What to ask potential new manager
Posted by python_geek@reddit | ExperiencedDevs | View on Reddit | 12 comments
Hello! I am talking to a manager informally for an offer I have. The company is offering about 50% more pay, but potentially more stress, so I'm on the fence.
I want to ask about things like: WLB, oncall and management style. I don't want to come across as a lazy worker though.
What questions would you ask and how would you ask them?
Rosenvine@reddit
I will echo what some have said, you should ask about what makes a successful 30/60/90. What type of manager do they view themself as. What are the team dynamics and where does the team need to improve? Do they have any advice?
As far as work life balance goes, you can ask that without asking that. Ask about how the team does out of hours communication, what the expected response time is both ways? Ask about how they prefer you offer advice if you see something you would want changed, ask how they deliver feedback and how they deliver status updates. Learn what project methodology the team uses, is it move fast and break things, or is it slow and steady wins the race.
python_geek@reddit (OP)
thanks, good ideas
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Few-Impact3986@reddit
I ask 'How do you like your job?' people are usually honest and you can tell when they are beating around the bushes. I also ask 'What keeps you up at night?"
CreepyNewspaper8103@reddit
If anyone rescinds your offer because you asked those questions, you probably didn't want to work there. Also why didn't you ask those questions during the interview?
python_geek@reddit (OP)
The role was filled so I'm talking to a new software manager.
Robodobdob@reddit
I ask my interviewers what they get out of working there. An interview should be a two-way conversation, after all.
Flashy-Whereas-3234@reddit
What are the on-call expectations and why do you think you need it? Who or what triggers an on-call response?
What are your incidents like and how frequently? Is it a matter of priority to reduce and mitigate them? Is this being led by someone cross team?
What's the ecosystem of the platform? How's the architectural documentation so I can onboard cleanly? Do you have a process where new starters can fill gaps in docs as they go?
Generally what's the grace period for a new starter in this role before the buck stops here?
rezwell@reddit
Define what meeting expectations is, and whats exceeding expectations.
Name an employee in the past that was high performing and why they were high performing and did they get promoted.
F0tNMC@reddit
What are your expectations of me for the first month, quarter, and year?
eemamedo@reddit
I ask about tech I will be using, some of the challenges the team is facing and is on the roadmap to be solved, team structure, average tenure, how decisions are being made.
Average tenure will tell you about WLB. High stress environment will have high turnover as putting some serious hours works only for so long until major burnout comes.
Sensitive-Ear-3896@reddit
What project do you think I will be starting out on (sometimes its part of the interview sometimes not)