Chipress

Since the hiring manager has a direct impact on your future career growth in the company, it is important for you to evaluate whether you would like to work with the hiring manager in the future.

The most effective approach is to get the opinions / feedback from other people’s mouths if they have worked with the hiring manager before. However, this is not always possible. Sometimes you have to evaluate by yourself and rely on your own judgment.

If the hiring manager is interested in your past experiences or projects, this would be a good opportunity. You can observe how he / she understands the scope and purpose of a project that he / she did not work on directly from a high level perspective, and see if he / she can truly understand the technical obstacles / difficulties you faced in the past. If the hiring manager can challenge your design choice in a reasonable way or even propose alternative solutions, it means the hiring manager has a strong business and technical sense.

A good manager should have great communication skills and be good at guiding his / her direct reports. When discussing a technical interview question, good hiring managers can guide you through the problem solving process and you will be having interactive conversations. This is also your chance to see if he / she is hands-on. Good managers should also be curious about technical stuff, and be closely following industry trends.

You should also evaluate the personality and management style of the hiring manager and see if there is “chemistry” between you. For example, you might be a slow-thinking person, and it could be hard to work with a fast-paced, aggressive manager; or you might be looking for a position with higher personal autonomy, and a manager with lots of micro-management may not be your friend.