Interviewing the Interviewer: Questions to Uncover a Company's True Culture
Job seekers are increasingly urged to “interview the interviewer” to uncover a company’s real culture, but many engineers argue that candid answers are rare and signals often come more from behavior than from polished responses. Commenters share specific questions they’ve found useful—about who succeeds, on-call load, deadlines, turnover, pay ranges, and management’s biggest challenges—while highlighting power imbalances, legal and HR constraints, and the risk of being penalized for probing too hard. Overall, the thread suggests combining targeted questions with observation of how you’re treated in the process, and, where possible, back-channel checks with current and former employees.
Value and Limits of “Interviewing the Interviewer”
- Some see questions like “what could the company improve?” as as useless as “what’s your greatest weakness”: they mostly test verbal skill and elicit diplomatic non‑answers.
- Others argue probing questions are essential, especially for leadership roles. They show candidates care about org health and can surface whether leadership actually drives cultural improvements.
- There is skepticism that you can get honest culture signals in a formal interview; many see it as PR, with prepared, “corporate” answers.
What to Ask and How
- Popular “reverse interview” questions focus on:
- Who succeeds vs struggles on the team.
- Near‑term objectives and how this role contributes.
- How collaboration, coordination, and on‑call work.
- Work‑life balance, crunch periods, and deadlines.
- Biggest challenges over the next 1–5 years.
- What they’d change with a “magic wand” / finger snap.
- Why the predecessor left and what would make the hire a clear success after a year.
- Asking multiple people the same question and comparing answers, plus watching nonverbal reactions, is seen as more reliable than any single response.
Culture, Teams, and Signals
- Debate over “engineering culture”: some say culture only really exists at team/department level; others argue there is a company‑level culture, albeit uneven and shifting.
- Strong signals many look at:
- Responsiveness, scheduling, and contract flexibility.
- How you are treated logistically (breaks, respect, basic amenities).
- Tenure of staff and how candid engineers (vs managers/HR) are.
- Several recommend contacting former employees (e.g., via LinkedIn) for more candid views.
Salary Expectations and Power Dynamics
- Large subthread on “what are your salary expectations?”:
- Hiring‑side: used to avoid misalignment, work within flexible or unclear budgets, and sometimes to justify levels/bands.
- Candidate‑side: often viewed as a tactic to lowball; many prefer the company to disclose ranges first and treat the role, not the candidate’s number, as the pricing basis.
- Some jurisdictions require publishing salary ranges; companies may comply with very wide bands, limiting their usefulness.
Market Reality vs Ideal Fit
- A number of posters note that in a tight market or after long unemployment, candidates may accept poor culture and keep searching later.
- Others insist that asking hard questions and walking away from red flags is still worthwhile to avoid short, unhappy stints.