Sniffing for Culture Smells & Interviewing Critically

It is incredibly difficult to find a good place to work that matches your very unique requirements. How do you interview successfully while also critically examining a company? How do you sniff out culture smells and determine if a company’s work environment will be toxic to you? How do you discern if you will thrive or drown? Examining perspectives, policies, and real-world practices on diversity, employee satisfaction, and HR is not always best done with a questions-only approach. This talk details a multi-pronged approach to interviewing successfully with potential future employers that will help you sniff out culture smells.

Transcript

1. sniffing for culture smells & interviewing critically Liz Abinante @feministy me@liz.codes
2. so, you’re looking for a new job,
3. and you’re worried that you’ll end up working
4. and you’re worried that you’ll end up working for a racist company
5. and you’re worried that you’ll end up working with a transphobic boss
6. and you’re worried that you’ll end up working with misogynistic bros
7. and you’re worried that you’ll end up working in a toxic environment
8. how can we prevent that?
9. how do we find places to work that meet our technical, social, and cultural needs?
10. overview multi-pronged approach finding places to interview pre-interview during the interview post-interview
11. multi-pronged approach
12. before research beforehand
13. before find people you or your network know that work there
14. before submit interview requests during initial interview setup
15. before find an interview buddy
16. during bring a notebook, with questions
17. during ask all of your questions multiple times to different people & write down their responses
18. during answer their questions as real as you can, gauge their responses
19. during observe the “office” environment
20. before, during, and after take breaks in the process self care
21. finding places to interview
22. who do you know? where do your friends work? if you haven’t built a network yet or don’t have friends in tech, look for places that friends-of-friends work
23. who sponsors what? have a favorite meetup group, conference, or cause? look at their sponsors.
24. activate the whisper network ask friends in private channels if they have insight into a company, or if they know anyone there.
25. pre-interview
26. research.
27. research. who works there?
28. research. who used to work there?
29. research. what–if any–negative press exists about the company?
30. research. where does their funding come from and who do they report to?
31. research. what does the demographic look like to an outsider?
32. tactics.
33. tactics. ask to be interviewed by a person from an underrepresented group in that role
34. tactics. ask to be interviewed by someone in a different department
35. take note! who do they pick? what do they do? are they a “token”?
36. tactics. submit interview requests as soon as you setup the interview
37. take note! how do they respond? do they fill all of your requests?
38. tactics. prepare a list of cultural screening questions based on your requirements
39. tactics. ask to speak with a representative from HR
40. tactics. ask about the interview format & prepare as best as you can
41. during the interview
42. prepare your notes & questions ahead of time
43. office? try and visit the different departments
44. office? observe the environment & actions happening around you
45. take your time, provide real answers.
46. if you can*, do not hide or downplay the importance of the things you care about. * do not feel unsafe, aren’t forced to out yourself
47. if asking questions forces you to out yourself
48. find someone internally who can ask those questions for you
49. attempt to meet with HR confidentially
50. or request interview modifications & do research that will help you answer your questions without asking
51. sample questions
52. all questions available online.
53. 3 broad categories diversity employee value & retention HR
54. diversity
55. why do you think diversity in the workforce is important? how do you define diversity?
56. do you have trans-inclusive healthcare? what does it cover?
57. do you have a parental, maternity, or paternity leave policy? lactation rooms on-site?
58. what does success in regards to diversity at this company look like to you?
59. what diversity-focused initiatives or policies have been enacted in the last year? results?
60. what work do you think needs to be done to improve the work environment for underrepresented groups?
61. employee value & retention
62. do you provide job training for employees? which departments have training budgets?
63. what career paths are available from this position?
64. do you have career paths for all positions?
65. do you track metrics on retention & job satisfaction? do you cross- reference data with demographics?
66. HR
67. do you have an HR department? who do they report to?
68. how does HR handle internal complaints?
69. are employee salaries confidential information?
70. what is HR’s charter or primary function?
71. observations
72. who eats lunch together? do people socialize outside of their department?
73. do they have gender-neutral bathrooms?
74. what does the employee demographic look like? what’s the average employee age?
75. are there people from underrepresented groups in upper management roles?
76. how are the lowest-level employees treated? do they get the same perks as engineers?
77. are they promoting internally or hiring externally? experienced only, varying backgrounds?
78. is it difficult to enact change? what changes have they made recently and how long did they take?
79. look for HR antipatterns modelviewculture.com/pieces/hr-antipatterns-at-startups
80. post-interview
81. follow up with any additional or unanswered questions. you can reach out to any of your interviewers.
82. gather your notes & research.
83. examine perspectives vs. policies and real-world practices
84. do their words match their actions?
85. what stances do they take on the things that matter the most to you?
86. thanks! questions online: lizabinante.com Liz Abinante • @feministy • me@liz.codes