How We Interview at Netlify
Kicking off a job search is a big step! It can be a life-altering decision that impacts how you’re spending half of your waking hours every day. Here at Netlify, we know interviews can be stressful, so in response we aim to make our interview process as authentic and streamlined as possible. Our goal is to give you a very clear view of what it is like to work with us and makes the decision to join our team all the more easier.
We’re a remote-first, globally distributed team and take hiring seriously. With 200+ employees (and growing!), every single role truly makes a significant impact. It’s important that our interviews are meaningful discussions to give you a transparent view of our team. As with any interviews, it’s perfectly normal to be nervous, but just know that the intention behind all of our conversations is not to be intimidating or to try to trick you. Rather, it’s all about having a real conversation so we can get to know the real you!
How to Prepare
When it comes to interviewing with our team, the most important thing that you can do is to be thoughtful with your preparations and research. Have you thoroughly researched what we do? If you’re interviewing for technical roles, have you signed up for the product and taken a peek at the inner workings of the platform? We love hearing genuine curiosity! It’s important that you’re aligned with our mission and we want to make sure you’re excited about what we’re building.
The Goal
We really encourage you to feel empowered in your interviews, knowing this is as much of a time to interview us as it is for us to interview you! We consider our interviews more of a conversation. In the format of each discussion, we’ll give you an introduction to what we do, jump into the structured focus area depending on the role, and will intentionally leave plenty of time in the end for questions. It will be a transparent two-way discussion - this is a life-changing decision and we really care about mutual fit!
In addition to the structured focus area that we’ll be reviewing during the chat, we’ll also be focused heavily on overall communication. Clear and effective communication is the way that we get work done, especially when team members are spanning across a multitude of different time zones. Given our remote-first culture, we also focus on your comfort with asynchronous and documentation-forward correspondence.
It is really common for someone coming from an environment that leans on asynchronous communication to be more accustomed to taking time to process questions and rely more heavily on written communication. We know some of our interview questions will require thought or time to process, so please take as much time as you need before responding.
Ask Questions
When it comes to giving you time to ask us questions, we love hearing that you’ve really put thought into the role. While we know it can be tempting to ask us the traditional questions that you may think we want to hear, when coming up with your list of questions of what you’d like to learn from your interview we really encourage you to ask yourself this key question: Will the answer to your question change your decision about working here? If you find that the answer isn’t going to be impactful, we encourage you to think more about your priorities and how we can help make the most of the time we have during the conversation. Is growth, impact, or technical challenge your motivator? Or perhaps the title, perks, company size, prestige, or commute? Be thoughtful about looking for a role that truly aligns with your passions to find a culture that will resonate with you.
Have questions or want clarity around your interview? Don’t hesitate to reach out to your recruiter! At Netlify, our Talent team’s role is to be an advocate for you in the process. Your Recruiter is your biggest champion and it’s helpful if you’re as honest and transparent with any questions or concerns throughout the process. Over-communication is important to our remote philosophy, so you can expect to have several check-in calls and emails following up so you know where you’re at in the process.
We also encourage you to talk through any concerns that you might have about the role. Even if Netlify or the specific role you’re interviewing for isn’t quite the best match, you never know what the future may bring and we’re always open to sharing our network with you to help find your next home, even if it’s not with us! We know there are a lot of companies hiring so we’re excited that you’re considering us and look forward to chatting!
