Mapbox Careers Insights

Careers: Ask Me Anything

Estimated read time: 1:20

Summary

In this Mapbox Careers Ask Me Anything (AMA) session, the team discusses various aspects of working at Mapbox, including career development, total rewards, company culture, and the application process. The session aims to provide insights into what makes Mapbox a unique workplace and to answer attendees' questions about career opportunities, remote work, and transitioning into different roles within the company. The speakers share personal experiences and highlights of what it means to be part of Mapbox, emphasizing the company's dynamic environment, growth opportunities, and supportive culture.

Highlights

Mapbox is keen on building a culture for builders by builders, driven by their founding ethos. 🚀
The company started its journey by creating complex maps for tough environments, evolving into a facilitator of world navigation. 🌍
Employees enjoy dynamic and collaborative work settings to promote innovative solutions. 🤝
Flexible remote work options help employees maintain a healthy work-life balance. 🏡
Numerous employee resource groups provide a sense of belonging and community. 🎉

Key Takeaways

Mapbox offers numerous opportunities for career growth and development, supported by a robust learning and talent development framework. 🚀
The company provides comprehensive global benefits and competitive compensation to attract top talent. 💰
Mapbox promotes a dynamic, collaborative, and innovative work environment. 🤝
There are diverse employee resource groups fostering community and belonging at Mapbox. 🌍
Mapbox is flexible with remote work, allowing employees from various countries to join. 🌐

Overview

In this engaging Mapbox Careers AMA session, the team dives deep into the alluring aspects of working at Mapbox. The focus is on career growth, where employees are encouraged to dive into diverse learning opportunities and talents are nurtured through structured development frameworks. The emphasis on upskilling and employee feedback ensures a progressive work environment where everyone feels valued.

The discussion highlights Mapbox's dedication to offering attractive total rewards, including broad global benefits and competitive compensation. This, coupled with a flexible work setting, augments Mapbox's appeal as an employer, fostering a sense of ownership and innovation that aligns with their motto for builders by builders.

Speakers candidly share their personal journeys at Mapbox, underscoring a vibrant community culture. Whether it’s through employee resource groups or dynamic team collaborations, the session paints a picture of how Mapbox cultivates an inclusive and supportive atmosphere. From tackling new challenges to moving the world through innovative mapping solutions, Mapbox stands out as a place of growth, ingenuity, and belonging.

Chapters

00:00 - 01:00: Introduction and Participation Guidelines The chapter titled 'Introduction and Participation Guidelines' begins with an emphasis on making efficient use of time by diving straight into a Q&A session. The focus is on careers at Mbox, aimed at individuals interested in joining the company. The discussion includes insights into the company's culture and details about the application process. Instructions for participating in the AMA are provided, specifically mentioning the use of chat for general inquiries.
01:00 - 02:30: Overview of Agenda and Speakers The chapter introduces the agenda and the speakers for the session. Attendees are encouraged to participate by submitting their questions through the Q&A button. The session aims to provide information about MTH Mbox as a company and address any questions the attendees may have.
02:30 - 04:30: Mapbox Company Overview The chapter provides an overview of Mapbox, focusing on career development, total rewards, company culture, and the application process at the company. The presentation is introduced by Brandon Wong, the Manager of Internal Communications, along with Kayy Hetrick. The session includes a Q&A segment to address specific questions regarding careers at Mapbox.
04:30 - 07:30: Career Development at Mapbox The chapter features a session on career development at Mapbox, highlighting key personnel involved in learning and talent management. The session includes insights from senior PMs, HR managers, and technical recruiters. The company, Mapbox, is described as a dynamic player in navigation and logistics.
07:30 - 10:00: Total Rewards and Compensation The chapter titled 'Total Rewards and Compensation' introduces the concept of creating flexible platforms akin to building blocks or Legos. These platforms are designed to allow companies and organizations to piece together tools in ways that best suit their specific needs. The company, boasting over 700 million active monthly users, centers its identity around this philosophy of adaptable, customizable construction for its clients.
10:00 - 12:30: Working and Interviewing at Mapbox The chapter titled 'Working and Interviewing at Mapbox' describes the unique culture and ethos of Mapbox. It emphasizes the company's passion for building and enabling customers, highlighting a genuine growth story from humble beginnings, including its literal garage startup phase. This narrative underscores the company's dedication to innovation and personal touch, setting it apart from other tech companies.
12:30 - 31:00: Open Q&A Session In this chapter, the speaker discusses how their organization started creating maps for challenging locations globally, working alongside USA and United Nations. They realized the need for improved and more complex maps, which drove them to develop better ones independently. This chapter highlights their growth journey and realization that maps and the world are dynamic, not static.
31:00 - 32:00: Closing Remarks and Additional Information In the chapter titled 'Closing Remarks and Additional Information,' the discussion revolves around the evolution of the organization from merely mapping the world to actively engaging in activities that influence and 'move' the world. The focus is on constructing and creating, highlighting that the company is driven by Builders for Builders, reflecting on their origin and ethos. The narrative considers what constructing means and how it can be done in transformative ways.

