Resources for Candidates

How to apply

The source-of-truth for our open positions is our careers page.

We want to build a diverse, global team, with a broad range of experience and perspectives. If a job sounds great, but you’re not sure if you qualify, please apply anyway. We carefully consider every application, and will either move forward with you, find another team that might be a better fit, keep in touch for future opportunities, or thank you for your time.

We are growing rapidly and post new jobs on a weekly basis. We encourage you to check our our careers page regularly to see if there is a match.

Policy for candidates re-applying to roles

Candidates are able to re-apply for roles at any time. The hiring team will review all relevant information, including past interviews, when considering a person’s candidacy.

Working at Sourcegraph

Sourcegraph’s culture

We are an all-remote company with teammates across the globe. Our company values are the beliefs and principles that help us achieve our strategy, and build an inclusive team. They apply at every level of our organization, and we talk to every candidate about our values during our values interview.

Benefits, perks, and compensation

We want our teammates to be happy, healthy, and productive, which is why we strive to provide competitive benefits and perks. In addition, we are committed to paying all teammates equitably and competitively, and always determine our offers based on market data, not your past compensation.

Sourcegraph hiring values

We believe all candidates are deserving of a fair, equitable, and enjoyable interview experience. You can read more about our hiring values here.

Candidate experience

We know that interviewing can be stressful and that a lot of time and energy is spent as you go through the process. We are committed to providing a world-class candidate experience, so if there’s anything we can do to make your experience more enjoyable, please feel free to email recruiting@sourcegraph.com. You can also provide anonymous feedback in the candidate survey sent via Greenhouse after you are 1) declined or 2) sign your offer.

Specifically, we aim to provide a positive candidate experience by…

  • Treating all candidates with respect at all stages, regardless of hiring outcome.
  • Writing our job descriptions as clearly as possible to ensure you have a good understanding of the job and the impact you would make in the role. All job descriptions are written in an inclusive format, encouraging candidates from all walks of life to apply. Each job description focuses on the impact a candidate will make vs. a list of requirements. Our team contains highly motivated and productive members who’ve joined immediately after high school/university or after 10+ years of working at some of the best companies. You can read more about our job description philosophy here. We want a diverse, global team, with a broad range of experience and perspectives. If a job sounds great, but you’re not sure if you qualify, apply anyway! We carefully consider every application, and will either move forward with you, find another team that might be a better fit, keep in touch for future opportunities, or thank you for your time.
  • Ensuring that our interview process is structured, that all interview questions are planned in advance of all interviews.
  • Recording our interviews to ensure we are focused on what you are saying, and not on taking notes.
  • Providing candidates with the tools to be successful in an interview, including transparency around our interview process, information about what to expect at a given stage of the interview, and resources on how to prepare for the interview.
  • Offering clear, honest and consistent communication throughout all stages of the interview process. We try our best to get back to you quickly and will never waste your time if we know we’re not moving you forward in our process.
  • Maintaining a respectful process for rejecting job applicants who do not move forward in the interview process or receive an offer.
  • Smoothly transitioning new hires into the onboarding process.

Respecting time

Interviewing requires time and effort, both for Sourcegraph teammates and for our candidates. The hiring manager is responsible for monitoring feedback during the interview phase, and if it becomes obvious that we won’t be moving forward with a candidate, then the hiring manager should cancel any remaining interviews to be respectful of both the candidate’s and interviewers’ time.

Early-career Engineering Hiring

Our goal is to set up early-career engineers for success, and we aim to equip hiring managers and their teams with the knowledge to source, interview, and integrate early-career engineers successfully. You can read more about our philosophy here.

Interviewing at Sourcegraph

How to prepare for an interview

We know that interviewing can be stressful, so we want to provide you as much information as possible to help you feel prepared. If we are missing any advice or resources that would be helpful, please email recruiting@sourcegraph.com.

Zoom

We leverage Zoom for our video interviews. Please make sure to test Zoom prior to the interview to ensure you don’t have any technical difficulties.

