Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: How To Avoid Working With Awful Legacy Code?
kramer2718 writes "I have worked for about a decade as a software engineer. I am almost never hired to build new software from scratch, so my work satisfaction tends to be proportionate to quality of the legacy code I have to work with. Some legacy code has been good. Most of it is bad. I know a few questions to ask during an interview to determine the code quality: Are recent technologies used? Are there code review processes? Is TDD practiced? Even so, I still encounter terrible quality code. Does Slashdot have any advice for other questions to ask? Any other ways to find out code quality beforehand?"
Your tone conveys an attitude that your employees shouldn't be interested in how the company is run, that's a huge red flag from my experience.
It's not prima donna to inquire about the history of the position. You should want employees who think they can succeed where someone else has failed.
I don't understand employers who think company operations are of no business to their employees. I may work for you, but I'm putting my livelihood and that of my family in your hands. You don't have to justify all your decisions, but some explanation of the direction and plan goes a long way.
I would never hire someone who questioned turnover rates and asked why the position was vacant. It is, quite frankly, none of the interviewee's business and conveys a kind of prima donna attitude.
As a hiring manager, I like when a candidate picks up on things like that and asks about the high turnover rate - it shows that he is looking at more than just the technical side of the job and is interested in the entire work environment. I want to make sure he's a good fit and feels comfortable working in the environment, otherwise if he's there for a couple months, runs into the same frustrations as the other programmers that left, he'll just be contributing to the turnover.
I have nothing to hide and no reason to hide it -- it's not like he won't find out about it if he accepts the job. If the high turnover came from a recent management change and change in direction of the company, I want him to know about it from the outset. If the high turnover came because half the development team got together and formed their own, competing company, I also want him to know about it.