Careers: Ask Me Anything Transcription

00:00 - 00:30 best use of everyone's time you know let's just jump right into this ask me anything um careers at Mbox so we are here if you have an interest in you know joining mapbox as a company learning more about the culture here you know with the application process um and what what that experience is like um to be to be part of this company so briefly um how to participate in this AMA so you can use the chat for General
00:30 - 01:00 comments and conversation between everyone here um but we ask that you submit your questions VI via the Q&A button and then we'll intake those and then we will answer them um on screen and feel free to ask as many questions as you like um so that's how you participate um and we hope we can uh give you more information answer the questions that you uh care about so today for our agenda we just want to give you a little bit of information about MTH Mbox as a company
01:00 - 01:30 um and then we want to go into a little bit about what career development like is at mapbox uh we'll share about total rewards and then talk about our culture and what the application process is and how to apply and then we'll open up for Q&A for interview who um have very specific questions um regarding careers at mapbox so with us today I I am Brandon Wong our u a manager of internal Communications here at mapbox um we will Al be joined by kayy hetrick who is our
01:30 - 02:00 um senior PM for our learning and talent development team we have Lindsay Morrow who is the manager of HR operations and then we have Zach Maxi who is a staff tech technical recruiter so they will each be sharing a little bit about their respective areas as we as we go on all right so you all know about mapx you've been through a number of these sessions you noce is this company who is building Dynamic navigation Logistics uh
02:00 - 02:30 platforms um for other companies and other organizations enabling them to do amazing things um we like to view ourselves as building blocks in some sense Legos things where you can take different pieces and parts and fit them together in unique ways um that work best for you um so beyond right our 700 million plus monthly active users we are a company that really focus on building that is quarter our identity and that is
02:30 - 03:00 one of uh the things I think that makes us unique as a company we love to build and we love to enable that for our customers so all these things on screen you know we have a vast reach and we're doing amazing things but at our heart we are still I'm a company who did actually start in a garage it's more than just that stereotype about tech startups starting a garage we had an actual garage phase as well um as Garrett alluded to um in the keynote we actually
03:00 - 03:30 um we started making Maps we um in some of the toughest places in the world we were working with USA and United Nations building Maps um for these organizations and at some point we realized we need more U complex uh Maps we need uh better maps and so we decided that we can build them for ourselves and that's how things evolve for us and with that realization uh we came to the conclusion that maps are not static and the world doesn't either so our journey from helping
03:30 - 04:00 development organizations to where we are now is we said more than just mapping the world we can help move the world and so like I mentioned you know we focus on building and so internally we like to view ourselves as a company as for Builders by Builders because that's where we started and so when we think about what it means to build and how we can build in a way that changes
04:00 - 04:30 uh communities organizations U and moves the world our vision to do that is summed up in this that mapbox powers navigation for people packages and vehicles everywhere and so as an organization with this V Vision we are always looking for great talent the best talent people who are going to help us U Builders who are going to help us build new things um Innovative things to help ow the world around us so with that in mind I do um
04:30 - 05:00 know that you are here to learn more about the specifics of what um a career at mathbox is and so I want to hand it off to Kelly HRI who's going to talk a little bit about what career development at Mbox looks like and what you can get back and how you can grow your career um as part of the mapbox team katley thank you Brandon uh so career development is an area that I am passionate about and I have enjoyed building out the learning and talent
05:00 - 05:30 development space across my time here at mapbox our team's mission is to develop upskill and Inspire employees through Innovative high quality and globally accessible learning opportunities that align to our business priorities we do this through a number of different ways our employees have access to professional learning opportunities and certifications through our corporate account with udemy business our learning and talent development team creates and facilitates companywide training and workshops and we also partner with our
05:30 - 06:00 line to create role specific training and to identify the learning needs of our employees We Gather feedback and data from multiple sources including our Employee Engagement surveys and pulse surveys so these surveys uh which are deployed across a calendar year serve as a vital channel for Gathering Anonymous employee feedback to focus efforts on enhancing the overall employee experience which includes growing our talent and another way that we support uh career development at mapbox is
06:00 - 06:30 through our career leveling Frameworks these Frameworks help to Define what is expected of employees at each level while also helping facilitate discussions around expectations for career growth and progression and these Frameworks are helpful for development conversations across an employees life cycle but especially useful during mapbox's Performance Management cycle our Performance Management cycle is designed to keep a constant pulse on employee performance while providing
06:30 - 07:00 time and support for development conversations and growth opportunities and this is done through an annual review cycle a metor check-in and two development check-ins so that is a bit about Career Development here at mapbox I think I hand it over to Lindsay there thanks Kelly um as Brandon introduced me earlier I'm Lindsay marrow and I am the manager of HR operations here at mapbox
07:00 - 07:30 um and today I wanted to tell you a little bit about our approach um and our philosophy to Total Rewards um several components that make up our total rewards um function here at Mbox our Global benefits as well as compensation we also deal with time away from work um and all those great things that you expect to hear about when you're joining a company um so our Approach to Global benefits is that we ensure that our benefits are comprehensive Market competitive and provide value and support to the
07:30 - 08:00 overall well-being of our employees and to our Dei values um our approach towards compensation is that we provide Market competitive compensation programs in order to attract retain and Inspire the best diverse top talent globally and to recognize contributions to business success while Bal balancing fiscal responsibility um we also try to provide a flexible approach to both the way in which you work so where you work when
08:00 - 08:30 you work how you want to work as we do have companies or as we do have employees in our company from all across the globe we we try to present that um philosophy be very flexible with these things um and we also try to present a very flexible approach to time away from work our time away from work policies support an employees need for time off and then I will go ahead and pass it over to Zach
08:30 - 09:00 hi everybody uh yeah as Brandon mentioned uh my name is Zach Maxi I'm a Staff Tech and co- recruiter here um and yeah I'm here to talk about what it's like to work at Mbox as well as the interview process um so with what it's like to work at mapbox um there's kind a few different bullet points that kind of really highlight what it is like to work here and first I would just say um it's really Dynamic um so here at mapbox um you know we are mapping the world that changes on a daily basis and and you know uh you know building like
