7 red flags to look out for during a software engineering interview

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There’s nothing worse than being stuck in a toxic workplace for years.

Sadly, a lot of developers realize this fact way too late. Disgruntled employees will stay on board for five years, wishing they saw the signs earlier. This is especially true for software developers and engineers. They have to pore over lines of code all day. Reevaluating career choices becomes an afterthought.

While being in a company can start off beautifully and deteriorate over time, most signs of a terrible company are visible even before you sign on the dotted line.

Employers use job interviews to determine if an applicant is a great fit for them. Similarly, applicants should use interviews to see what kind of company they’re getting themselves into. Whether advertently or otherwise, how a job interviewer speaks can expose various red flags that you should be wary about before accepting an offer.

1. “We don’t pay much, but it’s good experience and exposure for you.”

Who wouldn’t want fame? I’d love to be known all over the world, too. But let’s face it: labor isn’t cheap. You don’t work for free. As wonderful as fame is, you need to put food on your table. You didn’t spend your entire life learning code just to earn table scraps.

Unless it’s a big company like Google or Facebook, just being at a company will not merit brownie points on your resume. If a Top 500 company did offer you exposure, then a fat paycheck is already a big guarantee.

Usually, a small company that offers you experience in lieu of cold, hard cash can’t afford you and hopes you can stay on board for next to nothing.

2. “Let’s be honest here, every business in this industry expects 50-hour work weeks. They don’t say they do, but they do.”

As Redditor vivomancer says, “Nope, right out of that interview.” The average work week for any employee lasts 40 hours. Anything more than that should be considered overtime.

Regardless of where you work, overtime is inevitable especially in the software development industry—long hours just testing the code for bugs and errors. However, this shouldn’t be normal.

In fact, that’s why laws state that overtime work is paid at a premium. If a company attempts to normalize a 50-hour work week from the get-go, you can expect to stay in the office until bedtime for weeks on end. If you have even a semblance of a social life, this will burn you out until you’re a lifeless coding and programming husk.

3. “You’re the fifth guy we’re hiring in two years. We hope you can turn things around.”

Employees leaving after only a few months is a sign to skedaddle before you end up as just another notch on their tally. A high turnover rate is a curious mystery. It can imply so many different things, but they almost always lead to the same conclusion—working there is a nightmare. The only exceptions that this should have are for retail jobs like McDonald’s.

If you’re in the professional development world, a high turnover rate is indicative of poor working conditions, terrible bosses, and measly compensation plans.

Similarly, too many cooks spoil the broth. Would you really want to put your hands on software grimed by five different people who may or may not have left intentional bugs out of resentment?

4. “Do you know Java, C++, Python, Angular, and Perl? We need you to have at least five years of experience in each.”

5. “So, how many kids do you have?”

6. “Please don’t mind the negative reviews we received on LinkedIn.”

7. They simply don’t turn up.