Good Jobs #82: Red flags 🚩

It's back!! Tech jobs at Intuit, Toast, Webflow, Gravity Payments, Highwire, FTC, and more

Mar 03, 2023

red and white flags on brown wooden boat during daytime — Photo by bruno neurath-wilson

My mentoring gig has picked up over the last couple months. Lots more mock interviews and portfolio reviews. I chalk it up to people looking for something new in the new year and the layoffs in the tech sector right now.

During mentoring sessions I’ve heard a number of yellow and red flags from those actively interviewing. Thought I’d provide my commentary on a few:

🟡 Complicated take-home assignments. If you have to do one, keep it under 1-2 hours. Even better, ask for an in-person whiteboard session instead. You’ll get a sense for the caliber of the team and the culture too.

🟡 So. many. interview. steps. A sign of an inefficient and indecisive team. A sneak peek at what it’ll be like working there.

🟡 Hiring team responds late at night. If you’re getting emails from someone at 8:45pm, it’s very likely working late and/or responding to emails at all hours is the norm. If that’s not for you: RUN.

🔴 Doing a take-home assignment, but not being able to present it. You put the free work in, the least they can do is give you time to present your decisions. I’ve heard too many people get the auto-generated “Thanks, but no thanks” email after submitting their assignment. Gross.

🔴 Working for free. Even for a short period is a waste of your time. Most tech internships pay these days. Get that $$$.

🔴 The boss talks bad about the team. Bringing up potential gaps or weaknesses of the team is one thing. Calling specific people out and/or hoping you’ll “save them” by joining is super concerning. 😬

Remember, an interview is just as much of a time for you to assess the job and team as it is a company assessing you.

Onward,

Loren

DEV

Software Engineer at Descript

Remote | Full-time | Salary: $130–215K

Senior Software Engineer, Frontend at Intuit

Eagle | Full-time

DevOps Engineer at Highwire

Boise | Full-time

Software Engineer at Simplot

Boise | Full-time

QA Engineer at Gravity Payments

Remote | Full-time

Software Engineer II at Toast

Remote | Full-time | Salary: $112–179K

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