[robjan]

Ask about their typical engagement model. Usually it's either Time and Materials or fixed price. Fixed price contracts can sometimes be stressful and encourage hurrying just to meet the requirements, whereas T&M projects can allow you more time to innovate or propose better solutions.

Also find out what people do when they are on the bench (unstaffed). Sometimes you're allowed to work in your own projects on full pay and sometimes there's an internal backlog.