Leon Bezuidenhout - Senior Director, Production Engineering - Aiven

Summary

In this conversation, Leon shares insights into the interviewing process at his company. He mentions that their interviews are primarily technical but also include behavioural aspects. The interview process consists of four stages: recruitment screen, hiring management screen, take-home homework, and final round team interview. Leon advises candidates to prepare for technical interviews by understanding the requirements and doing some preparation. He also discusses hiring candidates from different career backgrounds and the importance of their homework exercise. Leon highlights red flags in interviews, such as lying and talking poorly about colleagues or past employers. He emphasises the importance of culture fit and openness, ownership, and courage as values in their company. Leon mentions that having a degree is not mandatory for the roles they recruit, and they do conduct reference checks.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Overview
03:53 Hiring Candidates from Different Career Backgrounds
04:41 Red Flags in Interviews
07:55 Assessing Culture Fit
12:29 The Role of a Degree in Hiring