Hiring Process at Handler
Our hiring process was designed to make hiring decisions very quickly. It is pretty simple and only involves two conversations and two basic questionnaires.
We know if there could be a fit within a week.
Applying at Handler
To increase your chances to be considered for an interview, you should:
- read our other article on How We Work and Who We Hire;
- review our openings via AngelList and apply with a detailed profile;
- immediately after, fill out this first questionnaire.
Once we have received results from your questionnaire, we will review your candidate application on AngelList and check your past work on GitHub, Dribbble, etc.
If we are interested in evaluating a potential collaboration with you, we will email you to schedule a first video call with the Founder & CEO of Handler.
We look for candidates with knowledge (algorithms, data structures, coding / language, systems, design, etc.), wisdom, culture fit, and passion.
How we interview
Day 1
Introductions (20 minutes)
This is an opportunity to make a very good first impression.
We will want to hear about who you are, what the highlights of your professional experience are, and also about what you are looking for. Then you will be given a brief presentation of Handler and an overview of the opening you are interviewing for.
If both parties wish to move forward, we will email you more information about the project you will be working on, and we will schedule a time to continue the interview the following day.
Day 2
Position, Product, Priorities (45 minutes)
This is when we will discuss and dive into more details regarding:
- the massive problem(s) we intend to solve;
- the position you are interviewing for and future career paths;
- the current product(s) you will either be inventing, designing, building, marketing, maintaining, improving, or selling;
- the company’s vision, mission, long term and immediate priorities.
At some point, we will let you do most of the talking because we’ll want to hear your thoughts and vision regarding your future at Handler.
In the end, if both parties still wish to move forward, we will schedule a time to continue the interview two days from now.
Technical questionnaire (1 hour)
If you are applying for an engineering role, you will also be screened for technical knowledge and wisdom.
In the form of another questionnaire, you will have to answer an extensive list of challenging technical questions, similar to the ones you could face if you interview at some of the top companies in Silicon Valley, including Google, Twitter, Palantir, or Quora.
How you will respond will matter as much as to wether you will respond correctly or not. Do not expect feedback on the answers you provide.
If both parties wish to move forward, we will schedule a time to continue the interview two days from now.
Day 4
Coming onboard (45 min)
Congrats! You made it past the interview stage and you are about to be joining Handler. We cannot be more excited to have you be part of the journey. A long and bumpy road awaits.
The interview process was a chance for you to see that we move extremely fast, while making an efficient use of our limited amount of time.
Now we’ll do a project together on contract, typically lasting between 2–6 weeks depending on how much time you can spend, to see how we work together.
When you join full-time, regardless of your position, you’re not going to take over one of our top-line metrics on your first day. You’ll do customer support for your first three weeks. We believe this early connection with the people who use our products is irreplaceable. After that, you will start small but nobody is going to stop excellence from shining through.
Onward!
Post-Scriptum
We look for clues of an entrepreneurial attitude, mission-oriented spirit, interest for problem solving, resilience and stress performance, efficiency in team communication, a sense of urgency, personal and professional ambition, clear and sound judgement, ethics, altruism, and passion — but not necessarily in this order.
