Cheat Sheet is a regular series that reveals what hiring managers put applicants through when they look to fill the most competitive positions. This week: Do-gooders who can tell a story with code might be right for an engineering job at cloud computing giant Salesforce.com.
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First Round:
A 45-minute phone screening with the hiring manager, who gauges the candidate’s technical ability and background.“We want to make sure you understand the impact of the projects you’ve worked on.”
Second Round:
A two-hour programming exercise that the candidate completes from home; candidates are free to use the Internet and other tools they would ordinarily use in an office. The hiring manager talks to the candidate before and after the exercise on the phone to check in and answer questions.
Third Round:
A half-day of on-site interviews led by about five engineers and their teammates. The meetings are designed to determine the candidate’s fluency with object-oriented design, a method of organizing code to solve problems. “We might ask how you would design a computer program to play a game of cards.”
The Score:
Each engineer on the team submits a recommendation to the hiring manager, who makes the final call after tallying up that information with her conversations and the results of the test. “You don’t need great recommendations from everyone in the interview process if you have a strong competency in a particular area we need.”
Do make your code easy to follow. “Coding is a team sport, so we need to make sure yours is comprehensible. If you’re not showing any work, that’s an indication you’re not going to work well here.”
Do know about founder and Chief Executive Officer Marc Benioff’s charity work. “We donate time, product, and equity to philanthropy every year. If you show you’re curious about volunteering, it’s a sign that you have that same value system.”
Do understand the impact of your work. “We look for people who go beyond the technical details and grasp the human problem they’re trying to solve for the customer.”
Don’t brag about being a star. “When candidates tell me about how they took over a project, that doesn’t show collaboration. Tell me about a disagreement you had, how you compromised with your teammates and figured it out.”
Don’t freak out if you don’t have all the answers. “Our clients are relying on code to run their businesses. On the exercise, I’m okay with candidates writing comments about how they would solve a problem, even if they don’t know the code to do so.”
