Full stack developer interview experience at Airteam

Why Airteam interviews better

Hi! I'm Alfie, one of the latest developers at Airteam. I’d like to share my experience interviewing here. If you're considering a role at Airteam, or are just curious about the company culture, I hope this is helpful to you.

My latest job search involved applying for over 150 roles and was an experience which I would mostly describe as dehumanising. 88% of these applications were simply ghosted with no response and the remainder were a mixed bag. Some went weeks without contact, others involved multiple rounds of drawn out interviews, with the common thread being that my time and expectations as a candidate weren’t being respected.

While I did have a few positive experiences, one in particular stood out. I’d applied to a role on LinkedIn for Airteam and had received a call back the next day from Laura (Head of Crew and Culture) who had some screening questions for me and I was invited to undertake a technical interview.

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The technical Interview

Across my career so far I’ve suffered poor technical interviews in many of their different forms. I’ve poured my energy into unpaid take-home challenges without even the guarantee of a follow-up interview. I’ve done countless whiteboard-style sessions with disinterested interviewers who have in many cases felt closer to adjudicators. 

A good technical interview should strike the balance between getting a measure of a candidate’s computer science intuition while assessing their aptitude for job-specific skills, a requirement which I hadn’t truly seen achieved until my experience with Airteam.

At the start of our 60-minute block, James (Lead Developer) and Nick (Senior Developer) introduced themselves and walked me through a list of tasks for an imaginary product sprint. I was set up with a virtual environment with the foundations of a simple project. In my allotted time I had free choice to work on tasks in an order which I deemed appropriate, which ranged from fixing bugs to completing small features.

James and Nick weren’t just facilitators of the process, but took on their roles as Senior and Lead Developers. I was able to ask questions and collaborate when needed, but also have the space to work independently and talk through my thought process. Critically, I didn’t feel as though I was exclusively being assessed on my technical background, but on my communication, task prioritisation, and problem-solving ability.

The best part? The total time commitment to this technical interview was simply the duration of the interview itself. I wasn’t encouraged to spend additional time preparing, nor would it have been useful. 

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The cultural interview 

A couple of hours after we’d finished the technical, Laura got in touch with me to let me know that I’d proceeded to a cultural interview. At this point in my job search, I’d been rehearsing answering questions in the STAR format for the past month - I was so ready to talk about a time where I managed a conflict or overcame a roadblock.

However, this interview was a refreshing departure from the behavioural-style questioning that I’d experienced elsewhere. Instead of being grilled about past experiences and hypothetical situations, the cultural interview consisted of a free-flowing chat between myself, Nick (Head of UX), and Ben (Delivery Manager).

Yes, there were open-ended questions about my ways of working, and I did have the opportunity to ask questions in return, but there wasn’t an agenda to the interview which we had to adhere to. It felt more like a meet and greet and, in honesty, I probably spent most of the time rambling about my interests and passions. 

The rest is history

Not long after finishing up the cultural, Laura had called me to give me a verbal offer. The salary was commensurate with the amount I had expressed in my application and there wasn’t a need to go through a protracted negotiation process. 

The entire way through, Laura was proactive in respecting my time and availability while making sure that everything moved along quickly. The whole interview process from screening call to offer took less than 12 days and I was kept up to date with feedback and next steps at every point. 

The onboarding that followed was highly organised - I received a comprehensive document prior to my start date which broke down what to expect in my first week. From day one I was entrusted with meaningful tasks and had the opportunity to make an impact on various projects. I felt trusted and included from the get go.

Now, 3 months into my role, I note that Airteam is a company which takes the time to get things right (perhaps in fact, whatever the opposite of “moving fast and breaking things” is). I see this reflected in my interviews. Instead of exercises in box-ticking, I experienced meaningful interactions and a careful assessment of my aptitudes which went deeper than just computer science knowledge. I was treated with dignity and respect at every step. One of Airteam’s values is to Strive for better, and it’s clear from my experience that this was at the heart of designing the interview process.

If you're looking for a place where your skills are assessed in a practical, relevant manner, and where you're welcomed as a valued team member from day one, Airteam might be the place for you.

For any prospective candidates out there, if you have any questions about the interview process or what it's like to work at Airteam, I’d encourage you to reach out to Laura and have a chat: laura@airteam.com.au.