At least once a week some of the companies interviewing me for jobs have their offices located four hours from where I am situated
The point is that you need to research the company. There are sites like glassdoor, there are forums and blog posts, news about layoffs, acquisitions, contracts etc.
As someone else mentioned, there is your red flag. If a company can't put up a good face for the interview and compensate your for your time to travel there, that is a good sign they'll be stingy with bonuses, benefits or other things in the future.
I was impressed by one company I interviewed with, there were prepared to pay me for gas for visiting them because I drove there. Other company which flew me over, gave me an extra $50 for the cab on the way back and for getting a dinner at the airport when I flew back. It is a small, relatively cheap token of appreciation that makes a good first impression.
My advice is don't ask explicitly as the first thing about it, but as they invite you, when picking a time, ask the person making arrangements, what company will compensate you for amongst other questions. This should probably not be the deciding factor and if you really like the company otherwise, still go, but it is just another heuristic to use.
Other red flag -- they give a very small decision window. They don't want you to have time to get more offers in and compare. In that case, ask to midify the date to think longer. That is a good test how agreeable they are. If they don't want to, that is another red flag.
1. The biggest red flag is that they talk about agile a lot, often they list it in the job title. I like agile, but they ones that talk about it the most are almost always the worst at it. Interviewing at these companies it becomes quickly apparent that they don't have a clue what agile means (or they think it means stand up meetings). The ones practicing agile don't have to talk about it.
2. A short list of OSS libraries in use. They are probably either doing a lot of things sub optimally, or even worse, reinventing a lot of wheels poorly.
3. They use TFS for source control. Much like VSS before it, the only reason it gets used is ignorance on behalf of the developers/company. Quite frequently you'll find that they use it because it's all they've ever known.
2 and 3 are both great indications that when they run into a problem google is not the first port of call.
Every interview went well and we had a good lunch before I left. Two hours later I got a call from the team lead. He was very excited to tell me that an offer was being put together and I'd have it by the end of the day. On my way to the airport the salary offer came. It was lower than the ballpark figure we discussed before I came in for the on-site interviews and lower than my current salary. I immediately declined and declined further negotiation. Lesson learned.
Fad perks, like kegs.
Open work spaces that are also quiet.
Large number of new hires.
The overuse of the word startup from large companies.
The use of the phrase drink from the firehose as if it is positive
Companies may be better set up for new employees of specific skill levels. If you are fresh out of school, then be aware that some companies will have poor onboard support.
Lack of age diversity, diversity is potentially difficult to come by, age diversity is not. This requirement may not apply to startups that cater to persons without children.
Bonus question: in general the company should pay for your travels. If you feel weird about asking and you can afford it, then drive out for the interview. Getting good interview practice is worth time and money investment. Do not feel that they owe you something because you made this decision. The company should also be willing to pay for your move to their location. This should be a requirement if you are going to accept an offer.
If they are hiring lots of people, count how many empty cubicles they have; sometimes it's a sign they've laid off lots of people recently
Yea I've done lots of interviews and some companies offered me a job on the start. I passed their interview because they've asked me generic questions that I've been asked numerous times.
Your point about getting interview experience from doing interviews is great advice!
As for the red flags, google the names of the people who you will be working with and also of those who manage the organization. Go through their public activities and get an idea of their personalities. Sometimes you will find out that your potential colleagues are real jerks, and it can happen that the organization (especially if it's a startup) is run by a 24-year-old arrogant kid. In both cases I would skip that "opportunity" and would look for something else.
That second advice is gold. I've been doing it since day one and it definitely helped to paint a picture the type of culture a company has. Luckily, most of the people that have been interviewing me seem like genuinely nice folks.
Joel goes into depth on these 12 points:
"Do you use source control? Can you make a build in one step? Do you make daily builds? Do you have a bug database? Do you fix bugs before writing new code? Do you have an up-to-date schedule? Do you have a spec? Do programmers have quiet working conditions? Do you use the best tools money can buy? Do you have testers? Do new candidates write code during their interview? Do you do hallway usability testing?"
I think it would be even better if there was another complementary list about culture and the company's motivation.
They expect you to use your magic wand to make their problems go away.
Ask to speak with the actual hiring executive first for 30 minutes via Skype. Have good, solid questions prepared for them. That's YOUR initial scorecard.
If they won't grant access, or can't give satisfactory answers-- those are Big Red Flags.
Incidentally, it's customary that the party requesting an interview cover reasonable travel expenses.
Personally when a company goes through the effort of organizing an interview (especially with travel) and I get there and some amount of chaos/disorganization is apparent I get extremely cautious and is a big red flag for me. Nothing like flying across the country (paid for) to arrive and have the person I'm interviewing with change and leave me waiting in the lobby 30 minutes.
It's taxing to the body and mind, especially to the pocket :/
I may be completely wrong though, is there anyone from the UK here who has asked for travel costs to be covered and been successful?
Some trusts will also pay transport expenses for candidates to make a visit to the trust to talk to people about the job before interview.
Also, watch out for interviewers who are more focused on asserting their alpha nerd status than communicating effectively.
For comparison, when I interviewed at Amazon I told the recruiter I was within walking distance and she still sent me an expense form.
If you want a title that reflects your expertise, use 'Subject Matter Expert : <TOPIC>' somewhere on resume. This makes very clear to future employers where your strongest skills lie.