Interview Process - Engineering
Process
The interview process at Awell consists of 6 phases:
Screening (30min)
Written interview (60min)
Behavioral / Culture interview (60min)
“Day-in-the-life-of” exercise (60min)
Final conversation with Thomas, Awell’s CEO (45min)
Reference calls
Screening Generic
The screening call may be performed by the hiring manager or by a third party. The objective of the screening call is to:
Do first introductions
Assess the motivation of the candidate (e.g. why Awell, what gets you up in the morning, etc.)
Ensure we don’t encounter blockers later in the process (e.g. salary expectations, responsibilities, remote culture, etc.)
Answer questions about Awell and the hiring process
Written interview ENGINEERING
The written interview is inspired by Safegraph’s approach to the written interview.
We include a written interview in our process for several reasons:
Written communication is extremely important in an asynchronous work culture like Awell’s - this helps us to assess if this fits the candidate
Written interviews give everyone in the company a baseline about the candidate - it’s not only the resume that every interviewer can read before the interview
Written interviews help reduce biases
The written interview is a precursor to the culture interview and a way for us to gauge mutual fit in working together.
In the engineering written interview, we send a few short-answer questions with the expectation that the candidate spends no more than 60 minutes total on the interview. The questions are behavioral in nature (i.e. not technical questions), and we ask you to complete it 24 hours before the interview so there is time for the interviewer(s) to review it.
The written interview is provided to all participants in the interview process so there can be a baseline for future discussion, while not relying on other interviewers' notes. This method has the effect of reducing bias for candidates because every interviewer works from the same body of information.
Culture Interview ENGINEERING
The culture interview is a 60-minute interview with one or two participants from Awell. The session will be recorded. If you prefer not to allow the interview to be recorded, then we ask for enough notice so we can be certain a second Awell interviewer can join the interview at the scheduled time. Part of the interview will be to assess fit with our https://awellhealth.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/AH/pages/3503882307.
The structure of the call will be:
Introductions (~10m)
Questions to the candidate (~25m)
Questions to Awell (~25m)
Below is some additional context for the interview:
In preparation for the interview, it’s important to discuss a little bit about what we’re looking to assess.
First, if you aren’t familiar with answering questions using a STARR approach, this format is commonly used in interviews to make sure you’re capturing the full breadth in your response. I don’t personally require it, but some interviewees have found it helpful.
Second, Awell is an opinionated culture, meaning there are certain styles of work that fit well here, and those that do not. This interview is an opportunity for both Awell and you to assess mutual fit. As such, we expect you to come to the table with thoughtful questions. As a reminder, here are some links you can peruse in order to learn more about Awell and our mission:
- CareOps
Third, and finally, feedback should be part of the interview itself. The expectation is that feedback will be both requested and delivered throughout the interview. The goal is for you to come away from the interview with a sense of understanding what was a positive signal to the interviewer, and vice versa.
Technical Interviews
Interview #1 - Problem-solving and system design ENGINEERING
Candidates interviewing for a level P3 or above will be asked to complete a system design interview. This interview assesses the candidate’s ability to problem solve at a system level. The interview will be a take-home interview and will be accompanied by a 60-minute presentation and Q&A with a member of Awell’s engineering staff.
Interview #2 - Day in the Life exercise
The best way to predict performance on the job is to actually do the job. Therefore, we include an exercise that mimics what the candidate would do once hired.
This interview is designed to help showcase technical excellence. One of our goals with the “day-in-the-life” (DITL) exercise is to see you at your best. Some roles have a designated DITL exercise; for other roles, we offer a couple options and ask you to choose which interview option you’d like to take.
Option 1: Pragmatic technical exercise
We’d work with you on building some part of an application (depending on the role), and would ask you to implement one or more features, and then have a conversation around them. The goal is not speed or perfect typing, but instead to see how you approach the problems and what questions you ask.
The exercise will be provided at the time of the interview.
Option 2: Personal project work
Bring something you’re already working on, and let’s do a pairing session together. Are you contributing to an open source project? Working on something personal? Shape something that you’d like to tackle in a pairing session, and we’ll work through it together.
It would be helpful to send us information about the project ahead of the interview so we can have time to prepare; also, please do not include anything related to your work, or anything that could be considered confidential.
Option 3: Choose your own interview
Have an idea for the interview? What do you think it should be? Let us know. Again, our goal is to see you operate in your zone of genius.
Final conversation with Thomas generic
Thomas, Awell’s CEO, will interview every candidate that successfully passed the previous rounds.
Reference calls generic
As a final step, we also do 1-2 reference calls with a candidate’s previous employers.
Interview evaluation
The interview lead decides after each phase if the candidate continues to the next step. After the panel culture interviews and after the final conversation with Thomas, we have a group debrief to collectively take a decision.