dmarcian’s Hiring Process

With a background in communications and project management and with over seven years of experience in cybersecurity operations, dmarcian’s Chief Executive Officer Shannon Draegen talks about our hiring process.

dmarcian is a mission-driven company determined to make secure, improved email available to everyone. We are also a value-centric company that recognizes the potential in every person, and we try to speak to that in every aspect of our business. We’re a company made up of people, not investors, so one way of getting to know dmarcian is to take a look at our hiring process.

Opportunity Should Not Be Limited By Geography

Our goal is to hire the best, brightest and most intrinsically motivated people, and in order to do that, we have to be borderless. Globalization can be seen as a negative term depending upon the context, but there is also the positive aspect of bringing people together.   

Being a remote-first organization means that we aren’t confined to one geographic location and that we can hire smart, talented people globally. We are able to offer jobs with high standards of benefits and a good quality of life to people who may be living in locations that have limited local opportunities.

There Is Potential in Everyone

Instead of focusing on the differences among people, we want to concentrate on the similarities. We believe that people are deeper than just the collection of events on their resume. We want a holistic understanding of the individual—not just their previous roles and titles—and our hiring process is designed with that in mind.

What Is a Good Fit?

We are looking for people who emulate our principles—a multi-faceted individual who is equally developed in introspection, thoughtful collaboration and teamwork. Someone who is altruistic in both their professional and personal roles. We look for people who are independent enough to view the whole picture and who aren’t overly dependent upon being managed.

How to Get Our Attention

At the most basic level, we are looking for people who’ve made the effort in finding out who we are and seeing that reflected in their cover letter. Being remote-first, we place a high value on those who can use written communication to advocate well, starting with being advocates for themselves. We are looking for people who can express themselves and their ideas authentically, and who avoid writing in jargon-filled business-speak.

Interviewing with dmarcian

We wanted an interview process that is repeatable, measurable and can be improved upon. This is important because we not only want the best candidates, but also the ability to measure how we are doing as an employer.

The first round of interviewing is a series of questions which were developed to touch upon our specific principles. We want the candidate to have the opportunity to respond to open-ended questions in their own way so we can gain insight on the individual, as opposed to simple right-or-wrong answers. Not only are we getting answers, we’re also beginning to develop a relationship with them.

It is important that the candidate doesn’t come to impress, but to be known. We want them to be firm in who they are and to have them know that we aren’t meeting across the table from each other, but on the same side. We also want to get a sense if they have invested some time in preparing for the interview, just as we’ve invested time in getting to know them.

For the second round of interviewing, we want to see the person in action both with preparation and on-the-fly. We’re trying to learn their uniqueness and to have them show their talents in an unscripted way as opposed to a generic checklist. It also helps us to learn about ourselves and how others see us. We move through a mock project as a way for the candidate to showcase past experience and to demonstrate how they can convey something they are passionate about. We also engage in role playing—we put boundaries around them, expose them to our world and ask them to take their best stab at it. This exercise shows us how they assimilate and convey information learned in a short time and how they handle constructive criticism. 

After the Interview

It is a vulnerability to share your experiences and passions, and we want to make sure everyone feels dignity moving forward. Even if the opportunity isn’t a good fit, we hope the relationship will preserve and perhaps turn into a future opportunity.

dmarcian strives to make email safer by expanding the knowledge and awareness of DMARC, and that is made possible by our people. If you are interested in working with us, you can find our opportunities here.

Want to continue the conversation? Head over to the dmarcian Forum.