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Our Handbook is open source: here's why

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Re: Our Handbook is open source: here's why

#81

Post by dragonwriter »

phaemon wrote: post #39
danso wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In other companies, the policy has sometimes led to employees taking less time off, because of a reluctance to appear to be "that guy" who takes off more than everyone else. http://digiday.com/agencies/dark-side-unlimited-vacation-pol... > Asked how many days off she took last year, Dawkins was surprised. Forced to think about it, she realized it wasn’t very much: just 14 days, although “it felt like a lot.” There is…

Isn't 14 days more than the US average. I thought it was 10 days. So she wasn't really taking less than other companies. > with no minimum number of vacation days in place, employers are not required to compensate employees for accrued vacation days when they quit. Hmm...how does that work for employees in other countries? In the UK full time workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks holiday per year (so if you work 5 days a…

> Isn't 14 days more than the US average. I thought it was 10 days.

The US average includes lots of different employers in lots of different industries. In most of them, seniority and other factors (many of the same ones that are correlated with pay) are positively correlated with time off. So, it could be both "above the US average" and below, e.g., what would be typically granted to knowledge workers of otherwise similar education and experience in fields of similar demand.

Re: Our Handbook is open source: here's why

#82

Post by sytse »

tetraodonpuffer wrote: post #75
sytse wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For sure we'll do a blog post about it. By the way if you want something now the Travis CI talk is really good https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8u9H6JDAzo We don't have any hard data on this but I think we're in the reasonable range.

when it comes to deciding compensation levels, what metrics do you use? what companies in the area pay? real estate prices? a mix or something else? there are places in the world where, say, the real estate is red-hot (obviously making higher salaries more desirable) but where local companies have not kept up with that (making cross-company surveys skew really low) so in that case what would you do? Managing a distri…

We're still in the early stages of this. Our current thinking is in https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TEHZTvg9jxlwvKvsc5fm2FvZ...

We will maybe end up with a mix of cost of living, cost of labour, and rent.

We address red-hot real estate by considering to add rent to the mix, but it is tricky since some team members might be living in rent-controlled apartments and we want to have a number that doesn't depend on personal circumstances.

Re: Our Handbook is open source: here's why

#83

Post by trumbitta2 »

drinchev wrote: post #29

From the handbook [1] : > Technical interviews > Try to get a real sample of work (which we already do for developers by working on GitLab issues) Avoid puzzles or weird algorithm testing questions. Probing for data structures is fine as long as it is relevant to the job the person is going to do. > Be mindful of the background of the candidate, someone who knows 10 languages already (and some languages in particular…

I don't know... less than a year ago I didn't even get an interview because they were (legitimately) concerned with my lack of experience with Haml and Rails.

I mean, kudos to them if they changed their view on this. I just wanted to let you know about my experience on the topic at hand.

Re: Our Handbook is open source: here's why

#84

Post by sytse »

throwaway412 wrote: post #76

This handbook looks great! However my experience interviewing at Gitlab stands in stark contrast to what is outlined here. Is this a standard/process the company is working on achieving?

I'm sorry that you didn't have a good experience interviewing with us. We recently hired a senior director of people operations https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/blob/db5c01d2af... that will also focus on improving the interviewing process. We're also considering assigning every candidate a guide that they can consult throughout the process. Would that have helped in your case?

Anyway, we know there is a lot we can improve, feel free to reach out anytime to sid at our company domain.

Re: Our Handbook is open source: here's why

#85

Post by tetraodonpuffer »

sytse wrote: post #82
tetraodonpuffer wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

when it comes to deciding compensation levels, what metrics do you use? what companies in the area pay? real estate prices? a mix or something else? there are places in the world where, say, the real estate is red-hot (obviously making higher salaries more desirable) but where local companies have not kept up with that (making cross-company surveys skew really low) so in that case what would you do? Managing a distri…

