Ever wonder what it’s like to work at Tandem? In this series, we’re taking a peek into the everyday life of Tandem’s product designers and software engineers.
Morning
I’m up at 7, and I putter around the house, making coffee and putting dishes away. I give my dog Hickory some pats (he’s a chonky 90-pound pitbull and also a huge baby). As usual, he wags his tail without bothering to show any other form of affection or even getting up from his bed. I love him anyway. Breakfast is a slice of homemade sourdough bread toasted with fig jam.
8:30 a.m.
I’m online by 8:30 so I can get a head start on any solo tasks I have to do before my meetings. I write a little update in Slack for my project team, mentioning that I’ll be busy with internal Tandem stuff and won’t have much time for project work.
Today I’m doing two separate interviews with job candidates, so I prep for those. One of them is a phone screen, the first step of our hiring process, so I make sure to review the candidate’s resume. The other is a final round interview, and I’m slotted to walk through the candidate’s code challenge submission. I review their code again, take notes around areas I want to ask about, and check in with my coworker who I’ll be tag-teaming with for the interview.
I also desperately need to write some documentation for knowledge-sharing purposes, since I’m rolling off my client project soon. I create a new Confluence page for that, only to run out of time before filling it out. Back to draft mode the page goes.
10 a.m.
I meet with some cross-functional Tandem team members to sync on a sales pursuit. Earlier this week a group of us had met with a previous client on a new project they’d like to hire Tandem for, and now we’re discussing an estimated timeline and budget for design and development work based on that new information. I give my input on how many engineers should be staffed to tackle the research and planning phase that we’re proposing.
Noon
At noon I join our company-wide meeting, where we all go around and give our updates for the day. Since morning is the best time for me to get work done, I’m usually deep in pairing or reviewing pull requests right up until the last minute beforehand. I end up scrambling to think of something coherent to say when it’s my turn, which is… typical.
I have a lunch date with a friend and head over to a cafe in my neighborhood. We grab our food, walk over to her new apartment, and enjoy our meal on her balcony. I don’t usually step out for lunch, but I really appreciate taking the time today.
1 p.m.
After lunch, I have a standup with our client. Today we keep it pretty short since we’re on track with our work and don’t have any outstanding questions. At 2 pm, I have that phone screen. It’s non-technical, and I chat with the candidate about their work history and what they’re looking for in their next role.
3 p.m.
I only have 30 minutes before I’m back into interview mode. I hop onto a Google Meet at 3 pm for the next one. During the hour, we talk through the code submission with the candidate and spend a little time pair programming to get a feel for how they work.
5 p.m.
It’s Friday! I had planned to wrap up early, but I need to submit my feedback for both of those interviews. Writing those up takes me longer than I intended, but I try to be thorough and thoughtful. It’s the last thing I do before signing off for the weekend.
After Work
I have a fancy dinner reservation with my two friends at 6:30. Thankfully, the restaurant is just a two-minute walk away, so I laze on the couch and catch up with my partner until 6:05 before deciding to hop in the shower. On my way out the door, I wave to our neighbor and their fluff of a dog, Bear.
Today was a bit different from my normal workday since I had more internal Tandem duties and didn’t quite have the time to spend on my client project. But I like the variety and enjoy doing technical work beyond coding, so it was an engaging and satisfying way to end the week!
Do you want to work with Stephanie and the rest of the Tandem team? Check out our Careers page to apply for our open positions!
