An Inside Look at the Hiring Process

At some companies, the interview process can be summed up in three steps: phone screen, in-person interview, and if you’re lucky, an offer. People are polite, friendly, and pretty formal. Penrod knows if you want the best, you can’t adhere to an old-fashioned process. That’s why our interview process is so different and why we have such a great team.

What Makes Penrod’s Interview Process Unique

When you apply for a job, you likely have expectations of how the process will go: get a call from the company or a recruiter, answer a few basic questions, cross your fingers and wait for the callback for an in-person interview. If the face-to-face interview goes well, you may get a call back for another interview or an offer. Pretty standard, right?

Penrod, on the other hand, is anything but standard. We pride ourselves on our culture, which means we go beyond formalities and a 30-minute interview. It takes time to really get to know people and build a great team.

Interested in working for us and joining our stellar team of Salesforce consultants with grit? Here is some need-to-know info to help you prepare.

Need to know #1: It’s a long process – but it’s worth it

When you get that first contact from Penrod, be prepared for a journey. You’ll have several touch points and meet a lot of people, but we do our best to make sure it’s an enjoyable process for everyone involved. We want to find out if a candidate is the right fit for us, but we also want the candidate to get to know us and see if we’re a good fit for them and their career.

One of the elements that makes Penrod’s interview process unique is that candidates get to spend time with everyone. We believe this is so important because it gives you a holistic view of Penrod. Each individual can explain to you why their job is important to them and how they help the company succeed. You’ll get to interact with the team and see the Penrod community in action, working, collaborating, and building great things.

Need to know #2: No two interviews are the same

We pride ourselves on our culture, which is our values – accountability, growth, grit, teamwork, and flexibility – our people, our space, and everything we do. You can’t truly experience that in a 30-minute interview. That’s why we have a series of interviews.

The initial interview

True to our tech nature, the initial interview is a video interview. We want you to feel comfortable and at ease, and we’ve found that being in a familiar setting helps. Get comfy, walk around a bit, it’s all good so long as we can connect. During this time, we’ll go over your resume, discuss salary expectations, and give you a general idea of what to expect in the first 30, 60, and 90 days. This gives us both a solid foundation of basic expectations and helps us both make sure we’re in alignment.

Culture interview

If after the initial interview we both agree it seems like we’re onto something good, you’ll be asked back for a second interview: the culture interview. Here, we’ll build upon that initial foundation of questions. We want to get to know you as a person, so we’ll ask about your hobbies and what you like to do outside of work; that’s why this interview might take place in a coffee shop or at a local happy hour.

We’ll talk about your values and chat about how they match with Penrod’s core values. You’ll have the chance to answer questions about goals you’ve set, life lessons you’ve learned, and where you want to go in your career and life. This is also the time where we welcome you to grill us. Ask us about our core values and let us know what you think of them and how you can add to our culture. We want to know what you think!

Technical interview

After we’ve gotten to know you a bit better during the culture interview, we’ll regroup as a team to chat about it. If you make the cut, you’ll be asked back for the technical interview, where you’ll have more face time with the hiring manager. Since you’ll be working closely with this person, they’ll dig a little deeper into your past work experience. They’ll outline the job in more detail and give you specific scenarios of projects you’ll be working on.

During the technical interview, be prepared to answer behavioral and situational-type questions. We don’t want canned responses, but we do want to hear about how you rocked a successful project, how you conquered a challenge, and how you think you’d fit in at Penrod.

Need to know #3: We value personality, but we also like mad skills

Penrod is proud to be one of the top Salesforce consultancies in the nation. We earned that title through our top-notch team and their cutting-edge skills. That’s why as part of your interview process, you’ll be asked to demonstrate the technical aspects of your job and passion for what you do, be it marketing, project management, or coding.

If you’re a developer, we may give you a loose command prompt and you can show off your skills. Think of it like writing a stellar cover letter in code. If you’re applying for a project manager position, we may give you a hypothetical “difficult” client. How would your present a proposal to them? This is your chance to give us a demo showing us why you’re a rockstar PM.

If you’re a data consultant looking to work at Penrod, we may give you a set of data and a tool we use and ask, “How you would migrate it?” The goal is not to trick you or trip you up. Instead, we’re giving you the chance to shine and also get a taste of what it’s like to work at Penrod: fun, creative, fast-paced, and perfect for people who like to think on their feet.

Need to know #4: Be yourself

We try not to take ourselves so seriously and we don’t think our interviewees should, either. When you have all the skills, be yourself and let them shine through! We work hard, and we challenge ourselves to continually be at the top of our game, but we also enjoy ourselves at work. During the interview process, we’ll take you around our work spaces and you’ll see they’re built to maximize innovation and productivity, with some spaces that do dual purpose for work and celebration. At Penrod, you’ll have opportunities to work in the space that feels comfortable and personal.

What if you think Penrod is amazing and you think you’d fit in great with the team, but you aren’t quite sure you’ve got the right experience or skill set? Reach out! We may have a great fit for you on our team, or we may be able to give you suggestions on how you can build skills and reach back out in the not-so-distant future. Give us a call or drop us an email and let’s chat!

Ready to make the move? We’re hiring! Apply today!