Hiring
People operations
We are always looking for people who share our values, the desire to work in a team and the passion to face new challenges every day.
For Nebulab, hiring means contributing to the success of our mission by increasing our capacity to:
- satisfy our clients in terms of work volume and quality;
- attract new developers;
- create high-quality software;
- produce content that contributes to our personal growth and the growth of Nebulab as a company.
On the other hand, every time we make a hire, we commit to making our new teammate grow in an environment that contributes to their personal and professional success, making them happy and fulfilled.
We have a responsibility towards everyone at Nebulab to create a cohesive and functional team, so we put a lot of effort into selecting new members of the team. This is why we created a hiring process that we adhere to very strictly, in order to minimize bias and subjectivity.
Hiring process
Hiring at Nebulab is a 6-step process:
Application
Hi!
This first contact gives us an idea if there is a cultural and technical fit that will allow us to start to get to know each other. Usually, we find candidates in one of the following ways:
Complete the application form for your position thoroughly. Usually, we'll ask you for a portfolio (e.g., GitHub/BitBucket/GitLab for developers, Dribbble for designers) and to let us know why you're interested in working with us.
Someone from our team will read your letter and, if they think you might be a good candidate, they will reach out to schedule the initial screen.
Initial screen
This is a 15-minute video call where we get to know each other and understand if there's mutual interest in working together.
We'll ask you about your professional experience and what made you apply at Nebulab, and you'll also get the chance to ask any questions you might have about the company and the work we do. We will also ask about your salary expectations in order to understand whether they're in line with what we can offer for your seniority and location.
The initial screen is usually pretty relaxed: we avoid formalities, we talk about a bit of everything and see how we feel about each other.
Some advice for the chat:
- Be on time. This is extremely important and is an indicator of your professionalism: just being on time will give you an advantage on many candidates.
- Be equipped. Make sure you have a good Internet connection, a good headset and a good camera. And please, find a quiet place to call from!
- Turn up prepared. You already know that we will talk about Nebulab and about you, so prepare some questions about us and some answers about yourself!
- Be yourself. The get-to-know meeting is meant to help understand what type of person you are and how you can fit in the company. We cannot do that if you pretend to be someone else.
- Relax. We are humans. None of us is an HR manager or has a psychology degree. Think, behave and talk as you would do in a real-world environment.
Aptitude test
The aptitude test is a way for us to get to know you better and to understand how you think, act and communicate. The test will be mainly focused on your soft skills but there are some basic technical questions as well. The test will be sent to you via HackerRank.
The fundamental requirement in answering the test is sincerity: write in accordance with your values and the way you work, not what you think we would like to hear from you. The purpose of the test is to understand whether you're a good cultural and technical fit, so it is in everyone's interest that the answers reflect the way you really work and handle problems.
Don't hesitate to ask clarifications on questions or technical issues in case anything is not clear to you, and don't be afraid to hit a wrong note: in the past, some of the most striking answers were completely out of tune, perhaps mentioning aspects outside of the work context, but they allowed us to perfectly understand the person on the other end of the screen.
Technical test
If you have reached this stage, it means we think you may be a good candidate and that working with you would be a pleasure. At this point, we want to get an idea of your technical skills. This test is also administered via HackerRank.
You will not be asked to do any live coding or solve absurd challenges. Instead, we just want to make sure that your technical skills are coherent with our expectations, so feel at ease: nobody here solves critical business problems without asking questions, looking up documentation or copy-pasting from StackOverflow every now and then.
For developers, the technical test consists of two or three projects of increasing complexity. These might be bugfixes, enhancements or brand new features. Your work will be scored automatically by HackerRank for correctness, but it will also be reviewed by your hiring manager, who will almost certainly ask you some follow-up questions to better understand the rationale behind your choices.
Note that we use the same test for all seniority levels—this means that, unless you're applying as a senior/principal engineer, we don't really expect you to solve all the challenges in the test. Not solving all the challenges will not disqualify you, but it might result in your profile being classified under a lower seniority level.
Here are some tips to help you excel:
- Pay attention to documentation and Git history.
- Follow the conventions established on the project.
Pre-offer interview
If you pass the technical test, we'll schedule a second, longer (~30 minutes) interview with your original hiring manager plus another one, who didn't attend the hiring process.
The second hiring manager will review your entire application package thoroughly, so that they can prepare some follow-up questions for you.
There's no fixed structure for this call: it mostly depends on what questions the hiring managers still have for you and what final doubts they want to clear up.
You will also get the chance to ask any last-minute questions about Nebulab, if you want.
Offer
Congratulations, you made it!
At this point, we'll send over a formal offer which you can sign electronically.
Welcome to Nebulab!