09:00 - 09:30 navigation solutions to to track people's movements and and get them from to point A to point B and so um this means that we need to operate at a f at a fast pace we need to be flexible and adaptable uh have an entrepreneurial and Innovative spirit and continue to deliver results while we navigate through ambiguity uh we're also very collaborative um so without collaboration we cannot be successful in this Dynamic environment we wear many hats we have a strong sense of ownership uh and consistently work together to get
09:30 - 10:00 things done we have a ton of growth opportunities um just generally speaking we are all about growth here at mapbox um and really kind of use uh past lessons for you know kind of really great learning opportunities um and so whether that's through retrospectives postmortem um our unlimited courses through like UD me business or a more formal individual development plan um we continually look for ways to grow and get better as individuals and as a company uh and lastly the last big point is um employee resource groups right um
10:00 - 10:30 Community is very important to us um you know having that sense of belonging and various things like that so we have four different groups here at mapbox that represent um kind of a larger uh populations of people here um so we have our gender minority group gem uh we have our black employees at mapbox beam uh we have our Asian Pacific Islander API Group as well as our lgbtqia group um and we call uh that group rainbow uh and then when it comes to interviewing
10:30 - 11:00 at mapbox right um a general process you could see is you know once you um see a job that you're very much interested in and feels you know like a really good alignment for yourself um and you submit your application somebody from the recruiting team will contact you within seven business days um and if you know there is a interest uh from Mbox we'll set up a recruiter intro call um so what this is uh is about 30 minutes um between you and the recruiter um and the recruiter will introduce mapbox the team and the role that you applied for as
11:00 - 11:30 well as learn more about your background and experience and just make sure it aligns with some of the basic qualifications of what the H major is looking for uh if the hire major is you know interested in continuing the process uh we will go ahead and set up a 30 to 45 minute um hire manager interview uh during this interview they will also provide an overview of the team and the role in a more in-depth fashion uh as well as assess your experience and overall fit for the role and answer any questions you may have about um growth opportunities mapbox you know gaps on the team things like that
11:30 - 12:00 uh if we continue the process moving forward from there we could see potentially a role assessment and what I mean by potentially is depending on the role that you interviewing for you could expect some sort of functional assessment so say for example as a software engineer um there will most likely be a coding interview whether that's take-home or live um and for Solutions architect uh that could be a technical take-home assignment to be completed uh and the last part would be the fin interview so um if we do make it
12:00 - 12:30 to this stage you could expect to spend uh between 3 to four hours meeting the rest of the team uh there will often be a combination of functional and non-functional focus areas uh that we'll evaluate you on um each interviewer will also save roughly 5 to 10 minutes at the end of the interview for you to ask questions about mapbox and the team and rooll and then we have um just a little link down at the bottom that just kind of shows you where you can go to uh find different job opportunities that you can apply for here at
12:30 - 13:00 Mbox thank you Zach thank you Kelly thank you Lindsay so that was a bit about you know what it's like to work with bbox the experience the culture the opportunities um but we do want to open this up right this is an AMA um we want to open up to you for any questions we know we had a couple submitted um please use the Q&A feature just ask any more questions we're going to just answer them live I do um want to say before we start we did get a couple of submissions
13:00 - 13:30 for more technical questions um if you're looking for technical questions about mapbox products or Services um this is an AMA session based uh focused on careers so I suggest that you join one of those other Service uh amas like our Maps navigation or search and data amas so um our first question I think probably for USAC um if you can turn your camera on um are there any positions for someone coming from the analytics space something like d data analytics data science um I see mostly
13:30 - 14:00 software engineering or prodct RS when I browse open positions yeah great question thank you for that Dall um and yeah right now uh primarily the roles that we do have open um and generally speaking just you know um generally have open are going to be more on like the software engineering in uh product side of things um we just have uh maybe one to two different teams that do more of the analytics sides um and looking at like the data sence science and um you know kind of
14:00 - 14:30 providing some business uh insights um but yeah unfortunately that's um that type of role is not one that we um you know do hire more ad volume for in comparison to like our engineering and product roles all right thank you Zach um I think Zach this other one might be for you as well do you ever have opportunities for junior developers I have an education in GIS applications and two years experience as a software QA engineer and I'm interested in growing into a developer role at mapbox yeah uh yeah thanks so much for the
14:30 - 15:00 question uh AJ uh and yeah I mean I first off background seems really really interesting um you know from the the quality insurance side of things we are very very much about quality with the software that we write um and obviously having the gis background is um you know very much intriguing um generally speaking kind of similar to the analytics question um we do uh I would say rarely have some sd1 roles or more entry level roles open um and I would say you'll definitely keep your eye out
15:00 - 15:30 for those uh I'm sure we will be hiring quite a lot next year um we're in the middle of operational planning at this point in time uh so definitely keep your eye out for roles open uh I would say generally speaking uh most of our engineering roles um are more at that mid level uh and Beyond so really looking for people that do have around four to five years of experience um uh but yeah definitely feel free to you know connect with me reach out uh if you do see any um more entry level S1 type of roles available um on our job
15:30 - 16:00 site Zach I'm looking I don't see any other questions submitted if you do have any questions please feel free to submit them and ask them we'd love to help provide more information um that can be about culture that can be about our experiences here at mapbox um that can be about learning development any you know total rewards job opportunities anything else we'd love to help provide that information um
16:00 - 16:30 and to enable and Empower you to um get the answers that you need to potentially become part of the mapbox family um are there any full remote opportunities um Lindsay would you like to take this one sure Brandon yeah um so there are a lot of opportunities that we do have that are based out of certain locations generally a country but um most of of them are fully remote um we I personally
16:30 - 17:00 work out of um Dallas Texas and um we have people that work all over the country here in the US um we do have some locations internationally as well and um they do have the opportunity remote work remotely from those countries too right thank you Lindsay yeah I think the four of us speakers are we all are spread across the us but um so working from working remote um in
