How to get a role at Nexmo | Career - ANZ ICT

Nexmo is a Vonage API platform that bridges traditional voice and messaging services with cloud communications.

It works with companies like Airbnb, WhatsApp and Snapchat to help them communicate with their customers all across the globe.

Since its inception in 2010, Nexmo has grown to a team of more than 240 employees, representative of 47 different nationalities. It's currently hiring for a spectrum of developer and engineering roles including java developer, devops engineer, full stack developer and technical support engineer. (Take a look at the positions here.)

We asked Armi Ingratta, Nexmo’s talent acquisition lead, what it takes to join their diverse team.

If you're looking for a new job, take a look at our jobs board.

1. Don’t undersell yourself

Fortune favours the bold so if you think Nexmo is the place for you, reach out and let them know. Don’t dwell too much on being the perfect fit for the role, Armi says it’s not always necessary to be a carbon copy of the job specification. For a hiring manager at an innovative company, potential can be as attractive as experience.

“When it comes to engineers, we hire for great talent and talented people so it’s not always about the technology that they’ve used but their willingness to learn and immerse themselves in new technologies too,” he said.

2. Nail your application

Obviously, your application needs to be digital and succinct but it also needs to clearly set you apart from other applicants. Aside from your technical skills and qualifications, consider what makes you a uniquely strong candidate and try wherever possible to give specific details of your previous work.

Armi says he’s always looking for information that gives him an indication into the impact a person has had in their previous roles and their favoured team dynamic.

“A lot of developers can be too generic in their applications, leading with the very basic ‘java developer for 5 years’ and then straight into discussing the different code, frameworks and databases they use. The ideal applicant for us is able to offer real insight into what kind of work they’ve done and what projects they’ve worked on as part of their team,” he said.

3. Do your research

Attitude can be as significant as talent in the interview stage and if you have not done sufficient research into the business, you can appear unprepared and even indifferent. For Armi, candidates who don’t have a basic knowledge of the company’s output are always going to be on the back foot.

“On our website, you can actually play around with our API so it’s always a plus when candidates do that as it shows their interest in our business. That for me is key. It’s not that they’ve just clicked apply to 100 jobs and hoped for the best, they’ve done their homework. That’s important,” he added.

4. Show your enthusiasm

Armi insists the Nexmo interview technique is pretty straight forward, there’s no trick questions or obscure tasks, the team are simply trying to discover who you are and how you approach problems.

His advice is to relax, be yourself and be prepared for some whiteboarding. “When I do an interview, I’m looking to put the person at ease. I’m not bombarding people with hardball questions. What I want to see is how you think,” he said.

Consider that for the candidate too, the interview is a great opportunity to ask questions and get an insight into what the company is really like. Don’t waste it!

“I like to get asked about the structures of the team, what kind of work the candidate can expect to do on a day-to-day basis and what the social element of the company is like. I’m very honest in interviews and don’t hold back in giving people a genuine account of what our culture is like. It’s a fun environment but we work hard. We’re all very driven venture people who want to make Nexmo a success and that can be electrifying,” he added.

5. Embrace the startup mentality

Despite its rapid expansion and global presence, the team at Nexmo still champion the startup spirit. They’re all about collaboration, pitching in and supporting one another. In other words, if you’re the type of person who clings rigidly to process and procedures, this certainly isn’t the place for you.

“We don’t want someone who is going to sit at their computer and code all day. You need to be more agile than that. The people who excel at Nexmo are the people who want to get stuff done, they want to make a good impression and a real impact. They don’t sit around and wait for things to happen, they don’t expect for things to come to them. They’re doers.”