Collecting a number of questions that might be informative to ask in job interviews, for practice and mentoring usage. You probably can’t/shouldn’t ask all of these, might not get an answer, and “No” isn’t bad. Deliberately excluded are most compensation and benefits questions which you should definitely ask about. People have different needs and priorities, so getting more information helps everyone make better decisions. Hope this helps!

• What’s the org’s policy and practice on open source and community software?
  • Do you use it, allow it’s use?
  • Do you release any or share back?
• Do staff and/or leaders present at public or private conferences and workshops ?
  • attributed to the org, or unattributed ?
• How are you encouraging diversity (what kinds) in your hiring ?
  • in your daily and weekly operations ?
• Is there policy about moonlighting / side gigs ?
  • Is teaching (part-time) covered in that policy ?
• What is your program for staff professional development and education ?
  • Do you pay for training and certifications ?
  • College and post-grad work ?
  • professional societies, licensure(sp) fees
• what’s the new hire onboarding process like?
  • Is there a formal program for new hires ? (For the org , for the team)
  • Do new team members get assigned a mentor or “buddy” ?
• Do you issue computers / phones / hotspots or compensate for those expenses ?
  • … mobile and fixed line Internet access costs ?

• Are there any benefits particularly for remote / tele-working staff ?

• What’s your org (or team) workforce development strategy (aka pipeline) ?
  • Interns, co-ops, college recruiting ?
  • (details about job posting, budgets, finance)
• How common are transfers between teams?
  • Do individuals rotate through roles commonly or regularly ?

role specific

• Is this a newly created role or a backfill / replacement ?

• What’s success look like for this role and how is it measured?
  • for the team
  • for the org
• What would $self be expected to accomplish in 90 days, six months, one year in the new role ?

Please share your lists or the sources for these ideas and I will happily add links or send a PR. Cheers!