17:00 - 17:30 areas where we do have offices you are free to go in um but not required um so next question how does map block support the work C culture for its fully remote employees um I think all of us can weigh in a little bit you know we all might have some different experiences on this one I'll give my um experience first um one I think we try to do our best we know
17:30 - 18:00 that virtual is a little hard right um because everyone's not just all around it's hard to see people but we're a global company we have people in different time zones and that's hard um but we we try to be respectful one to people's time zones right not pinging people when you know it's clearly night for them um be respectful of things like that but we also create opportunities for inperson meetups in areas where we have um like a large group of people and
18:00 - 18:30 even virtual stuff um uh where we find Opportunities to connect have fun and some of that is really operational right like company All Hands monthly company all hands and some of that is just hanging out and just having a good time and then like as Zach alluded to we have employee resource groups and they also host lot in person and also virtual events to do fun stuff so we this month is actually native American Heritage Month um later this month in in the San Francisco Bay Area we're doing a meet up at a IND indigenous Foods restaurant um
18:30 - 19:00 in Oakland California and then we've also done a virtual escape room based off of uh the true life story of an indigenous woman so that's an example for me Zach Kelly Lindsay anyone want to weigh in on what that's like here um so the work culture for its fully remote employees see I can kind of jump in um from my personal experience as well um I I am in the middle of the country and wear most of mapbox's employees in the us are located in the DC in San
19:00 - 19:30 Francisco Bay areas so um what's great for me is you know connecting with my team weekly we have you know group team meetings and everyone's really great about like you know participating being on camera and I recently met some of my team in person um and it really felt like I already knew them um just from like our our virtual meetings so I appreciate that and I'll also say that um as a remote company I know Brandon
19:30 - 20:00 mentioned some of like our ERG um opportunities I just remember a cooking class that we did last year um and I was able to get like the ingredients shipped to my house and we were on camera cooking food together it just felt like a really fun experience even though we were not in person it was um I felt like it was a good bonding experience for everybody that was participating
20:00 - 20:30 yeah uh to kind of build on on top of that um I there's like some other things as well like uh we have a standing invite um I think it's called Mbox jams uh where it's every Wednesday between one one to two um people log on somebody plays music and everybody turns off their camera and we just work together um so it's very much this like um camera's off muted we're all working but just listening to somebody's music so we get to know somebody but also have this like sense of kind of community together
20:30 - 21:00 uh which is really really kind of nice and exciting um another thing I I'd like to mention is um we do receive a lifestyle SNP in here at Mbox and there's many different uses for it um there's you know obviously kind of categories and requirements but um one really exciting thing um kind of workaround where we have where people are fully remote maybe not near a hub where we might have an office uh is we can use that lifestyle s into to expense co-working space expenses um so I'm here in Seattle we have a few map boxes here and we'll get together on like maybe a
21:00 - 21:30 monthly or bimonthly basis um work at a we work and then you know go have some happy hour um so yeah so it is very much um really kind of flexible in that sense and really appreciate that uh with mapbx sorry I was gonna say Zach took exactly what I was gonna say about the stifen but I also wanted to note that um it can also be used for career and profession uh professional growth opportunities as well so a lot of different ways to be flexible with that St sorry I just gonna we were all just
21:30 - 22:00 going to build on that because I was going to add along the lines of right so not only just uh you know co-working spaces but you know your work from home equipment things like uh exercise right gym membership things like that but also not only career development but we we care about people as a whole and so even personal development um so when you say take a class it doesn't just have to be um on something related to work you can take an art class and that is covered under our LSA um sorry and and if if there's anyone else thank you all um I really like this
22:00 - 22:30 question I recently accepted a job offer and I'm due to start soon uh I'm really curious to know what your favorite uh favorite thing about working at Mbox is anyone want to go first first of I just want to say congrats Daniel and welcome so so exciting I but I think I think one of the the the favorite Parts uh that I enjoy most about Mbox is um it is like
22:30 - 23:00 kind of going back to that Dynamic environment right um I came from a very large organization and um previous to mapbox and uh really kind of just like felt almost like a number and I came here to Mbox small environment you really get to know people you really get to work very much cross functionally across many different teams and ORS um and you really get to have that impact and so I think that's like the favorite thing here is like yeah every day is not the same there's different problems you get to solve and you have some really smart uh very very collaborative like willing people people that want to help
23:00 - 23:30 out and and kind of deliver so um yeah that's definitely my favorite part I will also join in by saying congrats and welcome I actually work on our Global onboarding programs so I most likely will be seeing you or interacting with you when you join so looking forward to that uh something that I love about this company I I am a relationship driven person when it comes to my work environment and I have really enjoyed
23:30 - 24:00 working with the uh the different teams that I've gone to uh be a part of or collaborate with and so I I really appreciate the the smart and caring and nice people uh that I've been able to work with and just kind of also speaking a little bit to what Zach was saying like a lot of other people I came here to build and to grow something and so that was also really exciting for me as well to be coming to a company that uh
24:00 - 24:30 was allowing me to really grow that learning and talent development space and and to see that kind of come to fruit um to life so those have been exciting Parts about being a mapbox yeah I can I can kind of second what Kelly's saying it's it's been a really great growth opportunity I feel like the the mindset of Mbox is always growing and changing so um I've just
24:30 - 25:00 enjoyed a lot of the different opportunities that were that we were able to have at Mbox um just because everyone's always like um willing to grow willing to change willing to take on new ideas yeah um thank you all for me um I think there's two things so I came from a Fortune 500 company before this like a really conservative one um and it was felt so big that every day kind of felt really monotonous and I
25:00 - 25:30 didn't have a lot of um it felt like um there was a lot lot less opportunity to grow um to feel the impact and I you know yeah can be tough sometimes right you're in a smaller company you have to stretch a little bit more in different ways right we just don't have extra thousands of extra people around um but I think it for me it's always it's felt worth it because of that opportunity for growth that opportunity to try new
