Duolingo is an education app that helps people learn new languages. With over 300 million users worldwide, it is also the world's most popular way to learn languages. The app's sleek design coupled with the fun exercises and science-backed learning methods make Duolingo an absolute must for anyone wanting to widen their language spectrum.
Duolingo provides a service that can help change lives. There are numerous accounts of people utilizing the tool and landing a job or meeting the love of their life. The people that choose to dedicate their lives to the Duolingo mission are those that care deeply care about it, and understand just how powerful language can be.
Diving Into the Values at Duolingo
For the Greater Good
It is Duolingo's mission to bring free, high-quality language education to the world. They do that by making it fun, personalized and based on science. Learning new languages can be hard, so why make it boring? The vast majority of Duolingo team members use the app themselves to ensure that they are always keeping it engaging because that is a big part of the process. They also use it because Duolingo is made up of serial learners.
Duolingo cares deeply about diversity - it is an important part of their company and their product. They talk about this in-depth in this blog post. Overall, Duolingo deeply values its employees - ensuring things like competitive benefits and pay practices that are reviewed rigorously and annually for the benefit of its employees.
Duolingo also gives its employees a lot of autonomy to innovate and collaborate. The company expects employees to take ownership of what they do, and the employees repay that trust by doing a great job.
The People at Duolingo
Creating the Future of Education
The Duolingo team is a group of people that are proud to call the company home. Who, in passing at a party, wouldn't want to be able to say that they were helping to connect the world? It is also a very diverse crew. The Duolingo team is made up of people from over 20 different countries. According to employees, the hiring process is very selective, so it's only A+ people at Duolingo.
50% of the company is made up of engineers. The other half is made up of:
The Culture at Duolingo
One Big Family
Past and current employees all agree on one thing: that the culture is second to none at Duolingo. With frequent parties outside of work, open office, diverse work environment and smart, kind people, Duolingo is a super-inclusive company. There is no pressure to hide the quirks that make you who you are just to fit in.
Duolingo takes playtime pretty seriously. They have, to date, had over 120 company game nights, their foosball table has seen more than 3000 hard-fought games and the pool table has had more than 600 rounds played on it.
Team members get together to participate in things like sports intramurals, craft nights, movie nights, bike rides, ice cream runs, pumpkin carving and so much more. The family-like community feels natural and is cultivated organically, the right way, at Duolingo.
The Office at Duolingo
Great Location for a Great Company
The Duolingo office is located in the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Surrounding the office are several, coffee shops, restaurants, and late-night spots. The office is an open floor plan to encourage and enable collaboration and conversation.
The Benefits at Duolingo
The Best in the Biz
From flexible hours for night owls or morning people to a great chef providing free snacks and lunches and an on-site gym, to work off all those free meals, Duolingo has some top-class benefits to offer. The time-off benefits are fantastic, with 20 PTO days plus a two week paid break over the New Years' holiday.
Some other benefits offered at Duolingo are:
And lastly, there is a psychological benefit to working at a company that values you and values making the world a better place to live. Getting to help people every day does wonders for one's health.
Interviewing with Duolingo
Bring your A-Game
The interview process with Duolingo is definitely a tough one, but that's only because they want the best of the best and those who really believe in the mission. The process can take 4 or more weeks. Depending on what position you are applying for, you will definitely be thoroughly tested on your knowledge in the area, so be ready to show off your skills.
