Now it’s official, I’m working on ThoughtWorks – a global IT consultancy which focuses on agile software development, has contributed to a range of open source products, including CruiseControl, NUnit 2.0, and Selenium. My last work was at Sefaz-GO, a government agency which mainly takes care of state tax system. I left too many friends there but this opportunity cames to me and I need to move on, I mean, literally move, from GYN to POA, that’s the worst part to me. Soon I’ll posting more about this new position in my career. Ohhh and like any new thing on life, I have my hopes: increase my knowledge, to know more cultures, apply agile with some of the creators and learn with amazing twkrs. And all this started around four months ago. I’m happy! 😀
For those are feeling lost please read thoughtworks at Brazil and remember we’re continue hiring people.
My intend here is to explain my personal view of the hiring process (which I was submitted) of Brazilian ThoughtWorks. In fact the ThoughtWorks hiring process is already explained, see a brief view of it:
“Hiring is our signature process, so as you might expect, we’ve thought hard about how we access your suitability for a career with us. We believe we’ve created a process that is fun, that shows you what being a ThoughtWorker is all about and challenges your abilities. Many hiring processes consist of a couple of interviews and perhaps a chance to meet your new boss. We reject that. We want to find out what work environment suits you, what you value and how you do your job, so we don’t just sit and ask you questions. We get you to show us what you can do.”
The TW talent scout sent me a message telling me about the open positions at TW (Porto Alegre) and then I answer her asking how to apply, she informed everything I need to do. Then I’ve applied to dev position (03/20/2011) and the First Step: a informal phone interview, that first interview it’s very easy and weightless 🙂 just to know you a little bit. The Informal Phone Interview is designed to help tw get to know each other beyond CVs and web pages.
Second Step was the code submission: they will send you two problems, you must choose only one, to solve. On this part they are trying to access a number of things, these include the design aspect of your solution, but mostly we are looking for good coding practices and your object-oriented programming skills. Good tip here is: use your primary programming language (I do love and want to learn ruby but Java was my main tool that moment).
Then if you have passed on this phase you will be on Third Step: the tech phone interview that consists of one ThoughtWorker interviewing you more technically, in my case Rodrigo Wolschick (A.K.A. Patrola) did the interview and despite his nickname he was fine with me.
So after that you will be on Fourth Step: Office Interview (here the real fun will start), they ask me to schedule two days to be at office. At the office you will pass through several interviews (culture values, programming pairing…) and logical assessments, I can tell you it’s very tiring BUT IT’S SURPRISINGLY FUN. After this long process I started to work at June 21.
PS: I should write this before I’ve posted ThoughtWorks POA.
Ohh, one last note we’re hiring, so if you are interested :
I have some experiences on freelance jobs and I think it could be valuable for someone. First point is: be organized, work as freela it’s about work with time, that time must exist and you have to use it with conscience. Another important point is the quality of your work, the next job may depend on your previous work, as they say: “A good company, I recommend to ten, a bad company I tell for everybody.”
Keep in mind that many people will come looking for a different set of tasks: final project at college, college’s work, work for research institutes, companies facing difficulties in terms of technology or other reasons and the list goes on. Pricing and know how to choose which project to accept is crucial. There is no rule (silver bullet) for you to make the right value for that project. Unfortunately the (exact science of) mathematics does not have this function yet for me. This will be achieved with time and experience (but, please don’t sell yourself for ten dollars, value your work). Also there is no practical rule for you to notice how reliable or good will be a customer, in general observe his problem, his motivations that led him to seek you, see how much conscious about the support post-work he is… I never did a freelance job and have not received the money. It’s very important to make a law contract and make it valid to each client.
So if you could give one tip is to organize and do a great job. Don’t accept work that you won’t get done, just because it may look very profitable. Since some customers will ask you for a NASA rocket for two days, learn to say I can’t. (in that conditions) Always try to watch the feedback of your work and try to improve it.
PS: You will not only acts as a Developer / Designer / Supporter , you will also act as a Consultant and Administrator as well.
Leandro Moreira 