Also:
"how do you manage employee performance evaluations? What is the career advancement process like?" (if someone's got a better way to determine if a place does stack ranking without directly asking I'd love to hear it)....
"how do you manage employee performance evaluations? What is the career advancement process like?" (if someone's got a better way to determine if a place does stack ranking without directly asking I'd love to hear it)....
A big red flag is anyone who's never fired someone or never had a bad fit. The key to me is the follow-ups you ask:
• If you've never fired someone, what was the closest you've come? What was the outcome of that situation? Did they quit or did they improve? Why'd you wait for them to quit instead of addressing the issue directly? What made them improve?
• If it was a performance issue, how did you know they were underperforming? What steps did you take to help them improve?
• If it was a culture problem, why did it get missed in the hiring process? If they were initially a good culture fit, what changed?
• How do you identify low performers? Objectively? Subjectively? A mix of the 2.
The caveats are if a) you really really want this job or b) you really really need this job. In those cases, you should only be asking questions that you think make you look good to the hiring team.
At least OP phrased it as career progression question.
Of course, if I was desperate for any job, I'd do what it took to get hired, not to satisfy my curiosity and find the right job.
I’ve seen quite a few eng fired for non-performance reasons and entirely due to culture. Firings for performance are something I’ve rarely seen.
Completely fine to ask how performance is measured and/or how performance reviews are handled, but the nature of these questions is off-putting. Is a candidate trying to figure out how they can get away with being a low performer? How would their poor judgment in asking questions like this show up elsewhere? Likely a high-maintenance individual.
And, the caveats at the end of the comment indicate the author knows these questions would not make you look good to the hiring team. If the company hired you anyway, probably wouldn't be a good place to work.
> Is a candidate trying to figure out how they can get away with being a low performer?
If you're wondering this, just ask them.