Cracking A Global Tech Career ft Wayne Haber (Director of Engineering, GitLab) from Uplers

This session discussed GitLab's technical interview process including taking a coding test to assess skills and discussing the approach, followed by a system design discussion and interviews focused on alignment with GitLab's remote-first culture and values like transparency and collaboration. It emphasized having the required skills, contributing to open source, researching the company, and showing interest in GitLab specifically. It also covers being transparent about gaps in knowledge, unlearning some behaviors from past companies, and focusing on results over hours worked. Lastly it covers GitLab's thorough on boarding process.

The talk also provided tips for those switching to a career in tech and succeeding in remote tech roles including taking coding bootcamps and contributing to open source projects.

Summary of what was covered

• Review GitLab's open job listings and handbook when applying. Confirm job posts are legitimate/direct from company.
• Submit a resume and optional cover letter highlighting projects, skills and interests relevant to the role.
• Take a remote coding test in your language of choice to assess skills.
• Technical interview reviews your test work and discusses approaches taken and communication skills.
• System design interview covers scalability, maintainability, performance concepts. Study GitLab's handbook.
• Manager interviews assess remote work abilities and alignment with transparency and other GitLab values.
• Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Results) when answering questions.
• The process is slow - don't worry if you don't hear back quickly. Ask recruiters for status updates.
• For onboarding, focus on required items first. Review additional materials periodically as you gain context.
• Be transparent about gaps in knowledge. Results matter more than hours worked.
• To switch careers, complete a coding bootcamp and contribute to open source projects.
• Show interest in the company's mission and products. Ask questions to learn about the interviewers' experiences.