Everything You Need to Know About Our Hiring Process

We get it — applying for a job can be overwhelming. You take the courageous step to share your resume and then wait and wonder. You wait to hear about the next steps. You wonder about who you’ll meet. And you question if there’s anything else you can do to help your chances of landing your dream job.

This blog answers your biggest questions about our hiring process so you can have clarity and confidence throughout the journey.

If you’re ready to join an ambitious team tackling the housing crisis, then here’s what you can expect during our hiring process.

Our hiring process is generally a five-step process before we extend an offer.

Note that this can vary based on the position and hiring manager’s needs):

1. Initial Screening | 45-minute phone interview with our recruiter
2. Manager Interview | 60-minute Zoom interview with the hiring manager
3. Take-Home Assessment
4. Team interview | 90-minute Zoom interview with 3-4 people who would be on your team
5. Reference Checks
6. Culture Interview | [Varies] If possible, an in-person meeting with our senior leadership and/or your peers. Otherwise, this is held virtually.

The hiring process takes 6-8 weeks, depending on the position and the schedules of everyone involved. 

We will request 3 professional references when we extend an offer.

The hiring process is a two-way street of collaboration and communication.

One of our six core values at New Story is Building Together. How do we do it?

Providing clarity.

Hiring a new team member is an opportunity to collaborate with you and communicate our expectations clearly. . This starts with our job post. Every role includes a salary range, work location (remote or hybrid), and the specific skills we are looking for. When you apply, and again during your initial phone interview, we will share exactly what you can expect of our hiring process including the exact interview stages for the role you’re interested in, and who, when, and how we will follow up with you.

Our hiring process is thorough. We design our process not only for us to get to know you but for you to get to know us — because we are all more than our work. This is best felt at the final step of the process, where we offer the opportunity to meet the team in-person or virtually. The better we understand each other as human beings, the more enjoyable and effective we’ll be at work.

Providing opportunities to showcase more than your interviewing skills.

You’re more than your answers to interview questions. That’s why we ask candidates to do a take-home assessment. We want to see your work in action and better understand how you approach problems.

We’ll present you with a hypothetical problem we could face at New Story, give you time to work on it, and then let you communicate your results and how you got there. It may seem like a lot, but the assessment is for more than just us to see your work up close. It’s a chance for you to experience the type of work you’ll do as a New Story team member.

We will communicate at the start of the hiring process whether an assessment is paid or not.

Providing feedback.

We receive hundreds, if not thousands, of applicants for our open roles. While we can’t provide feedback to every applicant regarding their application, if you are invited into our hiring process, we will prioritize sharing feedback if we decide not to proceed with your application.  Why? We believe everyone should have the opportunity to improve, and feedback makes that possible. 

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Common practices of the best candidates

While we have a diverse team, many shared common practices throughout the hiring process. Here’s a short list of ways you can stand out as a candidate.

• Do your homework | You can and should stalk us. It’s not weird. In fact, we’ll help you get started. Check out our  blog. To learn a bit about our history as a company, watch our documentary. 
• Speak to our problems | Top candidates empathize with us by understanding our problems and speaking into how to solve them.
• Ask good questions | We leave room for questions in every stage of the hiring process. Take advantage of that time by getting to the bottom of your biggest questions.
• Be proactive | Extreme Ownership is another core value at New Story, and we love seeing it in candidates. It’s best summarized as taking full responsibility for your role in the hiring process. Did we miss asking you something that we should know? Share more!
• Be concise | The more clear you can communicate about yourself and your work, the better we can get to know you as a person. Direct, simple language leaves no room for us to guess your intentions and what you’re saying.
• Use examples and data to make a point | We love stories. Come ready to share stories in and out of the workplace to show how you created an impact. We highly encourage the STAR method.
• Be diligent | We are chatting with a lot of people every day. If we don’t follow up as quickly as you’d like, we promise it isn’t personal. Don’t hesitate to check-in! #ExtremeOwnership

If you’re ready to join our team, you can apply for an open position on our careers page. We hope to hear from you soon!