ALWAYS spend time with your future boss prior to accepting.
Not always possible. For example, at a lot of the larger technology companies, you'll be hired (on paper) by a group manager, who'll then assign you to one of the handful of teams he or she is in charge of. And that's leaving aside stuff like what Facebook does, where you spend 6 weeks "in training" before being assigned to your actual team. Or Google's policy of not informing people what teams they're being hired for.
In that situation, my the best thing to ask about is the transfer policy. A bad team is bearable for a finite period of time, if you know there's a fixed path to getting out.
Not always possible. For example, at a lot of the larger technology companies, you'll be hired (on paper) by a group manager, who'll then assign you to one of the handful of teams he or she is in charge of. And that's leaving aside stuff like what Facebook does, where you spend 6 weeks "in training" before being assigned to your actual team. Or Google's policy of not informing people what teams they're being hired for.
In that situation, my the best thing to ask about is the transfer policy. A bad team is bearable for a finite period of time, if you know there's a fixed path to getting out.