• What’s the on-call process like?
• How much time off on average do developers actually take?
• What is the testing and QA process?
• How do you measure success of a project?
• When and how do you evaluate employee performance?

I want to make sure my work-life balance isn’t going to be awful, and hearing that they have Unlimited Vacation doesn’t tell me how much vacation people actually take. I also want to know that the place isn’t just doing what a manager thinks “feels right” but actually measures and has standard processes for making decisions.

Another question I usually ask that may be relevant for many of you: what proportion of your developers are women? And: are there any women in tech leadership roles?

Personally, with that one, I’m mostly just looking for a normal response and that it isn’t zero. I don’t want to be the only woman around.

Yeah, I agree - assuming most of the roots are still in the bark/moss, it’s fine. In the wild they hang off trees, they’ve got it covered.

Darmok is probably my favorite but this list is perfect

Ukraine too! My Ukrainian grandfather made it.

I highly recommend the book First Among Equals. It’s specifically about running a team of developers and managing them well. I found it full of good ideas and it’s specific to tech as well, it’s not just general management advice.