Technical Interviewing at Windfall
Much has been written about the prototypical software engineering interview process: The whiteboard coding, the brain teasers, the knowledge quizzes, etc…
The following two observations sum up much of the process:
- Technical interviewing is hard and no one does it well.
- Despite our professions best efforts of applying scientific rigor, interviewing is not a science.
Given the above statements, we at Windfall decided to shape our process in such a way that we are able to get enough signal to make a reasonable decision while at the same time trying to make the candidate as comfortable as possible.
Windfall is still a fairly small company (less than 10 employees) and every person we hire is going to have a massive impact on the company and our culture. We’re not necessarily looking for candidates that “check all the boxes”. We recognize that the right attitude and a passion for the craft can often make up for skills yet unlearned.
To that end, here’s what you should expect when interviewing with us:
- No white board coding. No ones actual job involves writing code on a whiteboard, so the interview shouldn’t either.
- No brain teasers. Guessing how many man-hole covers there are in LA County has no value to us or to you.
- Transparency. Where you decide to take your next job is a huge decision. We understand that interviewing is a two-way street — you’re interviewing us as much as we’re interviewing you. Please come prepared with any questions you have about us as individuals, the team, or the business. Honestly, it’s pretty weird if you don’t have any questions.
- You will write code. You will likely be asked to do a brief programming exercise before coming onsite. You do this on your own time, whenever and however you are most comfortable. The task is straightforward and is not intended to be tricky in any way. We’ve found that this is the best way for us to ask actually get a good feeling for your programming capacity and style.
- Communication is paramount. That code we asked you to write before? We want to talk through it with you. If you’re unable to articulate the choices you made and the thoughts that went into writing the code then you likely would not be a good fit for our team.
- Critical thinking beyond programming. It takes more than raw programming talent to be a stellar engineer. We want to know that you are able to think critically about collaborate to solve hard problems.
Is this process fool proof? Certainly not. Beyond some baseline assessment of skills, interviewing is still mostly about connecting with an individual. We’ve got to believe that the candidate has the aptitude and attitude to contribute at a high level. We’re bound to take a pass on a candidate that otherwise would have turned out to be a terrific teammate, or conversely, hire someone who we sadly need to show the door.
Ultimately, we want to hire people who are passionate about their work and want to help us grow the company for the long haul. We offer a high degree of ownership and autonomy. It’s not for everyone, but hopefully, we’ll recognize you once we find you.
Like what you read? We’re hiring for a few key positions and would love to hear from you.
Cory Tucker is the CTO and Co-Founder of Windfall. He has been leading engineering teams for 10 years and writing software professionally for 15 years.
