This is a problem form me, asking about the job or company. I always do research about the company, so I have general idea what to expect, so there's no point asking about the company (I work mostly for banks). As a freelancer I've been to so many teams and projects that I realized that the only think that matters are the people. Unfortunately you rarely can judge the team or working atmosphere from the interview. If it sucks they won't tell you. I can't imagine a technical guy, a developer, sitting in the same room with his manager and answering me "Well the management sucks, but we are using the latest technology."
Kim Arnett [she/her] leads the mobile team at Deque Systems, bringing expertise in iOS development and a strong focus on accessibility, user experience, and team dynamics.
You're right, they won't explicitly tell you if they're soul is dying, lol, but you can typically tell if they're excited to talk about the company they work for, the high points, to answer your questions, etc, or if it takes them time to dig up something good to tell you.
I once asked in an interview if a company was attending an upcoming conference I was speaking at, and they said no, and I asked what other ways do you promote growth on your team.. and they hesitated and said we have an internal training tool.
So that gives me a few red flags - they weren't interested in supporting me going to this conference, it was something they would 'tolerate' and I definitely got the vibe they were not invested in promoting team growth, but that it was an individual responsibility that was expected to be done outside of work.
The point is that these questions can open up topics that may be deal breakers for you. :)
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This is a problem form me, asking about the job or company. I always do research about the company, so I have general idea what to expect, so there's no point asking about the company (I work mostly for banks). As a freelancer I've been to so many teams and projects that I realized that the only think that matters are the people. Unfortunately you rarely can judge the team or working atmosphere from the interview. If it sucks they won't tell you. I can't imagine a technical guy, a developer, sitting in the same room with his manager and answering me "Well the management sucks, but we are using the latest technology."
You're right, they won't explicitly tell you if they're soul is dying, lol, but you can typically tell if they're excited to talk about the company they work for, the high points, to answer your questions, etc, or if it takes them time to dig up something good to tell you.
I once asked in an interview if a company was attending an upcoming conference I was speaking at, and they said no, and I asked what other ways do you promote growth on your team.. and they hesitated and said we have an internal training tool.
So that gives me a few red flags - they weren't interested in supporting me going to this conference, it was something they would 'tolerate' and I definitely got the vibe they were not invested in promoting team growth, but that it was an individual responsibility that was expected to be done outside of work.
The point is that these questions can open up topics that may be deal breakers for you. :)