A manual how to prepare and go through each step of hiring process
People naturally feel better in a well-known situation or environment. We feel secure as we know what to expect. That’s why looking for or changing a job is usually a big thing. To make this uncertainty fade away, we want to tell you how hiring in Frontend House looks like and how to prepare.
How to apply and what to expect
Two most common ways to apply are via our career page or Just Join IT job board.
You can also follow and contact us on LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram. You are always welcome to use our email (hr@frontendhouse.com) whether you want to apply or have some questions/ doubts about the position. Remember, even if you are hesitating and you’re not sure if this is a place or position for you, you can always contact us and we will just talk about it.
After applying, you can expect an email with confirmation and information about what happens next. Below you can see what stages are ahead of you.
Stage 1 – phone screening
Hiring manager (me or Ola) will call you to find out more about you and provide you with some information about FH, the team, projects and position itself. What questions can you expect? For example:
- What is your current situation? Why are you looking for a change?
- What is important for you when you think about your new project/team/company?
- What direction would you like to develop your career?
- How do you develop, update your knowledge/follow the trends?
- What kind of teams have you worked with?
- Did you have direct contact with clients?
You can also hear some questions about your availability, preferred kind of agreement and salary expectations. Part of the interview is being held in English so that we know how comfortable you feel with it. There is also time for your questions and at the end we’ll tell you when you can expect some feedback and information about the next step (btw. usually within 2 days). The whole conversation lasts around 30 minutes
Stage 2 – task
For some technical positions we offer you a short task to do. It’s time-limited (usually about 5 hours) so it’s important to pick the right time when you are able to do it. It can be the evening or the weekend, whenever suits your schedule. We offer you this as we think that it’s a good way to see the quality of your code and what’s the logic behind it. That gives us the basis for discussion during a technical interview and gives you comfortable conditions to do the task in your home without anyone watching you.
If it happens that you don’t have time to proceed with the task we invite you to a technical interview during which there is an element of live-coding.
Stage 3 – technical interview
A technical interview is usually conducted by the team leader or senior developer and it’s all about getting to know you better. What your major skills and preferences are, what experience with methodology, team and clients you have, what kind of projects you were working on, what problems you encountered and how you managed them etc. We want to know this to match the right project for you so that both sides are satisfied with the cooperation. On this stage you can also ask questions to find out more about the way we work, projects we have and all technical details you’d like to know. This part takes up to 1,5 hour (or more if there is a real flow ;)).
Stage 4 – interview with Przemek, our COO
After getting a green light from you and the person who spoke with you during the technical interview, it’s time for the offer. We take into account your expectations and the opinion after the technical part of the proces. On this stage be ready to talk about salary, date of start, equipment, being remote or not and other terms of cooperation. There can be also some element of negotiation so don’t be afraid to talk freely about what you expect :)
You can ask for some time to make a final decision or decide on the spot to join us.
What we pay attention to
Obviously, we pay attention to technical skills. We check them via task and technical interview. But the most important is the mutual understanding and compatible way of thinking. That’s why on each stage of the recruitment we treat you like a partner and invite you to discussion. We appreciate engagement, willingness to learn and support other team members, so we also try to know you in this respect.
How to prepare
- be open for discussion, speak your mind
- know your motivation and expectations (both soft and hard ones)
- be ready to talk about your experience (from both technical and teamwork point of view)
- don’t be afraid to ask questions
- we always appreciate if you’ve checked our website or social media to know us at least a little better
- use your camera - currently we conduct all the interviews online but still we’d love to have a touch of a personal meeting
- using first names is perfectly ok with us and we always encourage you to do the same
- casual look is a good look :)
As you can see it’s not as black as it’s painted :) If you need any further information, you can listen to our Expert Zone Talk "How to manage with developer recruitment?" podcast. See you in the interview!
