Every company does Engineering hiring and onboarding differently – and OMG is no exception. The OMG culture is a rare find, and it all starts with the way we interview, hire, and onboard our new OMG’ers.
Hi there, I’m Seth! I am a self-taught nerd who went to college for animation and worked my way through several small (11 people), medium (~100 people), and large (5000+ people) companies before landing at OMG. Outside of working magic on a computer, I love the outdoors and can be found backpacking, disc golfing, kayaking, or taking long walks on the beach.
Here is my experience being interviewed, hired, and onboarded with OMG.
What is this place?
Coming from the corporate world, my first few days at OMG were a major culture shock because- OMG loves OMG. And for good reason! It’s a place of wonder, magic, and pride (or is that just the OMG KoolAid talking?!).
The OMG culture is a rare find, and we can’t help but feel the desire to tell everyone about it. I mean, where else do you find a company where Teamwork truly makes the dream work, coworkers are passionate about their skills and hobbies, and leaders lead with empathy and human-centered thinking? The OMG culture is unlike any other, so it’s no wonder OMG’ers drink the KoolAid and want to share with others.
Engineering Interview Process
I’ll be honest, the OMG hiring process is long – but fruitful. Let me walk you through the process—
Candidates are invited to a half-day interview session after making it through the initial screening process. The candidate is first asked a series of technical questions and inquiries about past projects that help us understand their skill level. After that, the candidate meets with several key OMG’s both in and outside the Engineering department, to understand their soft skills. This Team-based approach allows us to understand cultural fit.
At the end of the in-office session, we take the candidate out for lunch or happy hour. It’s a chance to celebrate completing the interview, see how the Team jives in a relaxed setting, and verify our desire to hire.
You got the job!
Congrats! You got the job, an OMG’er number (mine is #139), and an endless supply of the OMG KoolAid! This is where the fun stuff begins.
Once someone is hired, we slowly introduce the new OMG’er to our culture, processes, and people. The industries we serve are unique and nuanced, and it’s important that each OMG’er is well-informed about the company as a whole, so we take our time in onboarding to make sure each new OMG’er has the tools and knowledge they need to succeed.
OMG hires – from across multiple departments of the company – are typically hired and onboarded in groups, or cohorts. Hiring in cohorts isn’t a new concept, but I hadn’t been through it before. It was startling to see how quickly I got to know new OMG’ers from other departments – simply because we had been training in the same room for two weeks straight. Now as I continue my work months later, we still have our cohort bond we can carry on throughout our careers, and engage in efficient cross-department collaboration.
OMG focuses on connections from the start. During the cohort training, each department head leads a 30-minute meeting about their department. These meetings are designed to inform holistic understanding of OMG’s workings, allow for newbie questions, and get to know department heads.
The outcome of this training design is creating and continually feeding an environment that wholeheartedly breeds empathy. It is almost impossible to walk through the floors of the office without talking to someone about your weekend or some exciting outside-of-work event, project, or hobby.
…oh wait. That’s what it used to be.
COVID Impact on Interviewing & Onboarding
The impact of COVID-19 turned us all on our heads, and OMG pivoted to adapt and continues to thrive. OMG’ers have been working remote since March and will continue to do so, at least through the end of the year.
To give you an accurate view of Engineering hiring at OMG and how that might look today (as compared to my experience), I turned to my pal Christian, who was hired post-COVID. Christian is a rockstar who is an adjunct professor at SMU in addition to being an awesome programmer.
Christian’s remote interviewing and onboarding experience was similarly smooth as mine.
Because all of his interviews were virtual, OMG gave Christian ample time to prepare. His first virtual interview was to prepare a presentation of a past project of his. This portion of the interview process was enjoyable for him, as it allowed him to speak to a project he was proud of, which made him feel more confident going into the next rounds. After completing the rest of his interview process – code tests and departmental interviews – OMG hired Christian.
Christian made an observation to me that stuck out during our conversation. He said he feels at-home with his immediate Team, but it’s difficult to develop relationships outside of the Engineering Team in this remote-work climate. In the office, it was easy to have water cooler talk, lunchtime gatherings, and “how was your weekend” chats in the hallway. We miss being around each other and getting to know fellow OMG’ers on a personal level.
But hey, isn’t that a sign of all that delicious OMG KoolAid?!
See For Yourself!
A key characteristic of OMG is that there is a sense of respect and friendship between OMG’ers. While it’s nice to work remote, we miss seeing each other – we miss seeing our friends and coworkers. That’s an incredible dynamic and culture to have – at your place of work, which is notoriously filled with people and projects you want to spend less of your time with.
OMG loves OMG. It’s a place of wonder, magic, and pride (and that’s definitely not just the KoolAid talking). The OMG culture is a rare find, and hey, I hope you join our Team so you can see for yourself!
PS. Jump over to this blog post to meet a couple more Engineer OMG’ers!
About OrderMyGear
OrderMyGear is an industry-leading sales tool, empowering dealers, distributors, decorators, and brands to create custom online pop-up stores to sell branded products and apparel. Since 2008, OMG has been on a mission to simplify the process of selling customized merchandise to groups and improve the ordering experience. With easy-to-use tools, comprehensive reporting, and unmatched support, the OMG platform powers online stores for over 3,000 clients generating more than $1 billion in online sales. Learn more at www.ordermygear.com.
Media Contact: Hayley Bell | hayley@ordermygear.com | 214-396-2110
