> I’ve found it a real struggle to get our team to adopt writing tests.
If you're struggling to judge the engineering culture of a company that you're considering joining, consider this indicative of a poor one. It isn't definitive, but it's something you should ask about and probe further. Ask to see their CI dashboard and PR comments over the last few days. When they talk about Agile, ask what _engineering_ techniques (not process!) they leverage. These things will tell you if you're joining a GM or a Toyota; a company that sees quality and efficiency as opposing forces, or one that sees them as inseparable.
When it comes to tests, there are two types of people: those who know how to write tests, and those who think they're inefficient. If I had to guess what happened here, I'd say: the company had a lack of people who knew how to write effective tests combined with a lack of mentoring.
That's why you ask to see recent PR comments and find out if they do pair programming. Because these two things are decisive factors in a good engineering culture.
If you're struggling to judge the engineering culture of a company that you're considering joining, consider this indicative of a poor one. It isn't definitive, but it's something you should ask about and probe further. Ask to see their CI dashboard and PR comments over the last few days. When they talk about Agile, ask what _engineering_ techniques (not process!) they leverage. These things will tell you if you're joining a GM or a Toyota; a company that sees quality and efficiency as opposing forces, or one that sees them as inseparable.
When it comes to tests, there are two types of people: those who know how to write tests, and those who think they're inefficient. If I had to guess what happened here, I'd say: the company had a lack of people who knew how to write effective tests combined with a lack of mentoring.
That's why you ask to see recent PR comments and find out if they do pair programming. Because these two things are decisive factors in a good engineering culture.