The interview game at Mindnow: What to expect and how to win

Flat hierarchies are not just a buzzword

Mindnow doesn’t have strict rules. We are not afraid to try something new or never seen before. Our hierarchy is flat, meaning you don’t need to go through five steps to reach the management. Jean-Paul, Jakob, and Vadim are very much involved, present, and happy to hear different perspectives – at job interviews as well as in everyday business.

We love giving feedback to each other, and based on that feedback, we create something better and improve. It’s not important how long you have been at the company or what your position is. At Mindnow, we enjoy sharing thoughts and ideas and encourage everyone to make suggestions. If you are creative and innovative, you’ll feel comfortable with us.

Team spirit is what counts

The key skills and qualities we ask for vary based on the positions. However, whether it’s development, design, sales, or another area –  what stays the same is communication and teamwork. We love people developing individually and working as independently as possible and at the same time being team players.

Together Everyone Achieves More. That’s why we aim to hire people who enjoy contributing, sharing, and caring.

Multinational environment

We were always aiming for a multinational environment at Mindnow. What we imagined is colleagues from various countries sharing the same vision. You may guess that it wasn’t easy to make it happen from one day to another. But that’s another story. (You can read it here: How to communicate effectively with remote teams.)

By now, our team consists of people from several different countries with different mother tongues. In my role as a Culture Manager, I’m also responsible for taking care of our international company culture and every colleague, whether he or she works from the office or remotely.

Working remotely is entirely acceptable

Working from the office, seaside, countryside, or whenever on Earth is entirely acceptable. CET time zone is an advantage because it makes working in a team much easier. Besides that, as long as you are happy, satisfied, productive, and have all you need, then, no boundaries. This is one of the most substantial reasons why I enjoy working here since my first day at Mindnow.

The 3 interviews of our hiring process

Interview 1: Let’s get to know each other

Our hiring process usually starts with having a video interview with the Head of HR (that’s me!). Unless you are applying for a job at our office on the island (Sicily), then your first contact will be our colleagues in Catania.

In this call, we introduce the company to our candidates. We “paint a picture” of how Mindnow does things, what we expect, and what we would like to see. But it’s certainly not an interrogation form where we talk and the candidate listens. After the introduction from our side, we’re curious to hear our potential new colleagues’ aspirations, motivations, and ways of thinking. Feel free to tell us all kinds of stories, we’re all ears to get to know your personality.

This intro call is usually no longer than 30 minutes. Our goal at this point is only to see if we share the same values.

Interview 2: Technical knowledge sharing

The second meeting is always a technical one. Just like the first interview, it’s not a university exam but rather an open discussion. You, me, and a Senior Mind from the area you’re applying for talk about your skills and mutual expectations.

For developer positions, we typically talk about the tech stack, our technologies, and how your skills would fit into ongoing projects at Mindnow. Sometimes we give the candidate a little task that he or she should be able to solve easily. How difficult it is and if we even give a task at all depends on the seniority and job role.

What we certainly ask all candidates at the second interview is to tell us more about their past work experience and preferences for the future. Also, we’re more than curious to hear your opinion about us and if you can imagine working with us.

Interview 3: Meet the manager

Interview number 3 is the last one. It is scheduled with one member of the management team, again depending on the type of job you’re applying for.

We dive deeper into your role, the projects you could work on, and potential responsibilities. We talk about what you can expect from your first days and where you can meet your future team members in person.

The comments we often get from our candidates are saying they were expecting a stressful last call with the management. Don’t worry, there is really no need to be stressed. All our colleagues, no matter the position or title, are human beings with strengths and weaknesses who were once in a similar situation as you are now.

Conclusion: Show us who you are

At Mindnow, we believe in transparency. I suppose it’s useful for our applicants to know how the interview process at Mindnow works. The purpose of this article is not to make you learn by heart some answers to typical interview questions. It’s for you, our potential next candidate, to know that we just want to find out about your personality and if your strengths fit what we’re looking for.

Here is my advice for mastering the interviews:

You’ve got any questions? We’re happy to answer them! An interview is always a two-way street. It’s also in our interest to show you who we are and which interesting challenges we can offer you. If we share the same vision, a bright future of collaboration is ahead of us.  

Last, but not least, note that none of the described above is set in stone. With every feedback that we get, we try to create better processes. Also, different people have different paths. For example, you can read the story of how our career changer Dean landed his first UX Design role.