Hire Laura

When I was last interviewing, I published this list of company traits that are critical for my long-term employment. Though I’m happily employed as a senior iOS developer building Photoshop for iPad at Adobe, I’m keeping this reference up for folks who want to publish must-have lists of their own.

• Your company values professional growth–and shows it by covering conference expenses and budgeting team time for learning.

• You measure your project's real-world impact as seriously as your in-app metrics; whether in health goals, learning enrichment, or miles of highway construction, you focus on helping people in their everyday walking-around lives.

• You can introduce me to once-junior devs who've grown into senior roles over their tenure at your company.

• Your company's leaders can speak at length on ways that formal management training and mentorship have helped them excel in their management roles.

• You work efficiently with remote team members–whether someone lives across the country or is just home waiting for a cable repair, you've got predictable communication patterns and reliable remote-friendly tech.

• Especially if your company is medium to large sized, you can tell me an anonymized story about a time you handled a serious behavior issue. (I'm looking for evidence that you've got the skills to address toxicity before it affects the team.)

• Your company compensates people enough that it's easy to turn down incoming offers that are less inspiring but highly paid. (I'll turn them down, but I want to sleep soundly afterwards, too.)