How to hire and get hired in 2020
I was furloughed at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
The exact timing of a global catastrophe never quite considers one’s personal circumstances…
For me, it coincided with my probationary period coming to an end;
Just as I was settling into a new job and getting well familiar with my colleagues and their ways of working, I was politely benched for an initially undetermined length of time.
Not keen to effectively be stuck at home (albeit paid to do so) with no work (as one’s prohibited while being furloughed), I decided somewhat tentatively that it’s time to look for a new challenge.
Knowing full well that the unusual conditions were not necessarily conducive for a productive job hunt, I nevertheless headed over to LinkedIn to see if and which companies were still hiring.
Appreciating that by being overly selective I’m inevitably not setting myself up for success, I decided to keep my search as wide as I possibly felt comfortable with.
My absolute musts:
Role == Software Engineering Manager
Location == London
Next, when looking for a new role, I value company culture the most.
Alas, culture is subjective and not exactly something you can search for on a job site.
Instead, the next best thing that I learned from previous experience is to look for somewhat equivalent filters (such as company size and industry) which could provide me some insight into company culture.
Company size has a tremendous effect on the culture. For me the goldilocks range is between 100 to 200 people.
Also of utmost importance, you want to see that number growing YOY, rather than being on the decline.
This range usually implies the business is relatively new and thus at the either the start-up or scale-up phase, which is just what I’m looking for.
Finally, at least initially, I would focus on industries where I feel my past experience can add the most value, eCommerce and Financial Services in my case.
HOT TIP!
Do not to fall into these outdated generalisations:
Financial Services == uptight & 3-piece suits
Startups == relaxed & flip-flops
For a truer sense of dress code etc, inspect company photos both on the
company’s website and on Glassdoor et al
Now I’ve narrowed it down to a few promising options, there are a few extra things I’d like to explore before applying:
Head Office location
Company website
Blogs, tech-blogs, Medium, Twitter account
Glassdoor company reviews and photos
Everyone has their own rules and different levels of tolerance when it comes to commuting; for me, the number of changes one has to make is vitally important, even more so than total journey time. Less changes mean more uninterrupted time that can be used for something constructive.
Next, when reviewing a tech company’s website, you ideally want to come across a slick, modern and fit for purpose design; performant too. Red flags are websites built using defunct 3rd party technologies and/or a “nostalgic” 90s look that implies the site had not seen serious investment in a while.
A strong tech-brand is a big advantage: interesting, current and regularly updated tech-blogs, sharing useful information on social networks, sponsoring tech events. All of those suggest a keen investment in technology is at the forefront of the company’s mission.
Finally, one can learn much about a company’s culture by merely inspecting pictures of outings/events, the state of the office etc — a picture’s worth a thousand words.
In the ensuing days, interview requests started trickling in. I tried living by these two values:
Be Prepared
Do your homework about the company
Make sure you have an uninterrupted space for the duration of your interviews
Be familiar with the remote conferencing tools you are asked to use
Be punctual — punctuality is arguably more important now than ever
Be Curious
Do as much listening as talking
Ask questions
The interviews with which I felt most comfortable were those where my best interests were considered and catered for; those where flexibility was genuinely offered.
Companies will do well following this advice:
Be accommodating
When I interviewed for Bloom & Wild it was clear that they had meticulously and thoughtfully adjusted their interview process to better suit remote interviews:
- Offered to split interviews into multiple sessions
- Clarity of schedule (what, when and who is interviewing)
- Avoiding “interview by committee”, opting for 1–2 interviewers at a time, thus not overwhelming candidates
My interviews at Bloom & Wild were an expertly maintained balance of me getting to know the company and some of my peers, as well as ample time for my potential future employer to properly assess my skills.
HOT TIP!
To help you decide whether to accept an offer, ask to
Meet more of the people that you’ll be closely working with
Have a virtual tour of the office
How can one accept an offer from a company where you’ve never met anyone in person, nor visited the office?
If you’re accustomed to working remotely, perhaps it’s not a momentous consideration, however if you’re expected to work from the office (soon hopefully) then it may feel like you’re expected to take quite a leap of faith.
Before accepting the offer, I was given the opportunity to connect with some of my future colleagues. I eventually met with arguably more people than had I visited the office physically!
Additionally, VP of Engineering had given me a virtual tour of the office, explaining where teams sit as well as exploring the communal areas.
These two seemingly negligent activities had tremendously assisted me with the decision making process and made this “leap of faith” seem less of a leap; more like a one small step for man. And so, I accepted the opportunity to join Bloom & Wild.
Communication between the company and the new hire in the weeks leading up to the start date are crucial; this goes both ways — candidate is expected to be responsive during this period.
Be sure to send updates and “looking forward to” emails.
Try to front load as many activities to happen *before* new hire starts:
Ship laptop
Setup account and user credentials for email, slack etc
Invitation to team and company meetings
1:1s with manager and team members
Set up intro meetings with key stakeholders
Pair new hire with a number of “buddies” to simulate social interactions that would naturally occur in an office environment
Prepare a task list for the first week and beyond
Of the many aspects with which I have been impressed, onboarding perhaps was utmost (and not just thanks to having received a lovely Bloom & Wild bouquet a week before my start date…)
A big chunk of my onboarding had already been completed before I’d even started — hardware was shipped to my home address, work accounts had been setup, so by the end of Day1, the bulk of my onboarding tasks had been completed, which made for a productive day two and first week.
My search led me to apply for an engineering manager job at Bloom and Wild.
The interview process was all done remotely and involved sessions with my immediate manager as well as some members of the team I eventually joined.
Extra care had been taken not to overwhelm me with a large panel of interviewers, and flexibility was offered in terms of preference for back-to-back interviews.
Their preparedness of onboarding a new hire fully remotely had truly been an eye opener; Thanks to many onboarding activities having completed prior to my start date, instead of “wasting” the first few days on mundane tasks and on waiting for user accounts to be created, I was able to, from day one, participate in team meetings and start contributing value straight away.
The benefit of having met my team members before joining helped tremendously with a smooth transition and a fruitful first week. Additionally, having been set up with a number of “buddies” from teams outside my own, all of whom I met during my first week, had made me feel welcome, and re-emphasised the tremendous focus and investment Bloom and Wild make in their most important asset — their people.
If you’ve read my story and are interested in joining me at Bloom & Wild then we have positions open. To learn more about us and view current openings, head over to our careers pages.
