Why Authenticity and a Learning-First Mindset are your Greatest Career Assets

“How I Hire” with Director of Product Engineering, Henry

“One of the biggest ways to impress me is to show your energy, enthusiasm and motivation for the position. Be present in the interview and be authentically and unapologetically yourself. Don’t play a role that you can not live until the end of your life”

Every hiring manager is different and takes a different approach to how they assemble their teams. To give you a glimpse into the hiring process at Freeletics, we interviewed Henry, our Director of Product Engineering, to get the inside scoop into how he hires. Read the full interview below.

What is the profile of your dream candidate?

The first thing I look for when interviewing a candidate is that they have a learning-first mindset. The fitness tech industry is full of fierce competition. For this reason, our team must always be willing to experiment and learn new skills. At Freeletics, we have a positive fail culture, meaning that we encourage our employees to take educated risks to implement their ideas in order to better our product. A mixture of learning, curiosity, and embracing new challenges is key for pushing Freeletics to new heights. I also prioritise people who value straightforward, honest, and open communication in their work.

What kinds of questions do you typically ask a candidate?

I switch up my interview questions from candidate to candidate, however there are always several that I build into my repertoire. These help me to uncover the intention, expectations, and get a sense of the kind of potential team member they could be. Here are my top questions:

• Expectations towards the new job: What does the ideal job look like for you?
• What parts of your work give you energy and motivation to keep you moving?
• Tell me about an experience you had and what learnings did you apply based on this experience?

On the flip side, what is the most interesting question a candidate has asked you during an interview?

There have been too many to count, but some that stick out in my mind are:

• How do you measure the performance of the engineers?
• Why do you still work at Freeletics?
• How likely is it that Freeletics will become a billion-dollar company?

What do you see as a “red flag” when it comes to behavior during the interview process?

When candidates do not answer or rather evade my questions, this comes across as a red flag. I believe that even if an interviewee does not know the answer, they should be honest and admit this or give an educated guess to the question. No one knows everything — just be honest.

Furthermore, people with failure-free storylines would also come across to me in an unfavorable light. Again, I truly look for people that are not afraid to welcome challenges equally as much as the setbacks they might encounter along the way. Candidates who are able to reflect on their mistakes and take their learnings with them into future projects set themselves apart from the rest.

Do you actually read the cover letter?

Yes, I do read the cover letter. While it may seem like an archaic and simply bureaucratic document, it actually offers a chance to learn something that is not purely CV focused. In the end I’m hiring people and not a set of skills and the topics included in the document help to kick off a conversation and ease the interview situation. Even more, I am able to really understand what the candidates are passionate about, which makes this letter a huge plus for me.

How can a candidate impress you?

I would say one of the biggest ways to impress me is to show your energy, enthusiasm and motivation for the position. Be present in the interview and be authentically and unapologetically yourself. Don’t play a role that you can not live until the end of your life.

When the time comes to make a decision, what does your thought process look like?

Apart from the technical skills required for a new role, I make my decision based on how the candidate can fit into the Freeletics team and if they can be happy and successful here. In essence, how can the person grow with the company and how long will it take until the candidate will reach their boundaries in regards to career, motivation, and learnings? I also look into the candidates’ potential and how much of an investment it will require for us to develop them.

What do you wish people knew about your team? About Freeletics? About the kind of manager you are?

• Team: People should know that engineers in my team own the topic or project from the very beginning to the very end. I would also like to add that the teams here are cross-functional and we practice T-Shaping. So not being afraid to touch technology that you are not familiar with is normal within the department.
• Freeletics: The company offers a great team spirit and embraces a highly collaborative, cross-departmental working structure. We thrive when we work together on projects and initiatives. We train together, we eat together, and we solve challenges together. The stronger together mentality positions us and sets us apart from other startups and companies of our size.
• Personally: I’m a servant leader and not a micromanager. I hire people to do the job and give them the autonomy and trust from day one. I live from the fact that people speak up if they need help/support or they take actions themselves and keep the progress flowing. I care deeply about the people on my team and in case of stress or breakdown, I’m the first to support getting the problem solved and gain a learning out of the situation. Being non-judgemental and not pointing fingers is what I’m all about. Lastly, disagreement is healthy and encouraged in my team. If you can convince me that I’m wrong and provide me with the facts of why you’re right, I’m all ears.

Are you currently hiring anyone to join your team? If so, what kind of people are you looking for?

Yes! I am looking for a DevOps Engineer. This person should be versatile and not afraid to work in a complex environment. They should have had the experience of running a production environment for a company in a B2C business as well as bring an enabling mindset — teach them to fish and they can feed themselves for many meals. Lastly, they should also be resilient and full of drive.

Want to learn more about the team and daily life at Freeletics HQ? Then find us on LinkedIn or follow @LifeAtFreeletics on Instagram. If this sounds like just the kind of team you need in your life, check out our open positions now!