↗ HN

I just accepted a senior / staff level IC role at one of the smaller public tech companies. There are two teams that are interested in me and I can pick between them. I'm meeting with the hiring managers for both and I'm not even entirely sure what to ask them. Any advice?

7 comments

[ 8.6 ms ] story [ 29.2 ms ] thread

bingotips 6y ago ↗

Ask if you can sit in (stand in?) on the daily standups (if they have those) for each team before you pick.

senordevnyc 6y ago ↗

I like this idea! I think they do them on slack though...but maybe I could read a few days worth to get a feel?

gtirloni 6y ago ↗

Definitely. Look for signs of the standup being a pure status update. That might give you some hints about the type of management.

deepaksurti 6y ago ↗

You could try a few relevant questions from reverse interview [1] even though you are past interview stage.

[1] https://github.com/viraptor/reverse-interview

senordevnyc 6y ago ↗

Awesome, thanks!

JSeymourATL 6y ago ↗

> I'm meeting with the hiring managers...

1) What are the top 2-3 things we should discuss or that you would most like to learn about me?

2) Challenges: Where is your team struggling?

3) GOALS/VISION: What does success look like?

Any and all info at this stage is relevant.

Broadly, you're looking for clarity/openness/tonality.

Can you live with this guy? Importantly, can you help this guy?

[dead] FruityFarm 6y ago ↗

Meet the engineering managers as well to see if you like them.