Here's a bit of background regarding my situation:
I don't necessarily want to leave my current job. In fact, I'm quite happy there. I'm only considering interviewing for a similar role at a company that contacted me via a recruiter because they are one of the top companies to work for as a software engineer.
What's great about my current role:
- Both of the managers I've had have been amazing.
- The work I do is challenging, and there is a good deal of freedom to be a part of the conversation about what part of my team's product I can work on next. If I wanted to move teams, I could probably do so.
The one thing I don't like, which I'd like to be able to communicate without being negative about my current employer:
- Work/life balance is amazing, but maybe a little too amazing. In the office I work in, which is the primary location, the culture has become: Monday/Wednesday/Friday most people come to the office; Tuesday/Thursday most people work from home. On my team of three, one of my coworkers gets away with only working three days a week, and this largely goes unnoticed. If it is noticed, it doesn't seem to be a large concern, and this person usually gets an average review with an average raise each year. Having enough people like this around can make it more difficult for me to be productive throughout the week, and so I often feel like if I need to work on something that I can't do alone, I get my best work done on M/W/F, and its hit-or-miss on T/Th. I really would like to be at a company where the "average" person is much more engaged than this.
I know that the company I'm interviewing at has an environment that's much closer to what I'm looking for, but how to I convey this without being negative about my current employer?