Working at Thoughtworks

ThoughtWorks is a global technology consultant that strives to provide technology that solves problems and improves lives. The company is full of individuals who are passionate about solving the toughest technological problems facing the world. They're constantly looking forward to the future of technology in order to create change not only within ThoughtWorks, but also within the tech industry. The company provides a place where employees have the space and freedom they need to create the change they want to see.

Diving Into the Values at ThoughtWorks

ThoughtWorks provides employees a fun and exciting work culture with a large variety of projects to choose from, including creating a new mobile app for a large retail store or coming up with a new digital strategy for a bank. ThoughtWorks is a workplace where you'll be challenged every day to expand your mind to come up with creative solutions.

The company really believes in people who seek creating change and opportunity. At ThoughtWorks, you're encouraged to change career paths if that's what you need to grow. Or if you just need some extra responsibilities to make your career more interesting, they encourage that too. But most importantly, the company wants you to embrace being you.

First Year Experience

Your First Steps Broken Down

During your first year with ThoughtWorks you'll have a guide to follow. This guide will help you through becoming acquainted with the work culture and the company's specific tech consulting approach. The First Year Experience (FYE) onboarding program will mentor you while strengthening your professional network. This is how it breaks down:

The First Week: Every entry-level, experienced or principal hire visits the office in Chicago to learn about the company.

The First Quarter: Every entry-level hire will attend either ThoughtWorks University in China or India for five weeks. The intensive training program will teach you the basics of how the company develops software. You will then put what you've learned to practice through a hands-on training approach.

The First Year: All new hires will gain consulting experience through client engagement.

Throughout your onboarding experience, you're encouraged to seek out your strengths, areas that could be stronger, what your career goals are and which path you want to go down. But remember, as you find your place within ThoughtWorks your goals may change. Even your career path is not set in stone. The last thing the company wants is for you to feel stuck in a position that doesn't fit you well.

The great thing about the FYE is that you will have support every step of the way. The onboarding team provides a custom FYE for every new hire. You'll be given the right tools to grow your network throughout your first year so you have the support you need. The company believes the most important tool you can have in your career is a team that supports you.

From peer-to-peer networking to role-based networking, the company helps you build connections right off the bat. This support will be there for you when you have a new idea or when you take on a new goal. All in all, the company just wants you to be successful in your ThoughtWorks career.

At the heart of the company is the desire to continue learning. Everything you do with ThoughtWorks will be based on learning something new or learning to perform a skill better. Specifically during the FYE, you will be given many learning opportunities that will help you develop into a top notch consultant while building your skills. Even after your first year, you will be presented with numerous external and internal training and learning sessions that you will be encouraged to attend.

ThoughtWorks wants to create a community that is continually growing. And it doesn't matter if you've been there for 18 minutes or 18 years, at ThoughtWorks they believe everyone can support each other through coaching, mentoring, recruiting, writing and speaking. In order for the company to grow alongside its employees, it's also important that employees are providing feedback. From 1-on-1 sessions to informal checkpoints, the company is focused on providing you plenty of opportunities to let them know how they're doing.

Finding Your Passion

Making Your Career Custom to Your Goals

With ThoughtWorks you have the potential to work in several different areas. While they have designed roles that are already implemented in the company, if you have a new area or role you'd like to add you're encouraged to discuss it with management. They want to know what your goals and career aspirations are at ThoughtWorks. A few of the already designed roles are:

Developer Consultants: In this position you work alongside clients to update and revolutionize their technology while helping them meet their business goals.

Business Analysts: In this role, you help bridge the gap between clients and software developers in order to find the technology that achieves the clients' goals.

Quality Assurance Analysts: This is a fun position because in order to ensure every product is in tip-top shape, you're going to have to break every product.

Experience Designers: In this role, you'll study human interactions with technology in order to provide a more helpful and compelling product design.

While working at ThoughtWorks you'll probably notice you're encouraged to take the reigns. They believe that since it is your career, you should be the one in charge. If there's a specific industry you want to throw yourself into, no one is going to stop you. In fact, the team at ThoughtWorks will just support and guide you through learning about the new industry.

The leadership at ThoughtWorks will even give you some advice on how to get started in that industry, such as specific reading you should do or shadowing a fellow coworker. As long as you're upfront about your goals and your career plan, ThoughtWorks will do its best to provide you with the tools you need to succeed. They provide the flexibility you need to get exactly what you want out of your career.

Boast About Your Experience

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

So you've heard enough and decided to find out more about this company by applying. You've sent in your application and scheduled an interview. Now what? That's right. You need to prepare. Luckily for you, the interview process at ThoughtWorks is one that is fair. They're more focused on finding the right person for the job. So you should be prepared to talk about your past achievements rather than the processes you took to reach those results.

The hiring process at ThoughtWorks will involve no more than three interview stages, but you should know that each stage may include several steps you will need to complete. Just keep in mind the company wants to get to know you. During the process they will be assessing your ability to learn and grow in order to see if you're a good fit. And don't forget to evaluate them as well. It needs to be a good fit on both sides.

Coming into your first interview, ThoughtWorks recruiters advise to take a few big breaths and relax. They just want to get to know you. This is the easy part. Be yourself and keep the conversation casual. Oh, and don't forget to ask questions about the company and position. As for the rest of the process, the recruiters will be observing how you work and are interested more so in your experience than your resume.