How I've landed my dream job at HubSpot, and how you can too!

I’ve been raving about how HubSpot’s New Hire Training has raised the bar when it comes to on-boarding new staff in a previous article. Since I can’t stop talking about how amazeballs HubSpot is as a place to work, I’ve had a few people asking me how they could become a HubSpotter. So here is my experience and my two-cents worth of advice on how to land that dream job.

A Match Made In Heaven?

My first piece of advice, apart from obviously making sure you are good fit for the job on offer, is to think about the company you are joining. Sounds simple enough, right? But hear me out! With a few years under my belt, I can tell you - some relationships aren’t meant to be. And let’s face it, spending at least 8h a day at work (if not physically, at least mentally), we are talking some major commitment. But I am not talking paychecks, bonuses and benefits - they are one part of the puzzle but shouldn’t be the main driver, IMHO at least and in that of Psychology Today.

Check out the culture of your prospective employer - what do they stand for, what’s their vision/mission and how are they going about achieving it? I’ve already held HubSpot in high esteem but seeing their culture code deck just knocked it out of the ballpark for me!

Do Your Research!

Beyond crawling a company’s website, LinkedIn and other social networks - I recommend, no I urge you, to check out Glassdoor. As with anything online, ignore the outliers - overly positive/negative reviews - and see if and what pattern is emerging for your prospective employer.

From personal experience, pretty much anyone I knew at HubSpot seemed unnaturally happy, think Black Mirror’s Nosedive episode. And even after a few FREE drinks at INBOUND - HubSpot’s annual conference which attracts +20,000 visitors - no-one “spilled the beans” or ranted about work, colleagues, managers or the senior managers. So either this was a well run cult or they’ve nailed something about their culture - only one way to find out! Get a job at HubSpot!

Use Your Network!

After settling on Berlin for our escape from Brexit adventure, I started setting up a couple of searches on LinkedIn. This was early stages, I wanted to get a feel for what’s the job market like, what salaries are being paid, how long are positions open, etc.

A few weeks in and I remembered that HubSpot had opened an office in Berlin the previous summer. Seeing quite a number of jobs on offer, I’ve narrowed it down to two roles: Customer Success Manager (CSM) & Inbound Marketing Consultant (IC). Both job descriptions sounded similar and I did what I usually do - ask someone who I think knows more than I do.

In this case, it was Ben Cotton whom I’ve known in his role at Sales Enablement for nearly 3 years. Few emails and a phone call later, he advised me that the IC role would be more suited to my experience in using HubSpot and in Marketing overall, due to it’s more strategic nature compared to the CSM role. Queue me, updating & tweaking my CV over the weekend to showcase my full inbound marketing experience and achievements from the past 3.5 years; and yes, of course I’ve updated my CV’s colour scheme to HubSpot orange.

The Interview Process

1. 22nd March: It all kicked-off with a 30min phone screening interview by Tania Perez where we discussed my qualifications, skills and experience. It felt more like a professional chat rather than one of those interrogations we’ve all experienced at some stage. We discussed the interview process and timescales. As we concluded the call and before I could even ask when I am likely to hear if I made it to the next stage, Tania told me I’d passed the first hurdle and she’s be in touch to arrange the second phone interview with the hiring manager, Lisa Harte.
2. 27th March: With little over week to go until my interview with Lisa, Manager - Inbound & Technical Consultants at HubSpot EMEA, I made sure to prep based on guidance given by Tania and some extensive research on Glassdoor. I’ve read/heard a great quote somewhere - “In the age of the internet, ignorance is a choice”. It’s true, do your research! There are no excuses! I think our initial 30min call lasted nearly one hour, and again it never felt like an interview in the traditional sense.
3. 13th April: I’ve found out a day after the interview with Lisa that I’ve made it to the final stage. A mix personal and professional commitments meant the first available date for me to fly to Dublin to give a 45min presentation and do 3 x 30min interviews was Friday the 13th - OMG. Sounds full on, and believe me it was.

The Final Hurdle

For the final presentation I was given a customer scenario stretching across 2 pages.

Having looked at the brief and key metrics provided, I developed a pitch for the potential client, offering some quick wins combined with more medium and longer terms ideas that can be executed. In addition, I’ve put together an interview prep cheat sheet - a mix of frequently asked questions based on Glassdoor comments as well as a list of additional questions for me to ask during the interview(s).

The 45min flew by, and I was ready for the inevitable GDPR question, that I’ve expected would be thrown in. To be honest I don’t remember much detail from the 3x30min interviews which covered job fit, GSD (Getting Stuff/Shit Done) and culture fit. What I do remember, is that again the whole process didn’t really feel like I was being interviewed but more like having a professional conversation with peers - or maybe that’s just me…

I’ve followed up with a thank you email to the recruiter whilst waiting for my flight back to London, and first thing Monday morning I’ve received the job offer. Talk about getting shit done! ;)

Summary

If you like what you’ve heard about HubSpot and want to join the team, check out our open positions, feel free to get in touch with me. And please keep the following in mind if and when you progress through the interview:

• Do your effing research - LinkedIn, Glassdoor, etc. Find out what’s happening in the sector, wider economy and look up the people that are interviewing you.
• Prepare, prepare and prepare some more - You’ll be given pointers at each stage what the focus will be, prepare accordingly
• Don’t waffle - more of a personal view, but there is no harm in saying ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I haven’t done that yet’, it allows the interviewer to move on and maybe ask ‘How would you do it?’.
• Ask questions - Not just during the interviews, but in between. I felt they customer scenario lacked detail, I made a list of things I’d ideally like to know and sent those through.
• Have fun - I mean it. The interview process is stressful enough. And with a big emphasis on culture at HubSpot, we want to know that you can have a laugh and be personable even when the world around you is going up in flames, GDPR anyone!?