You read it right. I got a new job!
I'm now a software engineer at daily.dev!
I decided to write this article about getting hired and how it all came to be.
The before
Let's first take some time to sketch my previous job.
I was a senior full-stack developer working in the healthcare sector. Mainly focused on building apps (web/mobile) with PHP backends.
And I really loved doing it!
However, I also really like writing articles, being an active community member, and developing in general.
It's the 5th of August, and daily.dev posted a job ad on Twitter, saying they were searching for a dev advocate.
It sounded like the exact thing I was looking for. However, I knew I had no experience being an advocate.
What I do have is years of experience in development and a major interest in being one.
Besides that, I love their product. I've written about it, written for them, and I enjoy what they are doing for the developer community.
So I applied for the job!
The waiting game
Seeing as I wasn't too sure if the job I applied for would fit me, I had a chat with my boss at the time, and we discussed my current contract.
He offered me a permanent contract, which was amazing!
I was over the moon as this gives one so much stability and recognition for the hard work.
🎉 I got offered a permanent contract 🎉
— Chris Bongers 🤓💻⚡️ (@DailyDevTips1) August 20, 2021
Back to the process
Between applying and getting this offer, I got invited to a chat with the CTO daily.dev Ido Shamun.
I was excited to make it to this step, as I was sure many people applied for the position.
This first chat was quite casual. Ido has some questions for me, and we talked about my skills, views on things, and general things.
Together we also talked about the fact I had no experience in the dev advocate world. Ido mentioned they also had an opening coming up for a developer.
That sparked my interest! And we discussed if that would be a better fit for me.
Perhaps you remember that tweet I sent out about getting the permanent contract?
Ido saw that as well and mailed me back congratulating me, but also mentioning they would also like to offer me a position.
And that we could progress to the technical interview step!
I was over the moon but also a bit in doubt about what to do next.
I had this permanent contract on one side and this fantastic dream job on the other.
The technical interview
At this point, it was a no-brainer to continue to the technical interview as that might stop the whole process.
For this interview, a zoom meeting was planned for three hours. I would have to build a new feature on the daily.dev codebase.
Seeing it was a lot of time investment, the guys over at daily.dev offered a 100$ for the session. I think this gives them as a company such cool and modern character!
They value people and their time, even in interview steps.
The interview started, and I was pretty nervous. By this time, I set up the codebase on my laptop with Ido's help because of some M1 issues.
I was guided through the element I was making. Ido shared an online design file. At first, we talked about what needed to be done and how to tackle the process.
From there, it was up to me to develop this new element.
I had some guidance and was able to reflect with Ido on some of the ideas.
In the end, we had a working new feature!
It didn't all go according to plan, as my React was a bit rusty 😅.
However, I think we both enjoyed the process and were on the same mind about it all.
Now what?
After the technical interview, I might even be more nervous because now what?
At this time, I got even more excited about this fantastic company, and having worked on the codebase made me super excited.
Luckily, I didn't have to wait long, as the next day I got an email with the subject line: You made it 🚀
It stated Ido found it great working with me and felt my technical skills.
It did mention some concerns about my rusty React fundamentals, but nothing major.
And that they would like to process to the next step: the CEO interview with Nimrod!
I was super stoked!
The CEO interview
We didn't waste much time, and that same day I had a chat with Nimrod Kramer, CEO of daily.dev.
This, again, was a pretty informal talk. Nimrod talked about the company, where they are at, and where they want to grow to.
He had some questions to evaluate me as a person, and eventually, there was time for some questions from my side.
In the end, I was super happy with the talk, and I felt like Nimrod had a mutual feeling about it.
And boom 💥
Just like that, another day later, I got the fantastic news that all that was left to do was to send me an offer!
And here we are. Today is my first day at daily.dev.
I can't express how happy I am to be here and start my work as a software engineer for daily.dev.
I would also like to thank Ido and Nimrod for this fantastic process.
Even if I didn't get the job, I would have been happy with how they approached this. They value people and see them as actual people instead of resumes.
It was a first going through a process like this, and I must say this is a way of hiring that many companies can learn from!
Thank you, guys, and happy to be part of the team ❤️
Thank you for reading, and let's connect!
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