25:30 - 26:00 things um and so i' I've appreciated a lot more to see feel that impact but I think the other thing that really stands out for me is like the passion from people and people might roll their eyes at that but like we started like like we said like trying to build maps for development projects like we still have that like passion to want to change the world um and like one of the examples that we've had is um we uh have something internally called
26:00 - 26:30 like The Crisis Core and basically it's people who have skill sets and when something happens around the world like volunteers who say like one is this you know does this is this something that we can help address or help in any way and if so how can we help using the skill sets we have here at mapbox right like as a mapping and navigation uh company and and we've done that um so we have worked with uh we we work with Jose andrees for you
26:30 - 27:00 know world uh World Food Kitchen um helping provide those naps as Jose andrees has used his nonprofit NGO nonprofit organization to help feed uh people who have been at risk because of disasters around the world like that's how passionate people are here and it's so I'm it's not just that story of like hey we we started in a garage like that's who we are and that's part of our blood so that's what I love um going to our next question I think I can probably answer this one the best um is there any
27:00 - 27:30 in-person networking opportunities around Regional Offices for the broader mapbox communities how can we get more information on those um one you know we're more remote um than in office right that's part of our flexibility um but um we are we do show up and we represent and we are we participate in a number of different conferences and events around the uh going on around the world you know we
27:30 - 28:00 have people who present and show up at stateof the map right for open street map just two weeks ago um one of our um one of our people was presenting at the Barry Lawrence Rudman conference on cartography at Stanford uh representing mapbox you know some of our ergs have been present at um various um events respective uh representing the respective communi and from a tech perspect like these Tech communities um
28:00 - 28:30 and that overlap there um now if you're talking about more specific like developer meetups I know um preo we used to have that um I know there is an interest there um CO's changed a lot for everyone again one not having being more remote um two as even we are adjusting um and still you know um making some changes in in some of those areas so I we know that there is kind of that hunger we we've heard that uh we're not doing as that to the same degree you
28:30 - 29:00 used to pre-co of like developer communities just hosting meetups um but it is something we've heard and we are looking into um and you know keep your eyes open if you know if if that's something that we're able to to bring back in any form you know we'll make that um available in our socials and things like that so you can be participatory um but you know we'll be at CES in you know in 2024 um so there are different opportunities uh if you're looking up specific regions uh you can
29:00 - 29:30 try reaching out to us we know we have certain Pockets where folk are uh are working you know a lot of us there's a lot of people in the Bay Area Washington DC a lot of areas where we um have our offices as well so I know that might not have been the ex the full answer you wanted um but um that's the current status of of these type of networking opportunities all right so the next question what is the best way to apply for fully remote positions from Europe I think that's Zach and or Lindsay or
29:30 - 30:00 combo uh yeah we can split in yeah if there's anything I miss here lindsy then feel free uh but um yeah I mean there are certain locations that we do hire uh specifically within Europe um in those in those locations yeah pretty flexible in terms of remote work uh and that looks like uh the UK Poland Finland uh and Japan uh or actually that's not in Europe so apologies for that but uh so yeah UK Poland and Finland these are the main areas that we do hire folks in um
30:00 - 30:30 we have an office in Finland uh in a small Wii workpace in the UK um and so yeah these would be like the regions where we would hire people um whether that's in person in office or just fully remotely in those regions um anything else on I don't think I think you've got it yeah just like to kind of like tag on just yeah when we I think like when most of the jobs are posted they're posted based on the country that they're based in um so it's going to be pretty specific to that country because we do
30:30 - 31:00 have to you know tie our workers to a specific mapbox entity in that country um so yeah they're going to be based on the country they're located in and you can kind of search for them that way thank you both so if you go to WR mapbox.com careers you go through and you able to find a role it should indicate the country um and so but within that country you are free to be remote um um pretty much you know the fully
31:00 - 31:30 flexible be remote wherever within that designated country because we are able to have a Le into viw there that makes sense and I'll make one kind of extension off of what Brandon just said um most of our job descriptions you will see like remote Us remote Canada remote something that means that it's like remote in that country it's not like remote anywhere and like that country as well um I have gotten that question before so just thought to clarify that as well thank you Zach all right next question
31:30 - 32:00 I'm pretty new to software engineering I recently graduated from boot camp and still in the learning process it's a very competitive job market right now for junior developers which I completely understand do you have any advice for someone in my position who is interested in working as a developer for Mbox in the future but likely needs to upskill First any suggestions on what to upskill on yeah I I probably take that one um uh yeah thanks for the question Michael uh and very cool you know just constantly
32:00 - 32:30 improving looking at new skills and uh you know kind of going that direction so um yeah I think it depends on the type of developer that you'd like to be and what I mean by that is like front end back end data mobile right um and depending on um you know what that focus is I would say definitely look at um if you were very specific to mapbox or even the company that you're interested in um look at their stack right um and then really try to learn that technology
32:30 - 33:00 really kind of ins and outs there um so say for example mapbox we are completely AWS and so you know just learning AWS and um uh maybe getting certifications things like that right um we are very much if you're interested in like backend Focus roles we're a lot like highs scale apis and so um really um taking courses or or things like that on like restful apis and just you know good like um uh more fundamental design decision and things like that around that um so those are some things I'd say
33:00 - 33:30 like in terms of continuing to upskill yourself um and in terms of like you know kind of making that transition more to like you know getting into a more full-time role um as I forget the person that posted the question but um definitely keep an eye out for um more of like our entry level or like mid uh like SC1 types of roles that we have posted um that would probably be like I would say the best you know opportunity for someone who is trying to make that career switch um depending on like the need of the team and you know what the hire manag is looking for uh that could
33:30 - 34:00 be a very good opportunity um I would also say if you know you are very excited about mapbox and you know um in the future maybe want to work here is um just look at some of our uh you know developer documentation or um like open source things and try to just get involved that way um we have hired quite a few people where it's been very much of you know they've contributed or just been interactive through um Engineers here at Mbox so um but yeah I think that's how it best stand question yeah one thing I'd like to add to that be if you're able to connect um
