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The Boot.dev Hiring Process

By Lane Wagner on Jun 2, 2023

We’re a very small team. At a larger company, you can afford to have a mediocre hire. At a tiny startup, a bad hire can be the literal end of the organization. That’s why we take a bit of extra time to really try to get to know you and make sure we’re a good fit for each other before committing.

Everything on this page is subject to change. We update our process as we learn.

Our Process ๐Ÿ”—

  1. Submit Resume. Send your resume (pdf) and a personal note about why you’re interested in working with us to hello at boot .dev
  2. Quick Screen. We’ll schedule a (maximum) 30-minute meeting to get to know each other and see if, even assuming all the interviews go well, our expectations are aligned enough to continue.
  3. Take-home Project. We’ll send you a small project (max 2 hours) to complete on your own time. You’ll send us your results for us to review.
  4. Interview. We’ll schedule a 2-hour meeting, either in a video call or in person.
  5. Paid Contract. If we get this far, we’re very serious about hiring you. We’ll pay you an inflated hourly rate to work on a small project (2-4 weeks) with us as if you were already hired. This will give us a chance to work together and see if we’re a good fit.
  6. Offer. If everyone is happy with the results of the paid contract project, we’ll make you an offer to join our team.

Let’s go into a bit more detail about each step. If at any point during the process you’re rejected, we’ll let you know. You will not be ghosted.

1. Submit Resume ๐Ÿ”—

This one’s pretty simple. Send your resume (pdf) and a personal note about why you’re interested in working with us to hello at boot .dev. It really does help to personalize your note. We’re looking for people who are excited about what we’re building and want to be a part of it.

2. Quick Screen ๐Ÿ”—

This meeting will most likely be a video call, but if you’re local we might want to meet over lunch or coffee. The purpose of this meeting is to figure out your expectations and see if there is a high-level fit. We’re not interviewing for technical prowess. We want to know:

  • Compensation expectations
  • Work-life balance expectations
  • Career & personal goals
  • Extenuating circumstances (e.g. you’re moving to a new city, you need a visa, etc)

3. Take-home Project ๐Ÿ”—

This is a small project that you must spend no more than 2 hours on. We hate taking up your time, but also don’t want to make a match that isn’t a good fit. This project will reflect the kind of daily work we do at Boot.dev, so it’s a good way to see if you’ll enjoy and excel at the kind of work we do here.

4. Interview ๐Ÿ”—

This is it, the interview! This is the only interview, everyone you need to meet will be in this meeting. The format is:

  1. ~30 minutes of introductions. You’ll tell us about your education, work experience, and relevant projects you’ve worked on. We’ll tell you about our company, our team, and our current projects. We’re interested in a good culture fit.
  2. ~30 minutes of code review. You’ll bring some code that you’ve written in the past and we’ll review it together. You’ll walk us through it, and we’ll ask questions about it. Make sure it’s large/complex enough that we can have a 30-minute conversation about it.
  3. ~30 minutes of “whiteboarding”. We’ll ask you to solve a technical problem or two. You won’t have to do any live coding, but you might write some pseudo-code or draw some diagrams. We’re not looking for the “right” answer, we’re looking for how you think about problems and how you communicate your ideas.
  4. ~30 minutes of Q&A. You’ll have a chance to ask us any questions you have about the company, the team, the work, or anything else.

5. Paid Contract ๐Ÿ”—

If we get this far, we’re very serious about hiring you. You will not be competing with other candidates at this point. The purpose of this project is to be absolutely sure that we’re a good fit for each other. You will work on a real project for the company that will take between 2-4 weeks. If you’re already employed, we’ll work with you to make sure you can find time to work on this project without jeopardizing your current job.

6. Offer ๐Ÿ”—

If everyone is happy with the results of the paid contract project, we’ll make you an offer to join our team.