Every candidate should go through no less three interviews that help us find the right person for the job.
Before they are interviewed, the candidate should show some relevant work that will help give us an initial screen and something to talk about in the first interview. They should also get a blurb about Tidepool, the position, and our mission and values so that they can self-screen if our culture doesn’t match the kind of company they want to work for. Mission and Values in particular should be emphasized here so that they understand how important they are to the Tidepool team and make sure they alignInequality and exclusion are the defaults of industries like technology and healthcare. Without intentional effort, we will inherit those failings and worsen the problem. Given that one of our values is “fight the default of exclusion” we believe building a diverse team is a moral imperative. We want to build a better product and a better business, by bringing different perspectives to the table. We look for voices unlike our own because they help us grow.
Tracking Candidates
We use SmartRecruiters as our Applicant Tracking System to manage open positions and candidates in the pipeline. In order to prevent "anchor bias" with a candidatewhen reviewing candidates, SmartRecruiters does not allow you to see the notes and rating from other interviewers before you post your own.
The hiring manager for the position should take ownership for the position and for making and the VP of People partner to make sure all candidates have a smooth experience speaking with Tidepool. Don't leave candidates "hanging", wondering what the process is or where they are in the process.
The hiring manager should make sure the Trello card for each candidate includes:
Links to resume, profile, portfolio, GitHub presence or other work.
A link to the job description at tidepool.org/jobs.
Recommendations for what each interviewer should focus on.
A diverse team brings diverse perspectives, and diverse perspectives help us build better products and more fully deliver on our mission.
Since are focused on building diabetes software, hiring people with a personal connection to diabetes might be a big win. But people without diabetes also have great perspectives on creating great software, great processes, and a great company. Diversity also includes gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, political views and much more.
By having a broad variety of perspectives we can build better software and a better company that meets the needs of the diverse population we serve.
interacting with Tidepool.
Sourcing Candidates
There are a number of channels we use to reach candidates: they each have pros and cons, so we aim to have a healthy balance of them to ensure we attract great and diverse candidates and doing so in a cost-conscious manner. Here are some of the channels we have used:
Referrals: we promote our job openings internally and encourage Tidepoolers to share our job openings with their networks. We offer no referral feesSince we believe that helping build a great team is part of everyone’s job, we do not offer referral bonuses. We also realize that our networks tend to “look like us”, which might lead to less diversity.
Social Media: we promote our job openings on our social media channels.
Conferences: events where our team members speak or participate provide opportunities to source talent that is aligned with Tidepool’s mission.
Nonprofits partners: we have worked with groups such as YearUp, which focuses on training young minority adults to help launch their careers.
Job Boards: through SmartRecruiters (our Applicant Tracking System), our job openings get publicized in job aggregators such as LinkedIn, Indeed, ZipRecruiter, etc.
Recruiters: on rare occasions, we work with recruiters to help us expand our candidate base for mission-critical job openings.
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Sourcing for a job opening only stops once the position has been filled. |
Screening Candidates
Once we have received applications from candidates, we screen them. We want to make sure that we don’t waste anyone’s time (candidate or interviewers) if the candidate is not a good fit for the role and/or clearly doesn’t exhibit the right attributes to succeed at Tidepool.
A resume or online profile can tell us a lot about what a candidate has done, but the first thing we need to find out is what they want to do next, and whether that matches what we’re looking for at Tidepool. This interview can happen over the phone, via Google Hangout, or at a coffee shop.
The idea is to spend 30-60 minutes getting This time is meant to get to know the candidate and letting let them ask questions about Tidepool and the position. It should be pretty transparent if the candidate’s experience or interests are misaligned for the job or with Tidepool's Mission and Values. This interview should also focus on selling Tidepool and recruiting promising candidates, as this is their first real personal contact with Tidepool and their desire to work here will be formed in this meeting.
The following attributes (also known as core competencies) are related to our core values. Evidence of these is explored as part of the screening stage, and constitutes the a foundation for interview screening questions:
Maker Mindset: what Tidepool is doing is bold and disruptive. So, it’s no coincidence we have Tidepoolers who love creating all sorts of things and think outside of the box to come up with new ways of overcoming challenges. Examples of people that exhibit this mindset include: nonprofit leaders, community organizers, activists, entrepreneurs, open-source advocates, podcasters, and broadly speaking, makers of anything.
Radically Candid: we value people who are not afraid to speak their mind, but always do so in a constructive and collaborative way. At Tidepool we aim to practice Radical Candor. Being Radically Candid means that you challenge people directly but in doing so, you care personallycare about the other person, challenge them directly, and invite the other person to do the same.
Transparent and Honest: we don't keep secrets internally. We openly share with the team details about our financials, deal status, and more. We also want people to be transparent in admitting mistakes, and share what they learned, so others can learn and improve. Externally, we share our source code, regulatory quality system documents, processes, project planning, and more. We keep very few secrets, typically only if it is required by an agreement with a partner, or as we are protecting user data.
Embrace Remote Working: this is less of an attribute, but more of a requirement. Since Tidepool is a completely remote organization (regardless of pandemics), we want to grow our team with others that who either love working remotely, or are open to learning and capable of thriving in a remote environment.
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We do not move past this stage continue to screen until we have screeneda diverse group of candidates. This is a criteria criterion we have to ensure we keep diversity at the forefront of our recruiting approach. |
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Interviewing Candidates
After a candidate is screened, if the screening is successful, they should talk to at least 2-3 other team members for 45-60 minutes each. These interviews can be done individually or jointly. The hiring manager makes recommendations for what each interviewer should focus on, and at least two people on the panel should focus on team fit and working remotely.
For technical candidates, at least two technical interviews should be done, focusing on specific project work as well as high-level thinking. The process for handling the interview process is discussed in detail here (internal document only).
Additionally, we are very proud of our Internship Program and our Apprenticeship Program, both of which have been a source of extraordinary talent to feed into the Tidepool ranks over the years.
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