Status: Career-changer, Bachelor’s in Computer Information Systems (University of the Fraser Valley); no prior experience in Software
Position: Software Engineer @ Shutterstock, Canada
Location: Montreal, QC, Canada
I heard about the opening from perusing through a discussion thread on the Meetup page of a popular JavaScript meetup in Montreal.
Pre-interview
- Reach out to the original poster for the job. Arrange to initially meetup at the above-mentioned meetup.
Interview Process:
- Very informal chat with the above-mentioned poster for the job ad. He’s the Software Dev. Manager of the Front-End Guild in the company.
- Invited to the office to continue the conversation; now including a team member of the potential team I would be joining.
- Light, higher-level discussion about technology, desired role etc.
- Short demo of any of my side-projects or open-source contributions
- Discussion of technology choices and decisions made for building/contributing to side-projects/open-source
- Invited again to chat with another member of the team I would be joining plus two other developers (1 backend & 1 front-end from; different teams)
- Exactly the same as before: higher-level discussion about technology choices, demonstration of side projects, discussion about tech websites I follow, etc.
- (Bonus: Not an interview, but a 15m timeframe where the General Manager of the Montreal office made himself available to answer questions that I would have had for the company. Personally I was quite impressed.)
- Final interview with HR Manager about salary expectations and explanation of benefits, etc.
- Offer.
Miscellaneous points:
- Weekly office lunches
- Weekly open bar evenings
- Genuinely great people to work with. Great emphasis on hiring for better fit as opposed to 10x devs
- Great work-life balance for the Montreal office. +50% office older w. families/kids
The Shutterstock Montreal interview process has positively spoiled me. I do not believe I have been treated this respectfully anywhere else. Now, as I member of the same team that initially interviewed me, and as an interviewer of other potential candidates, I only hope to make them feel as respected as I was made to feel during my interviews.