Why I Accepted a Job Offer at OpenTable.
I recently took a position at OpenTable as a Lead Experience Designer, but accepting that offer wasn’t as easy as I thought. Previously, I had been working at a company named Copper, a Google CRM platform, as a Senior Product Designer. If we put Copper and OpenTable side by side most designers would say, ”What is there to be conflicted about?!” Who wants to design for business software when you could be designing a consumer app?
To be honest, at that point, I had only been at Copper for 8 months so my mind wasn’t focused on successfully snagging a new job offer. I was growing, I had the autonomy I needed, and I was solving complex problems. These were all the things I was looking for in a company. But the process of interviewing helped me discover what behavioral scientists call escalation of commitment bias, meaning, we continue down the same path, even if it’s an irrational one. To stay safe, we do more of the same, which inhibits our personal growth.
Yes, I just said I was growing, but not at the speed I had been growing in the past. Before Copper, I spent four years at fast-paced end-to-end digital consultancies, so I was used to growing immensely in a short amount of time. I had great mentors and was always the new designer with a fresh perspective, but I was detached. I left consultancy because I spent the majority of my time focused on client relationships and processes rather than digging deep into the user experience. And I eventually found myself facing the same issue at Copper–they needed a consultant to come in with a fresh perspective, and that felt familiar and safe. I thought being in-house would offer me the opportunity to help build a product team that would later allow me to think through problems more in-depth. I was in it for the long haul, not 8 months. If I changed jobs now, I would be a stereotypical, disloyal millennial — right?
When I was interviewing, something shifted and I went from not looking for a job to accepting a job offer. My strategy for becoming a great designer has always been “surround yourself with the best until you become the best, then seek opportunities where you can share your wisdom with others.” From my conversations, I realized I had been drifting away from my strategy by working at a startup that couldn’t offer the same resources as a large company. Having resources is important–it gives you opportunities to grow while offering the freedom to fail with minor consequences. OpenTable was offering me large company resources with a good process set in place and a design system to align all product teams. When you have these resources, it frees up the rest of the team to focus on solving real problems for users on a deeper level.
On the day of my final onsite interview with OpenTable, I received an informal offer. This is the moment when I normally feel invincible. However, I wasn’t ready to commit just yet. I needed to take a few days to decompress and self reflect. I’m a verbal thinker so I talked with my partner, family, and friends about my interview at OpenTable. In that process, I realized the qualities of the OpenTable culture that would help me make that decision.
Four OpenTable qualities I admire
Diversity
I believe smart teams derive from diversity. And who doesn’t want to work on a smart team? According to this study on Cultural Diversity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship by Max Nathan and Neil Lee, businesses run by culturally diverse leadership teams were more likely to develop new products than those with homogeneous leadership. Typically, a diverse team will respectfully audit their team member’s actions, keeping cognitive resources vigilant. This is something I need in my day-to-day; an environment that makes it easier for me to detect and challenge my biases so I can produce better work.
Cohesive Leadership
All the leaders at OpenTable who interviewed me had different perspectives and methods, but their processes and business goals aligned across teams. I think this is rare to find at companies that are also diverse. Usually, diverse teams find it hard to have cohesive leadership because of different processes and backgrounds. And teams that are cohesive usually have homogeneous leadership and find it easy to align. Having a diverse, cohesive leadership is important when trying to create an environment for teams to be successful.
Design with Data
OpenTable has accrued 20 years of data, a research team, and a data scientist team. They also use a handful of different tools to gather data and constantly run experiments before launching any new or large features. This is where digging deep into problems by utilizing the resources available to you provides an opportunity to design on a different level. I wanted to learn more about how this influences my design because I didn’t have these resources while working in consultancy or at a young startup.
Opportunities
During my interview, I asked the Design Director how she thought OpenTable would change over time as society constantly shifts and evolves. As we talked about what the future looks like and how we get there, I naturally had dozens of new ideas come to mind. But would there be any chance of implementing these ideas in a company of more than 2,000 employees? A friend’s friend, who currently works at OpenTable, reassured me that if I put together a solid proposal, my ideas would be heard.
Interviewing
If you only take away one idea from this post, let it be this: Never turn down an interview. It’s an educational process that pushes you to think critically about your career and your goals. I am a constant work in progress, and I love what I do, but without interviewing I might not have looked at my needs as a designer on a deeper level.
And without interviewing, I wouldn’t be where I am now.
And you wouldn’t be reading this.