34:00 - 34:30 with any um you know technical map boxers let's say via LinkedIn um they might be able to give you a little bit more specific things on U the technical side of like hey this is what I'm focused on or the you know our respective teams are focused on and if you can develop these skills um it'll really launch you forward so um I I think building that Network because there's a lot of people at mapbox who had of there's a variety of backgrounds here um to get to
34:30 - 35:00 have gotten them to this point where they're very skilled at what they do and so there's many paths there and they can help guide you based off of you know where you're at now and I think I can share kind of two success stories um that at least I've been a part of here in terms of hiring Engineers um one is internally um we had a support engineer um that wanted to transition into like actual like being a software engineer um and they uh um took like mobile development courses this was on iOS side and we hired them
35:00 - 35:30 internally and transferred them into that role and um you know they're gradually becoming more of like that specific focused engineer um but also externally um recently I hired somebody um who was actually a recruiter and went to software engineering um very kind of similar Boot Camp style um I think they went to like accent or some sort of consulting firm got some experience there uh and then came into Mbox so um so to Brandon's Point very much you know it's not like a kind of standard profile
35:30 - 36:00 we look for is very much a you know kind of adverse background that we do look for thank you um so I think the next one Zach and Lindsay this will be so if I'm living in Austria it makes no sense to even apply did I get that right I can I can take that one Zach um so yeah unfortunately we don't have like an entity in every single country so if we're not actually able to hire an off Austria which we're not right now um we wouldn't be able to employ someone who
36:00 - 36:30 who lives in Austria that's correct right um George you submitted some questions I'm not sure I understand it or if I do understand it correctly about milit generally military symbols I think it might not be applicable to uh this career topic unfortunately um I think the question is do you support um M generally military
36:30 - 37:00 symbols um if there's any other questions please feel free to submit them um I don't see any more coming in but um again we're here to be able to help answer these questions and again anything you can think of about what what it could be like to work here um we all come from a variety of backgrounds ourselves here and um and different routes give everyone a
37:00 - 37:30 minute I'm really excited to to meet Daniel by the way oh I know that's so cool I love it right nothing else coming [Music] in we're g to stay for the rest of the session so that is another about 22
37:30 - 38:00 minutes give or take so 12:30 p.m. Pacific time so if anyone has questions please again feel free to submit them via the Q&A um button um but if you don't have any other questions or they've all been answered feel free to join join one of the other amas um if you have any questions about Maps navigation or search and data um I know those are Lively as well and there's a lot going on so uh yeah please please please enjoy we hope you've had a great time at build with mapbox uh there's a
38:00 - 38:30 lot U to take in but a lot of it is really exciting stuff still monitoring chat nothing's coming through
38:30 - 39:00 speaking of LSA I forgot I should check how much I have on my LSA for the rest of the year I just looked at mine too I was uh thinking about tried to take a class and then I forgot so and then like when I looked all the classes were booked up um I don't know uh an adult circus school just opened up in like the area I thought it'd be fun to learn humbling as an
39:00 - 39:30 adult you could juggle with uh just I don't I don't think this uh School offered unicycle lessons unfortunately apparently just um learned how to unicycle in schooler at some point so cool I saw that Holly asked a question about yeah her favorite favorite accomplishment kind of curious um Lindsay I'm gonna go to you not to
39:30 - 40:00 put you on the spot I'm kind of curious I was gonna say thanks Kelly for putting [Laughter] me it's because you're my friend um let's see I would say it I have to it's kind of like a I don't know if it's like going to sound like a big accomplishment but it's really just like when I first started Mbox there was like a lot going on with like our immigration support um internationally and probably like the biggest accomplishment was being able to get that under control to where we can now um like sponsor people
40:00 - 40:30 in the UK and to like and like right now we're literally like we've been doing like case after case after case in the UK so it's like been really beneficial and to actually see that come come to to life and to actually be able to hire people there has been really great so that's probably the biggest Victory thank you for that you're welcome yeah that's awesome that is a big accomplishment it is okay Kelly I know
40:30 - 41:00 it's only fair right I only I only threw it at you because I wasn't quite sure what to say um but I have to say probably where I feel most proud about my work here is around changes that we've made to processes that have just that haven't been broken but we know know that we can make them better and we know that making it better
41:00 - 41:30 how it will influence the experience that our employees have here at mapx and so there's a couple different examples there but probably the one that I'm most proud of is and it's in collaboration with many other folks I cannot take full credit for this but just some of the changes the larger changes we've made to our Performance Management cycle um I think is something that it affects everybody at the company and it and we've done it in a way where we are not
41:30 - 42:00 only responding to feedback from our employees but also creating more time more support and more space for those important conversations around development and um for somebody who's been working in the learning and talent development space for almost 20 years now um and I've always had some kind of hand in performance management Cycles uh this is I think that's the reason why
42:00 - 42:30 this one is something that probably stands out a little bit more for me thank you both Zach we're gonna come back to this question but we did get another question submitted so we'll both get our turns to answer um so what was submitted is to what degree are employees welcome or encourage to transition laterally into different teams or technical folky within the company is there a greater expectation that folks would largely remain where they were hired um anyone want I think all of you have
42:30 - 43:00 some perspective on this and have been and have a so whoever wants to go first I Kelly do you want to go first or did I just talked last so I was trying to not hog the mic um so I'll chime in but I don't want to I want to make sure everyone else gets a chance I mean I can I can definitely say that I I've I've definitely seen um a lot of movement between team not like you know a
43:00 - 43:30 extraordinary amount or anything like that but just to say that I've seen movement between teams where people have expressed interest in moving to a different like Focus area um and I know something that I talk about personally with my team is how they want to grow their career and if it's not to follow the same exact path that I've followed that's not a problem like I would much rather have people um gain new knowledge and explore new areas that they're truly interested and passionate about um so that's just that's my two sents and I've
