Interviewing with us

Firstly, thank you. We are privileged that you are interested in applying to us.

A few things you should know about us:

• We don't rush hiring. It's important to us that we take the time to get to know each other, and to understand each other's our motivations and expectations. If you are working with time constraints, please let us know as early as possible and we will do our best to accommodate you.
• We typically don't hire for specific positions, so our interviews are intended as a discovery of your skillsets and interests.
• Everyone at a certain level gets paid the same. Our salaries are public internally. Your previous compensation has no bearing on the offer we make you. We will never ask you for payslips.

Process

Our process follows this (rough) structure:

• Please tell us about your work (professional experience, open source contributions, hobby projects), as well as your interests and passions by writing in to [email protected].
• Introductory questions or introductory call (up to 90 minutes)
  • This is where we introduce ourselves to each other, ideally over a video call
  • The objective is to understand your expectations and make sure we are in alignment. Some of this conversation may be technical.
  • While we try to get face time with everyone that applies to us, if we don't have much information about you, we may kick off the conversation over email instead.
  • If we feel that we have the information we need, we may wrap up the call early. The length of this call isn't indicative of how it went.
• Pairing with us (120 minutes)
  • At this step, you will pair with someone from nilenso on a problem and are expected to be the driver to solve that problem.
  • When we schedule a pairing round, we let you know about the sort of working setup you will need when pairing.
  • We are not merely looking for a functionally correct solution. Clearly communicating your assumptions, thought process, good naming, atomic commits, and writing tests make you a better fit for us.
• Technical conversations (60 minutes)
  • These conversations are often centred around real-world challenges that we have experienced
  • We are not expecting you to come up with a specific response, please treat this as a free-flowing discussion
• Other conversations
  • Throughout the process and sometimes as an additional explicit conversation, we are assessing if we would both be happy and fulfilled working with each other. We hope you feel comfortable enough to do the same.