A new year is always the perfect time to break the cycle. Stop doing what you hate, and find something you love to take its place. This includes job hunting — if you hate your job, do something else. Like everyone else, we’re eagerly hiring, so if you are intrigued by what we do, here’s what we look for:
Have a side project you’re passionate about? Figure out how to get it done!
The story goes something like this:
Girl gets a phone call. Girl is invited to go out. It’s raining. Girl doesn’t want to melt in the rain. Mom kicks Girl out of the house. Mom orders Girl to go out and have fun. Girl goes out, meets a group from a San Francisco company called Expensify. Apparently, the entire company is working and backpacking for a whole month in Croatia. Girl laughs with fascination and some disbelief but Girl doesn’t dwell on that because Girl is absolutely fascinated with the energy, drive, and passion each person exudes when talking about the company, coworkers, the CEO, and basically just how much they love what they do. Continue Reading…
You just started your new job and you want to make a good impression. You’ve been working at the same job for years and want more responsibility. In either case, how do you step up your game and make a difference? What can you do to get yourself noticed? Continue Reading…
Think back to all the jobs you’ve ever had in your life. In those roles, when did you finally get handed some real, capital-R Responsibility on the job?
Individuals are generally hired at a company based on what they’ve done in the past and how that translates to potential at the new position. Even after a rigorous interview process that should have proven the candidate to be a very capable person, a new hire still has to prove themselves before getting some real responsibility. Why is that? Continue Reading…
Our team is like one big, happy family, so every new hire means welcoming another member to the Expensify family. In July alone, the Expensify team grew a crazy 26%, bringing the total number of full-time employees from 24 people in January to our current number at 45.
I don’t have an official title at Expensify but on any given day, I work with the financials, recruiting efforts, hiring, onboarding, office management, relocation, etc. My favorite part of the job? Interviewing candidates. I take great pride in overseeing the hiring process at Expensify, ensuring that we grow our team to match the amazing talent we already have on site.
With that said, I wanted to pass along some advice for interviewing. First and foremost, treat interviewing like dating. Whether you are good or bad at dating, mastering a good interview comes with some basic steps. Continue Reading…
Our challenges have fewer walls and and more coding, but same idea.
It’s widely repeated that “great people are 100x more productive than average people.” But while everybody says it, most companies just hire 100x more average people. At Expensify, we try very, very hard to hold the line and only hire people we think are truly great. This means that despite ample resources and more than enough work to go around, we hire extremely slowly — and spend an enormous amount of energy doing it. A lot of that energy is directed toward refining the hiring process itself, with a major recurring topic being: what makes someone great? Continue Reading…
Based on the sudden spike in applications we’ve seen, there are a lot of people out there with New Year’s resolutions to make the jump. Before you do, I’d recommend asking your employer-to-be the following questions: Continue Reading…
Tomorrow is my last day of work here at Expensify, thus ending what has been an incredible adventure. I joined Expensify in late May as an intern, and now my time has come to return to school. As I write this, I’m watching the sun set over San Francisco and it’s finally sinking in that I won’t be seeing another California sunset for a while. I joined Expensify in late May with nothing but a laptop and high hopes, tomorrow I’ll walk out the door (of the new and better office) with the hope that our paths will cross again. Why? Because it turned out to be so awesome! This city is incredible, the work is fun, and it’s always a good time hanging out with the team. I’m excited to get back to school, but it’s bittersweet to be leaving such an awesome company at the same time. So now as an experienced Expensify intern, here are my pro tips on how to handle working for an awesome and fast paced startup.
Do:
Enjoy yourself. The office is filled with awesome people, you’re in a great city, and you’re working on a product that a million people love!
Listen! Everyone here would love to teach you something, just make sure you’re listening and able take advantage of that.
Be open minded. Your mockup or design document will not always be the best. Be able to take tough feedback because in the end it makes for a better product.
Take ownership of your projects. Plan, implement, and test. Then show it off to everyone and you’ll feel like a rockstar.
Don’t:
Expect someone to hold your hand. Be able to work independently and help will be there when you’re actually stuck.
Miss your last ride home. If you’re staying late it’s a good idea to know when the last BART train leaves (1:04 AM if you’re headed south).
Sit on the couch all weekend. After all, this is San Francisco.
Adjust Witold’s chair. Leave it alone and nobody gets hurt.
Bonus: Pictures!
Expensify went wine tasting after hitting the 1 Million user mark in June.
San Francisco from the top of Twin Peaks
A night out with Thomas and the other interns
Took a trip down to Big Sur
Sunset on the Golden Gate
This summer was great, guess I’ll just have to come back.
-Andrew
As many of our regular readers have probably noticed, we’ve been mentioning here and there for quite some time that we are in the market for new employees. And as we’ve said before, we’re taking a drastically slower route toward hiring than many startups do. But we’re being extra picky about who we hire, because we’re trying to preserve two things that are very important to us:
In other words, not just any Computer Science major will do. In fact, we don’t even care if you have a college degree. We don’t care if you’re a U.S. citizen.
What we do care about?
Generally, we’ve found that our best applicants also have the following in common:
The point we’re trying to make is: the expectations are high, but the rewards are higher, and if you think you’ve got what it takes, we’d love to hear from you. We’ll sponsor a visa, buy your lunches, and propel your career to the next level – if you’re the right fit.
