Are you ready for overtime and weekend work

This is a highly questionable question, and it is not asked for nothing. If overtime and weekends come up at the interview stage, the odds of being ridden hard are high.

#Theory

#TL;DR

• This is common where overtime is already the norm.
• Answer honestly, not with what they want to hear.
• Ask back: how often, how compensated, and why.
• "Yes, of course" sets the bar for your entire time there.
• Their answer tells you more than yours tells them.

#How to answer, and what to ask back

I understand there are releases or incidents where you have to step up, and I do step up in those situations. But as a standing practice it does not work for me: burnout is bad for me and bad for the product. Could you tell me how often this actually happens and how it is compensated?

The reaction to that follow-up is more informative than the original question. A concrete answer about a few times a year plus time off in lieu is one thing. Musing about "we are like a family here" is another.

#Why not to agree automatically

What you say at interview becomes the baseline expectation. If you agree to everything up front, pulling the boundary back later is far harder than drawing it now.

#Common mistakes

• "Yes, of course, whatever it takes": the bar is now set for your whole tenure.
• A blunt refusal with no follow-up question.
• Agreeing while knowing you are not actually willing.