43:30 - 44:00 definitely seen it supported here at mapbox especially with the work that like Kelly and her team does with like developing our like career leveling Frameworks and um our like development plans it's a great tool for our employees to really explore those different areas yeah and um just to quickly Pig back on what you said there with the idps the individual development plans this is something where we encourage our employees to think about their the short-term and their long-term goals and sometimes to get to those different goals it might not always look
44:00 - 44:30 like it's going up but maybe there's different uh um skills or areas that you want to develop or get more expertise in and so uh it's more I feel like at this company there's that type of focus of really uh going towards your goals and what is it that you want to build on what is it that you want to learn and it it might look in like a couple different different um different
44:30 - 45:00 paths and like from a recruiting front like a lot of our jobs we or most all of our jobs WE Post internally as well right and so um so like we welcome uh internal applicants just as much as we welcome external applicants um yeah there's to what Lindsay has shared like there's quite a few examples that you know of people moving from you know a different team or had been on a team for three four years and um you know wants to try something new and there's a new initiative and they express interest right and so um yeah there's a ton of examples of that internal Mobility that
45:00 - 45:30 we have here um I didn't expect that I would have something to say but I do to add to this um I've definitely worked at companies where people get really like um possessive about their teams and don't like to let them go and they feel like you know I have to hold on to my teams and but from I think from a people and HR standpoint from a culture standpoint um whether one A smart business but it's also I think
45:30 - 46:00 part of who we are um that we're just excited to to see people grow and build stuff um that I've never seen that sense of like possessiveness or jealousy at mapbox I think from a business standpoint I think we very very much understand and believe believe in the fact that like we'd rather you find another way to succeed and grow here then lose you to another company because we put you in a box that you didn't want to be in um and so we understand that at a business level and then I've never even seen I've never heard or seen that
46:00 - 46:30 at just a cultural social level um I think all of us I saw it on everyone's faces everyone had somebody come to mind when they're like oh move move to another team I had two people come to mind or like immediately as soon as I question was that right um all right another question does mblock sponsor us visas for people from outside the US who'd be willing to move there I think that's lindsy yeah um so we do support Visa
46:30 - 47:00 sponsorship in the US um and it is completely dependent on the position um the team and the requirements for the job so it it is possible yes um but it is very dependent on the position the managers and um and and cost is always a factor as well so would be what a recommendation Poss possibly to apply and then if through the process they find out if
47:00 - 47:30 it's a good enough fit to possibly yeah so that's something like I mean Zach and I have pretty constant Communications on um our slack channels mostly us going back and forth with like Visa questions so if you know if you were to apply for a job and you know you're curious about sponsorship just definitely talk to your recruiter and if they're not sure they'll they'll come speak with me and and we'll get that answered for you pretty much right off the bat because we don't want to like we don't want to anyone on who wouldn't you knower a position that we wouldn't actually be able to sponsor
47:30 - 48:00 them we have a little over 10 minutes left free to take more questions we love being able to answer them for you um I don't see any others coming in so I do want to ask Zach what is your favorite accomplishment at Mbox where we're not going to let this slide I totally forgot about that question uh I think I maybe like one of my most favorite accomplishments uh is like when like I first joined um and Mbox was kind
48:00 - 48:30 of in a like a hypergrowth period and um the recruiting team was tasked with hiring brand new engineering teams uh in hinki to really kind of support um some of the US team in engineers in who at that time were on 247 on a call right it just wasn't really sustainable and um so Not only was it just just general growth Mbox was experiencing but was also making sure that um you know we have the
48:30 - 49:00 right coverage of our products and services for our customers as well as you know our employees right and so um it was one of my it's my second time recruiting internationally um and um it was a lot fun like got to meet some really like um just super super nice and um just you know helpful people in our Finland office um as well as standup uh three it was actually three teams at this point um three different teams within um uh Mbox so um we all did it
49:00 - 49:30 within like two months or so so it's was quite the push at the end of the year um but we made it work and you know had everybody kind of all hands on deck and um so yeah that's that's and I like even just nowadays like talking to some of the folks here um the US that were on these teams prior to that is um definitely dramatic change of life and and things like that and just you know not having to worry about on call at you know super late hours in the morning so um so yeah that's just a nice accomplishment
49:30 - 50:00 awesome I love that yeah not seeing any other questions in the chat we still have about 10 minutes if you'd like to ask anything uh I guess I will take my turn at this a question um about favorite accomplishments at mapbox um I I like to view myself I I mean I'm not sure I like I think I just do I view myself as almost that stereotypical Millennial in a way um and the Studies
50:00 - 50:30 have shown that Millennials want to feel like they're making a difference making an impact and I felt like I've had that opportunity here um but like I don't always see it in like it has to be big and grand um so for me um you know as part of the communications and engagement team we're trying to think about how we can improve things for everybody right like make sure everyone feels engaged Ed uh help Foster a positive culture here and so uh one of the Small Things um as
50:30 - 51:00 a company right we have like a a weekly update that goes out that summarizes and collects you know all the big news updates things that are gone through the company that get sent out at the end of the week right when every's busy um they can miss a lot so we that that existed before I got here um but you know over time we've continued to grow and we have an international um you know team um and so what worked when we were mostly in America kind of didn't work as we you know time zones expanded and so um I
51:00 - 51:30 felt empowered by by my manager to try something new and I said hey instead of sending this out Friday mornings why don't we just send this out at the end of day Thursday um because that's when it's morning U for our employees in in Asia um and you know by the time we sent it out Friday morning in America you know people in Europe are already started the weekend and it's Saturday for people in Asia so um to me like I view my ability to make an impact as a vital part of my like why I love to work
51:30 - 52:00 here and so I do small things like that as like my favorite accomplishments being able to like identify things and then being empowered to make those changes to make impact so me um yeah no other questions please feel free to answer them um I don't know if this is too personal Daniel what team are you joining if we may ask you can either put it in the chat or put it in the Q&A we'd love we'd love uh to
