I'm joining a startup next month and they are working on a project that requires knowledge of a unique framework and it's architecture. They know I'm mostly free this month and so they have asked me (in a time frame) to learn and perform certain tasks. They have also scheduled reviews to track progress.

tl;dr: Company wants me to learn stuff before joining and schedule reviews.

Is this behavior normal or/and appropriate?

I don't think this is normal. If a company wants you to get training, they actually have to pay for that. On the other hand, they just can cancel you contract because you're in the probation period.

In any way, this company smells. Be prepared for a lot of unpaid overtime.

@gintko I agree, but doesn't weekly reviews sound a bit of stretch .

@thekaleidoscope It's weird. But I do something similar with all new IT recruit (no experience), asking them to review some stuff we use (frameworks), their design patterns, etc... And the review is like: did you had time to see this? That?

And as a startup, they may try to reduce your "not ready to produce" time...

Still, it's weird

I don't think it's normal but I think that if you have the time to learn before you start and the company is actually helping you by adding some accountability, that's great

It all really depends on how your interview went as to whether it's normal or not.

As a start-up I'm guessing they didn't have a senior developer interview you to see if you possess all of the skills you need to perform your work. If you don't possess all of the skills necessary to perform your work at the company. Then they just want to make sure you hit the ground running and can do your work and not spend time learning on their dime.

You have to keep in mind most startups are just people that have mortgaged their house their life savings and everything they own and could possibly go broke if they hire someone that's jerking around learning. So they're risking quite a lot and just want to make sure you can perform your work is my guess.

On the upside if it's a startup and you believe in the project they might be open to trading stock options as part of your pay package.

Best of luck! hope it gets off the ground.

@TheBeardedOne considering the fact that I can't really say no. This is a really good way to view the situation.

@S-falken they did have a senior dev interview me. Except the skills required for the job and work expected is quite different. Although I completely agree that they have bet their life on it so it only makes sense they expect the best. Thanks a lot for this.