[Updated 18-09-2017]

I had a screening interview a couple of days ago and to help me prepare for it I wrote down a kind of todo list.

Research the company

Company business
  • what is the industry?
  • what is their mission?
  • how do they make money?
  • where do they operate?
  • what is their market share?
Company history
  • when was it created?
  • by whom?
  • why?
  • what does the future look like?
Company structure
  • what is the size? (how many employees?)
  • what does the orgchart look like? (size of the board? how many layers of management?)
  • where are their offices?
Company culture
  • do they have core values?
  • how do they compare to competitors?
Company and you
  • do you believe in their mission?
  • would you be proud to be working for them?
  • could you grow there?
  • what could you bring?

Research the role

Role description
  • what is the main task? (back-end developer? front-end developer? technical lead? etc…)
  • what is the level of responsibilities?
  • what is the level of expertise?
  • what does the team do?
  • who are the primary customers? other interactions?
Role progression
  • are they opportunities to grow?
  • how do they evaluate employees?
Role and you
  • would you be excited to do the job on a daily basis?
  • do you fit the candidate description? if not, how much does it matter?
  • what would bring to the job?
  • what would you bring to the team?
  • how would you progress?

Preparing questions

About the company
About the role
Practicality
  • what is the interview process? who will you meet?
  • when will you hear from them next?