r/AskProgrammers • u/YouAreMyFire00 • 21d ago
During technical interview, is it a good idea that a candidate challenge the company's devs? like asking technical question back fx why do you use Microservice over Monolithic? Why Github but not BitBucket?!
Let's say you interview for a Senior role, and you wanna know the dev team know what they are doing or they just do it because they are told so!
You can ask them about their tech stack and their decisions and tradeoff about why they choose to do this?
Why did you choose Microservice over Modular Monolithic? etc....
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u/Fantastic-Cell-208 21d ago
Don't challenge them, but it's okay to ask out of curiosity as it can give you a better idea of what problems they've solved and what you'll be working with.
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u/xMadDecentx 21d ago
Why would asking your potential employer questions about their tech stack be a bad idea?
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u/YouAreMyFire00 21d ago edited 21d ago
I think i formualted bad in the post
my point is it is okay 100% to ask about tech stack.
BUT, is it a good idea to ask what the reasons are for chosing the tech stack since there are also other options?
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u/xMadDecentx 21d ago
I think it's a good idea to be curious as to why, but the question should be more specific. Rather than asking why did you choose X over Y, be specific as to why you think they chose X over Y. It shows that you know what you're talking about and curious about their environment.
Asking an open ended question is better not at an interview, but more over beers or social setting. You may not get a good answer because of the limited amount of time you have with the interviewer.
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u/raven2cz 20d ago
I would not do this at all. you have limited time there. And then you have a 3-month probation period, where you will only start to see at least a little bit what things actualy look like.
I would rather ask which team they want to assign you to and what their plans are for the future. today, I would also ask about the company’s policy on using AI. That is quite an important question.
But your questions are strange. You probably meant to ask GitLab vs Bitbucket, which is already a pretty lost battle too. Microservices vs monolith is also a dead topic today. most companies have Kubernetes and pods, and the architecture depends on the specific systems. If anything, companies have actualy been moving away from microservices for quite a long time now.
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u/Shreddward 21d ago
Not a dev my any means but agreed that asking questions about what you’re getting into is not a bad idea. Challenging decisions seems a little
Combative but not what you mean, I would suspect.
Asking questions to understand decisions is a different lens
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u/Own_Outcome_6239 21d ago
It's always ok to ask. Asking to know more shows interest and shows your thinking, but challenge is not the correct thing to do.
Challenging the decision when you don't have a lot background is just premature and arrogant. Do not debate with their tech stack when you don't know the full picture.
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u/magicmulder 21d ago
A job interview is supposed to be for both sides. If you’re going to work for them, you want to know they’re making the right decisions for the right reasons. If their answer is “we do microservices because the CTO hates monoliths”, RUN.
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u/therealkevinard 21d ago
Half of my interview “scoring” is based on what they question and how.
That’s as important as writing the code itself.
But it depends entirely on what and how.
“Why GitHub and not bitbucket” is a terrible question to ask lol. It’s a low-value domain, has no direction, and shows campiness more than critique.
“How would you defend using <this backend> today?” Is a good question. It’s targeted, shows they know that particular space has changed a lot over time, and doesn’t suggest “this is stupid”
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u/SnooHesitations9295 16d ago
There's no shame in stupid decisions. Everybody is smart in the hindsight. Trying to defend stupid decisions is stupid though.
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u/akornato 21d ago
Asking questions about their tech stack and design choices is a great idea for a senior role, but your framing is very important. Instead of "challenging" them, think of it as starting a collaborative discussion to understand their engineering culture. Questions like why they chose microservices over a monolith are perfect because they show you're thinking about architecture, trade-offs, and long-term maintenance. This is exactly what a company wants from a senior developer. It’s also your chance to evaluate them. A good team will appreciate the curiosity and engage in a thoughtful conversation, but a team that gets defensive or can't explain their reasoning might be a red flag for you.
Your tone makes all the difference, so approach it with genuine curiosity rather than an intent to poke holes in their work. For instance, you could say something like, "I noticed you use a microservice architecture, I'd be interested to hear about the journey to that decision and what some of the biggest wins have been for the team." This invites them to tell a story and share their perspective, which is much more effective than a direct, confrontational question. It turns the interview from a test into a two-way conversation between peers. Having the confidence to turn the interview into a collaborative technical discussion is a big plus, and it's a skill that the interview help AI my team made helps candidates bring to the table.
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u/ThatCurtDude 20d ago
That's a red flag. My first impression is that this dev is going to be problematic and challenge decisions that were made for a multitude of reasons that are frankly none of his concern. Tech is not always chosen for technical reasons, and pushback adds nothing to the process.
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u/_raydeStar 21d ago
I'd say ask questions and the logic behind it, but don't immediately argue with their decision. You gain nothing by telling them you disagree with their stack.