How Our Hiring Process Works

Finding the right fit matters—to you, to us, and to the clients we serve together. Here’s exactly what happens when you apply to SEP, whether you’re an engineer, designer, or another role.

The core process stays consistent, though some activities (like Step 3’s demo) adapt to what you actually do. No surprises, no guessing games.

What to Expect When You Apply

As with everything else at SEP, we think it’s important you know what to expect from us throughout the recruitment process. Transparency allows us all to be on the same page, from your first contact to the final decision. We want to make sure you know what’s next.

Apply

One-Hour Conversation

Full-Day Interview

Decisions

Step 1: Apply

Take a look at our Open Positions. You’ll send us your résumé (ideally with links to your portfolio or GitHub). You’ll answer a few quick questions designed to surface any deal-breakers early—because nobody wants to waste time on a role that won’t work.

What we’re looking for: Skills that match the role, plus signs you’ll thrive in our collaborative, client-focused environment.

Step 2: Talk

Next up is an initial conversation, mostly focused on you:

what you’ve done
what gets you out of bed in the morning
what your aspirations are

This might happen at your college campus, over Zoom, or through an interactive technical session. You won’t get a sales pitch here, but we’re happy to talk about any part of SEP that helps you figure out if we’re a good fit.

What we’re looking for: Your approach to problem-solving, how you collaborate, and whether you’re excited about creating software that matters.

Step 3: Meet

When things are looking good on both sides, we’ll invite you to our office for an interview that goes deeper than the usual Q&A. Depending on your role, this might be a full-day or half-day event—but either way, you’ll work alongside our teams on actual problems, see our space, meet people doing similar work, and have all your questions answered (intern positions move straight to decisions).

Here’s what a full-day interview includes:

The Tour

Come see us in our natural environment. More than just whiteboards and desks, we’ll try to give you the flavor of SEP—history, philosophy, current projects, and culture.

The Demo

Time for you to do your thing—coding, designing, etc. These are interactive sessions at a whiteboard or computer with our team, showing us how you think through problems. The task will be interactive and collaborative, just like actual client work here.

The Lunch

Keeping our strength up! We’ll get out of the office, get less technical, and talk through any questions you have. Ask us anything.

The Validation

Want to talk privately with someone who shares your background? Looking for specific perspectives on what it’s like here? You tell us what matters to you, and we’ll connect you with someone who fits—no interview team members involved.

The Details

Before you head out, you’ll get a detailed rundown of next steps. We’ll give you a helpful overview of our benefit programs, like health insurance, retirement programs, how time off works, and so on. Plus, we’ll let you know when you can expect to hear from us.

Step 4: Decide

After your full-day interview, one of three things happens:

We make you an offer because we think you’d be great here, and we’d be great for you
We respectfully pass and explain why it’s not the right fit
We want to explore more and schedule another conversation to get clarity

We’ll tell you where we stand as quickly as possible.

Here’s the thing: You’re deciding if SEP makes sense for you. We’re deciding if working together makes sense for us. If you realize mid-process that we’re not right for you, just say so. We’ll do the same. That honesty serves everyone better.