Interview recording

We believe that candidates should be assessed based on merit, not our memory. Our interview recording tool, BrightHire, allows us to revisit key details, revise initial impressions, and replace implicit bias with explicit evidence. It brings structure and consistency to each interview and ensures that every candidate gets the opportunity they deserve.

    1. We record our interviews so we can focus on the conversation, not taking notes, and run a better hiring process.
    1. Memory recall actually declines to 44% one hour after an interview. We want to make sure that we are basing our hiring decisions on your merit, and not our memory.
    1. BrightHire allows us to run a more equitable process by ensuring that all candidates are given the same questions and experience. Rather than requiring perfect recall or notes, it will allow hiring managers to refer back to specific questions and answers, and to triangulate perspectives using concrete examples.
    1. BrightHire also ensures your interviews are structured and well thought out, giving you the best opportunity to showcase your relevant experience and qualifications.
    1. If you speak with multiple interviewers, BrightHire will help the hiring team coordinate to give you a great experience. It’ll be much less likely you’ll be asked to “Tell me about yourself” four times in four interviews.

Using BrightHire is optional for both our interviewers and our candidates. We will only record interviews with a candidate’s explicit consent and you can choose to opt out at any time. If you do opt out, please let us know prior to the interview by emailing recruiting@sourcegraph.com. The structure of the interview and decision process will remain the same and their decision will have no weight on your candidacy.

Types of interviews

We encourage you to read about the different types of interviews a candidate can expect while going through the interview process. This page has a lot of information on the purpose of each interview stage, as well as sample questions you may be asked.

What to expect after an interview

When you’ll hear back

  • We do our best to provide a decision (whether we’re moving forward or not moving forward) within 5 business days of the interview. If you want an update on the status of your application, please email recruiting@sourcegraph.com

Sharing interview feedback with candidates

We don’t share specific reasons or feedback if we decide not to move forward in our hiring process with a candidate. It would be nice if we could give feedback like this, but we don’t do this today. Why?

  • The written feedback that we collect during our interview process is intended for an internal audience. We don’t ask our interviewers to spend time and effort packaging their feedback in a way that can be delivered directly to candidates.
  • Adequately summarizing all interview feedback for a candidate is challenging and time consuming. We choose to spend our time focusing on delivering developmental feedback to our existing teammates.
  • If any interviewer is asked by a candidate for interview feedback, they may respond with the following message:

    I understand the desire to receive feedback from our interview process, but unfortunately we are not in a position to give it.

Candidate FAQs

  • Q: How is Sourcegraph doing from a financial standpoint?

    • A: Choosing to join a company is a significant commitment. We want people to have an accurate view of Sourcegraph’s financial and business position before they join. (Every Sourcegraph team member after they join has regular access to this information on our Google Drive, and they can ask the CEO directly if they have any other questions.)

Hiring managers: If you’re asked a question like this and you aren’t 100% confident about the answer, please pass the question to the VP Talent and VP Operations.

  1. What is the company’s latest valuation? (We share this when we give you the offer.)
  2. What percentage of the company does my option grant represent? (We share this when we give you the offer.)
  3. What is the total number of fully diluted shares? (You can calculate this from the number of options in your grant and the percentage that represents, but we’re also happy to share this number.)
  4. Other details about options. (These are covered in the employment paperwork you will receive.)

Here are some other questions that candidates have asked (e.g., in the CEO interview):

  1. What is the current runway and the monthly burn rate?
  2. How much cash does the company have in the bank?
  3. Other questions about Sourcegraph’s internal financial metrics.

  • Q: Can I work from anywhere?

    • A: Yes, Sourcegraph is an all-remote company. Unless indicated explicitly in the job description, we are a remote-first company and do not have a preference regarding your location. You can read more about our all-remote philosophy, as well as our path to all remote and tips for working remotely here.

  • Q: When can I expect to hear feedback?

    • A: We aim to respond to all applications within 5 business days of your application date. If you are a candidate in our interview process, you can expect to hear from us within 3 business days. If you would like a status update on your candidacy, please contact your recruiter or email recruiting@sourcegraph.com.

