Recently the manager of my team left. We're filling the position and being one of the senior engineers on the team I'll also get to be part of the on-site interview loop. Along with an easy leetcode problem, What else should I focus on? What are the main signals you would look for when having a say in hiring your future manager? PS. I'm no longer at SAP and at a small startup. TC 200k YOE 4
The most ineffective manager I’ve had (and biggest mistake in hiring) is a well meaning individual who is reasonably technical but by virtue of the manager title makes them think they’re the principal decider of all tech decisions and have little interest in people management. My mistake in hiring them was that I didn’t delve enough into the managerial (how will they develop people and enable the team to thrive). After a string of non-technical managers I was so happy to have someone in the queue who understood what our team did and in retrospect the pendulum swung too far.
Bookmarking this. I’ll soon be interviewing someone potentially my manager. I’d consider it a red flag if s/he been a job hopper for past few positions. In a mgmt role it need time to build trust and accountability with stakeholders. Anything else?
That's a meaningless metric if he has reasons. Consider it, but don't make it a decider.
Empathy, confidence (can push back/say No; won't panic and place blame when things don't work out), proactive vs. reactive, experienced
Harvard Business Review has a ton of amazing articles and studies on what to look for in leadership and what is red flags. Since I don't know exactly what role your manager fills and what your team is working on, I'd suggest reading there. Other than that, Check how well they take criticism and critique. The biggest red flag is if they dismiss what you are saying. The green flag is when they pause, examine what you said, and tell you a yes you are right or no they disagree with a reason as to why.
People skills Compassion Complex problem solving Conflict resolution EQ Program and Product Development