GitLab

Background: I'm a software engineer with 30+ years of full-stack experience.

I first learned about Gitlab as a user, then became more and more impressed by their fully-distributed nature, massive company handbook, which is the source of truth for everything the company does, and by their values, which, as far as I can tell, aren't just lip service but lived. So I decided to apply (I had been in my previous job over a decade; this was the first time I had applied anywhere in that time).

The interview experience was challenging but very professional and well-designed. I had a total of seven interviews, from the initial screening to a 1-1 with the VP of Engineering. This included two technical interviews, one for frontend and one for backend.

The technical interviews were very well designed. They were in the form of a dummy Merge Request, which I received 48 hours in advance. I had to comment and suggest improvements, just as I would when reviewing a real MR. Then, I had to do some live coding implementing some of the changes, to prove I knew my way around the code.

The interviewers were all kind and punctual. There were no "gotcha" or pointless algorithm questions.

Overall, a great interview experience.

Working there so far is great. Management and peers are very helpful and respectful, and the massive handbook has the answers to most any basic questions you have about anything.

Working hours and vacation policy are also great. Very few meetings. Very flexible; you are basically expected to get your job done, attend the meetings you are required to, and outside of that, you can structure your life however you want.

Meeting etiquette is also very unique in this completely virtual company. You are welcome to attend any meeting (and many/most are recorded and published publicly for future review). They are very strict and succinct about agendas. You also are not required to pay attention to everything, even if you are attending. If it's an hour meeting, and you only have ten minutes that applies to you, you can just keep working while you are on the call the rest of the time.

The pay scales are also very transparent and fair. There are very narrow bands determined by your title, skill level, and location, and there are no exceptions to this.

Not really a con, but you must be very organized and disciplined to navigate and thrive in such a documentation-centric and process-driven environment. I am, so this isn't a con for me.

They are also currently going through some scalability and performance issues, which is to be expected during periods of rapid growth. However, as far as I can tell, they are proactively identifying the issues and actively working on them, which is all you can ask for.

Keep focused on the performance of the site and product. And above all, don't lose the culture and "magic" through this period of rapid growth. I've seen that happen as other companies grew around me, and it's a sad experience.