  • Q: Why does Sourcegraph record interviews?

    • A: We use BrightHire, an interview recording tool, to record all interviews. We do this because we believe that candidates should be assessed based on merit, not our memory (did you know that one hour after an interview, memory recall of the conversation declines to 44%?). BrightHire allows us to revisit key details, revise initial impressions, and replace implicit bias with explicit evidence. It brings structure and consistency to each interview and ensures that every candidate gets the opportunity they deserve. Have questions? To read our FAQ, click here.

  • Q: What should I wear to an interview?

    • A: We are a casual company and we encourage you to dress comfortably!

  • Q: Does Sourcegraph check references?

    • A: References can be requested by the hiring manager on a case-by-case basis. If we choose to conduct a reference check, we will send you a reference request form via Greenhouse, and we will never check your references without your explicit consent. You can read more about our reference check process here.

  • Q: Do you provide Visa sponsorship?

Offer Letter FAQs

  • Q: If I create or work on a personal project or invention outside working hours, will Sourcegraph own those under the contract?

    • A: Sourcegraph will not own your personal projects or inventions made outside your working hours unless those projects or inventions are made in connection with, relate to, or result from Sourcegraph’s business or the work you perform for Sourcegraph. Please review the applicable IP Matters section of your agreement.

  • Q: In the List of Prior Inventions and Original Works of Authorship exhibit, do I have to list everything I’ve been working on or plan to work on (including side projects, startups), or just projects related to Sourcegraph’s business?

    • A: If there’s overlap between your projects and Sourcegraph’s business (for example: code search, batch changes, code intelligence, code insights, etc.), go ahead and list them. Sourcegraph’s legal team can’t advise you what to list. But you can review the definitions outlined in the exhibit and decide if there’s anything you want to list. If you’re still not sure, you can consider consulting a lawyer.

  • Q: Does this contract transfer ownership of my prior inventions to Sourcegraph?

    • A: No, it does not. Invention assignment clauses don’t generally assign or transfer ownership of inventions made before the contractual relationship begins. However, when a teammate has made inventions similar or related to the company’s business before the relationship started and then the teammate builds on these inventions during the relationship, then down the line, it may not be clear which parts of the invention belong to the teammate and which parts belong to the employer. That’s why we ask teammates to list related inventions in the List of Prior Inventions and Original Works of Authorship exhibit. Note that the exhibit applies to all teammates, but most commonly to software engineers who may have built code search tools prior to Sourcegraph.

  • Q: None of my past employment or consulting agreements conflict with the Sourcegraph contract. Does that mean I don’t need to list anything in the exhibit relating to Conflicting Agreements?

    • A: Correct. Review the “No Conflicts” section of your Sourcegraph contract. It requires you to list all agreements (e.g., non-competition agreements, non-solicitation of customers agreements, non-solicitation of employees agreements, confidentiality agreements, inventions agreements, etc.), if any, with a current or former client, employer, or any other person or entity, that may restrict your ability to perform services, recruit, or engage customers or service providers for Sourcegraph or otherwise relate to or restrict your ability to perform your duties to Sourcegraph. If there are no such agreements, no need to list anything in the exhibit.

  • Q: During my engagement with Sourcegraph, I would like to keep consulting for Company A (maybe x hours per week). Company A sells Z and does not compete with Sourcegraph. Can I keep consulting for Company A and if so should I list my engagement with Company A in any of the exhibits?

    • A: Check with your manager or supervisor to make sure that your other engagement will not conflict or interfere with your deliverables to Sourcegraph. During your engagement with Sourcegraph, you may not consult for businesses whose products and services compete with Sourcegraph, other than a pre-approved business listed in an applicable exhibit (such as the List of Excluded Companies under Exhibit D). If Company A is not competitive to Sourcegraph, then no need to list Company A in any of the exhibits. Sourcegraph’s legal team can’t recommend whether or not to list a company. If you’re still not sure, you can consider consulting a lawyer.