Assume that a candidate is a skilled dev who can find a job, but wants one where they are both well paid and feel happy and productive.<p>A partial list of things that I'd like to know before starting a job:<p>1. Does the product/project have an owner who looks at it from a user standpoint?<p>- How about access to feedback from users?<p>- Are there specs?<p>- How is it determined that something you work onis a good fit?<p>2. Quality of code and the dev practices.<p>- Ideal: I'd get a copy of the code, set up a dev environment, examine and run the tests, write in a new mini-feature, deploy to a testing env, and have someone show me a full live deployment.<p>- Is there a sense of a cohesive architecture, or at least some effort and interest towards one?<p>- How do I know they're not lying about their "Joel test" results?<p>3. Does the team have time to perform proper maintenance of projects? (e.g.: vulnerability discovered, core third-party library updated, etc.)<p>- Does the company spread itself over multiple projects or forks so they don't all get the attention they deserve?<p>4. How easy is it for developers to touch the ops process?<p>- Ideal: I feel dev/ops should have a large amount of crossover. A specialization sweet-spot keeps everyone working most efficiently, but I don't see "writing a platform" as entirely distinct from "running the platform and ensuring its health".<p>5. How do you determine there is a good path for career growth?<p>- If someone is a key employee for a long time, do they get recognized for it, financially and role-wise?<p>I've worked at some places with skilled teams that are unprofitable and unsustainable, and some that are profitable and sustainable, but are poorly managed and are not fun to work at.<p>How can I figure out that a place is somewhere I'd like to work before saying "yes, I will accept your offer"?
Finding out whether the management is good/bad is not something you can determine without seeing it in action. It can even come from close to the top and blindside you completely.<p>Getting too hung up in the minute details is not good - you don't want people who are nearly identical to you. I don't care too much about the specifics of a stack, excepting that it doesn't involve WordPress work - I do care about the details when I'm actually working on there, but that is different.<p>The people & the decision making are the most important. Good leadership is also of vital importance - one bad leader is enough to sink a team, especially at a startup. Code architecture can be fixed - it is an opportunity for you to step in and help fix it and any process issues. Becoming involved in multiple sectors is also usually encouraged. However, any of these initiatives can be sunk by any one decision maker along the chain.<p>Your best bet is to observe how everyone carries themselves carefully, especially any time you see them in person. Question the interviewers carefully on their processes, interpersonal dynamic, and observe & assess each person's behavior. Even still you will be making a leap of faith, but at least it will be one where you have made important evaluation of the company, and it can help you screen out bad fits more efficiently.