Key Hiring PhilosophyΒΆ
One overriding philosophy applies to all of our hiring:
We hire aptitude, not just knowledge.
Some companies hire based solely on what you know. Things like:
- How long have you been programming in Clojure/Python/C++/Fortran?
- How would you implement a private method in JavaScript? ... a singleton in Java? ... a multithreaded COM object?
- What are some common gotchas in configuring nginx to run on EC2? ... creating bulletproof rounded corners in CSS? ... porting an MFC application to WPF?
That’s some companies. Not us.
It’s not that we object to knowledge; it’s just that knowledge alone is insufficient to make someone a great engineer.
You might think the perfect hire would be someone who’s an absolute expert on the problems we’re solving and the technologies we’re using today. But this industry moves fast, and we won’t face exactly the same mix of problems and technologies tomorrow. It’s guaranteed.
Raw knowledge goes stale—sometimes very rapidly. (Look at the examples above.) Someone whose entire value is locked up in a specific area of knowledge just won’t be able to evolve with our business.
So instead, we hire ability, potential, aptitude... We hire people who not only know current things, but also know how to learn new things. We hire Rock Star Engineers who want to work on products and ideas that have never existed before, because that’s what we’re building.
Interviewing for raw knowledge is relatively easy. (In fact, you could just administer an online test and not even bother with the hassle of an actual interview.)
Interviewing for aptitude takes more preparation and effort, but it’s not so hard once you know how. And it pays off right away. That’s what this guide is all about.