We're still in the early stages of this. Our current thinking is in https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TEHZTvg9jxlwvKvsc5fm2FvZ... We will maybe end up with a mix of cost of living, cost of labour, and rent. We address red-hot real estate by considering to add rent to the mix, but it is tricky since some team members might be living in rent-controlled apartments and we want to have a number that doesn't depend on pe…

thanks for the follow-up, it must be hard also because of say areas where the real estate is skyrocketing due to investment money coming in from abroad, but where rents aren't moving nearly as much (because local salaries aren't moving really), which makes compensation indexed on real estate skew very high, but compensation indexed on rents skew very low if one wants to be able to afford buying a house at some point

Re: Our Handbook is open source: here's why

#86

Post by sytse »

trumbitta2 wrote: post #83
drinchev wrote: post #29

From the handbook [1] : > Technical interviews > Try to get a real sample of work (which we already do for developers by working on GitLab issues) Avoid puzzles or weird algorithm testing questions. Probing for data structures is fine as long as it is relevant to the job the person is going to do. > Be mindful of the background of the candidate, someone who knows 10 languages already (and some languages in particular…

I don't know... less than a year ago I didn't even get an interview because they were (legitimately) concerned with my lack of experience with Haml and Rails. I mean, kudos to them if they changed their view on this. I just wanted to let you know about my experience on the topic at hand.

I think we had the same view a year back but the bar is higher when your experience is less relevant. Of course we make judgment errors too, feel free to reapply.

I promise that your open solicitation to GitHub http://octohire.me/ was not held against you :)

Re: Our Handbook is open source: here's why

#87

Post by [deleted] »

itsdrewmiller wrote: post #67
jobvandervoort wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have a few junior team members [0]. If you think you would make a great fit in one of the roles, but at a more junior level, I urge you to still apply. The respective hiring manager can let you know whether it's possible to fulfill the same role as a junior. [0]: https://about.gitlab.com/team/

If you are open to people applying that don't quite meet the requirements of the position, you should change the position description. It's well documented that this type of approach tends to reduce the diversity of applicants. (Not to be a nag - I think it is great that you folks are sharing this, and it sounds like a great place to work.)

[deleted]

Re: Our Handbook is open source: here's why

#88

Post by elliotec »

morgante wrote: post #43
jobvandervoort wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This will sound like blatant propaganda for GitLab, but you'll have to take my word that I'm being sincere here: GitLab is by far the best company I've worked at and the best company you could work for, as far as I can see. The values that you see in the handbook are really what every single one of my colleagues works and lives by. People frequently take time off and the team is always supportive, whether it is for a…

If you don't mind me asking, is the pay competitive? I definitely like the ethos of GitLab, but unfortunately most of the remote-only companies I've interviewed with just don't offer salaries competitive with either SV/NYC tech or what I can make doing remote contracting.

The pay is not even close to competitive. I've been through the interview process and they wouldn't budge on what would be a 40% cut for me. Very disappointing considering how amazing everything else is. I felt a bit insulted, considering their inflexible rate was several thousand dollars lower than my first dev job.

Re: Our Handbook is open source: here's why

#89

Post by elliotec »

sytse wrote: post #50
morgante wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don't mind me asking, is the pay competitive? I definitely like the ethos of GitLab, but unfortunately most of the remote-only companies I've interviewed with just don't offer salaries competitive with either SV/NYC tech or what I can make doing remote contracting.

Our pay depends on your location. So if you're currently charging an SF rate without the expenses of living there you're better off.

Who decides what an SF rate is though? SF rates are highly variable, like in any other city.

Re: Our Handbook is open source: here's why

#90

Post by mohsinr »

elliotec wrote: post #88
morgante wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don't mind me asking, is the pay competitive? I definitely like the ethos of GitLab, but unfortunately most of the remote-only companies I've interviewed with just don't offer salaries competitive with either SV/NYC tech or what I can make doing remote contracting.

The pay is not even close to competitive. I've been through the interview process and they wouldn't budge on what would be a 40% cut for me. Very disappointing considering how amazing everything else is. I felt a bit insulted, considering their inflexible rate was several thousand dollars lower than my first dev job.

Was it due to your location? I read they base salary offer on applicant's location... something I am feeling very undemocratic lol... I was idealist thinking I could get paid as per my skills, talent, effort, contribution etc... hell with my location, I could be in India , then in Indonesia and next year working from Mars :-)
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