I get emails and messages from recruiters two or three times a week. On top of that, I help lead the local developer meetup, so I get contacted by recruiters to help introduce them to the appropriate developers for their open positions.

I don’t mind being contacted by recruiters, and if I can help them, I love to. I know enough developers that I can usually point them toward at least one prospect.

That said, I ask something in return. I’ve built a list of 11 questions that I ask them to answer before I pass the request on to developers in our community.

The List of Questions

1. What’s the pay range? (Please don’t say, “Based on experience” without a range)
2. How much vacation time / sick time?
3. What other benefits (insurance, retirement, etc) are offered?
4. Do you allow a developer to be out of contact when on vacation?
5. Is full-time remote work an option?
6. Is working from home (as needed) an option?
7. Do you allow work on side projects, and if so, do you allow it without supervisor approval?
8. How often is >40 hours in a week expected?
9. Do developers have a quiet place to work?
10. Are you open to new tools and technologies that a developer wants to use?
11. What kind of hardware do the developers use?

None of the questions eliminate an employer as an option, but negative answers on 2-10 do alter what the expectation for #1 is. If you’re unwilling to answer the questions, I’d NEVER refer you to someone else. There’s nothing worse than working for a closed company.

I also use this is as the baseline for Lemonly being an awesome place to work. If you’re a candidate for an open position here at Lemonly, we are happy to give you answers to every question. It’s up to you to decide if the answers are good enough for you to join our awesome team.

What am I missing? Let me know in the comments.