52:00 - 52:30 hear believe Daniel's still here with us I'll give him a moment while we wait Holly does have another question for us what's your favorite Mbox powered location application so what is your favorite thing that uses map that is powered by mapbox we've had some interesting things that I would not have expected by the way um oh
52:30 - 53:00 Daniel senior it admin Helsinki very cool I'll tell you this Daniel my team is very excited for you to join as well we work very closely with the the IT team so we're excited to have you yes I think we all are everyone loves the IT team because everyone needs the IT team oh that um I was gonna say to your question Brandon um I didn't I didn't know about this one until I went hiking
53:00 - 53:30 with my brother who apparently subscribes to the the all Trails I think is what it's called um yeah so now when we go hiking together that one's a really good one so you can download our download our maps and go he he goes a like he lives in Colorado so he gets to go out like way more frequently than I do our Trails here in uh in Texas aren't quite as cool but does he also use the straa app also
53:30 - 54:00 powered by Mbox anyone else Zach Kelly um there's so many I will say and anyone who's gone through onboarding with me will know this I use the weather channel app all the time uh with kids I'm looking at it it's the first thing I look at in the morning because it's everything from bus stop what is the weather going to be like to um a soccer
54:00 - 54:30 practice still going to be on so it is it is a daily task uh that I'm always looking at that and so that's probably my favorite one Zach I'm G have to piggy back on the saying as Lindsay and uh say all trails in straa uh being in Seattle Pacific Northwest tons of hiking um and then just like outdoor things um so yeah I would say those two yeah um I thought
54:30 - 55:00 there was some really cool stuff um not that they necessarily use but having worked here and this um recently we did a um kind of a health health event um where we encourage people to participate and then they could earn trees in a mapbox Forest to help offset car uh you know do carbon offsets um and so the
55:00 - 55:30 company we worked with I think is called Ecom matcher um and they run these these forests to help people and so one great we were able to like get people involved you know for for a Health Challenge uh I didn't even know that was a thing and so we as a company got these that I was like oh that's cool and so if you participated like you got your assigned your own tree and you can check in on your own tree I thought was really really cool um the other one I thought was really cool um R them come in as a
55:30 - 56:00 customer um I think it's is it Track Pack um yes the trackpack does um asset track is an asset traffing application but it's built on the helium Network like a blockchain network and I'd never thought about that like the combination because I know blockchain is really hot right now I've never thought about that crossover and I thought that was super fascinating and in talking
56:00 - 56:30 with them they threw out this really interesting idea of like as Mo Mo like uh Mobility is a big thing right like you know rentable scooters in theory like you can do things like track nfts to attach nfts to a scooter so you can track the mileage and then that can help you tell your like resale value like the same way a car appreciates over time um and then being able to track all that together um just some really really um cool stuff so
56:30 - 57:00 I don't know I'm a little dorky here um oh okay um we did get another question is Mbox downsizing its DC presence I can hop in um no we're not downsizing our DC presence we've actually just opened um a new office space in DC still getting it up and running but um yeah we've just kind of moved locations and we still have teams out there and yeah we're we I think it's
57:00 - 57:30 great that we have presence both on the west coast and the East Coast yeah I don't think it's so much downs and presence we just more opened right to be more flexible for everybody but we still have a lot of people over there and we still hire people over there um and so um and it's also a great right we have an office over there like Lindsay said and it's a great place because again we have a lot of people from Europe a lot of people from the west coast and is a great uh central place um to able to meet up for our respective teams and that does happen often so not downsizing uh just opening
57:30 - 58:00 up more flexibility I would say yeah any any other questions we have two minutes left all right no oh one more uh what has been your most appreciated unexpected positive benefit to working at mapbox this is a great last
58:00 - 58:30 question but I can't go first [Music] so un what has been your most appreciated unexpected positive benefit to working at Mbox I mean it will it be I mean we're all on the people team so obviously we love people so is it bad if I say it's the people because I really do like I really love the team that I work with and I've never I've never felt so like supported by like my like like the people like that I report to and
58:30 - 59:00 then just the team like around me so I think that if that's a cop out I'm sorry but that's my answer um so Lindsay stole my answer as well uh but if I'm going to go a different route I think uh I I think one thing is just the growth um like I I knew Mbox was going to be a
59:00 - 59:30 different environment a different company things like that coming from Amazon and um boy was high shocked uh it was you know there there's a lot that you can learn and grow and there's a lot of ownership and responsibility you can have um and um so it's really nice to be able to see those opportunity to seize them and to actually you know be able to deliver and grow that way um so I me I think from where I started to now I think I've probably grown the most I've ever have in my career um here so um so
59:30 - 60:00 I think that's the most unexpected benefit of coming here I agree with with Lindsay and Zach um I know we're at time too but I I I honestly do both of those have been a fantastic part of being here yeah I can't argue with that I mean that's a good answer and I completely agree um yeah
60:00 - 60:30 the ability to just meet passionate people has been one of the coolest things I've met people I'm like you are so cool wait you I've met people who worked here and they're just casually like yeah I just you know worked on a with with National Geographics on on the on an article on my spare time because I shoot photography for them and it got published in the New Yorker there's just so many interesting cool people here um but I think to get a little bit more
60:30 - 61:00 specific I would say um the flexibility has been a lot I think there's just an understanding of like especially as after like during the pandemic because everyone move to a remote work of like yes go take care of your kids that's fine like get your work done but if you need to like take your kids to school like we understand and like that's part of the culture here um coming from a more conservative company a very very very conservative company like that has been so good I think for my mental health and my ability to one work with
61:00 - 61:30 my team but also like to feel like healthy about it because it allows me to set better boundaries for like my personal needs um so that's been great um I know we're at time um I hope we answered everyone's questions um thank you so much for joining us thank you Zach thank you Kelly Lindsay uh for for being here today thank you everyone who joined us for build um it was an exciting event hope you learned a lot if you have any additional questions you know you can always find us on LinkedIn um and reach out but uh there's nothing
61:30 - 62:00 else we'd like to wish all of you a great rest of your day and hopefully you guys will be in touch in some form or fashion whether that's applying for a job seeing us at an event or joining us at at some of our next uh public events right no thank you everybody thank you everybody have a great rest of your day bye all all
62:00 - 62:30 right