Kia ora and kamusta! I am a fresh graduate and Junior Engineer here at Auror. I started in May 2021 and it has been an incredible experience so far.

I am a graduate of computer systems engineering and studied the fundamental disciplines of electronics, hardware, and software. I chose this major because it aligned with my enthusiastic curiosity of our everyday technology.

After university, I worked at Deloitte as a Junior Pentester intern, where over six months I worked in various types of cybersecurity with different clients from a range of industries. I gained a lot of perspectives on the New Zealand tech industry, but I missed being in an engineering environment.

It wasn’t long before I decided to pursue a job in engineering and with technology that has an immense impact on people’s lives. This is how I landed at Auror.‍

What was the interview process like at Auror?

‍I completed four interviews and met almost everyone in the Engineering team (it was a smaller team back then!). The interviews varied in theme, from technical ability to collaboration skills.

Having multiple interviews gave me the opportunity to meet a number of team members which helped me decide if Auror was the right fit for me.

One thing I remembered from my interview was something James Freeman, one of our Senior Software Engineers, said “We are a team that strives to bring the best out of each other. There are no executive decisions and as much as possible we want everyone’s perspective to be on board. We move together and help each other as a team.”

This helped me understand the great importance Auror places on collaboration and working as a team of teams that focuses on empowering each other. This means sharing ideas, giving feedback, and communicating fully where we can.

Do you have any advice for others going through Auror’s interview process?

My advice for anyone going through Auror’s Engineering interview process is to be your authentic self. The interview process is mostly to see how you work in a team and how collaborative you are – not so much on what you know.

Now that it’s been over a year since you started, can you share your biggest learning?

The biggest learning for me after a year at Auror was appreciating autonomy and agency in our work culture. Personally, this was a challenge when I first started as there wasn't a list of instructions or code that I needed to write.

Autonomy at work refers to how much freedom employees have to do their jobs. Specifically, it relates to the pace at which work is completed, its order of completion, and a person's freedom to work without micromanagement. One's agency is one's independent capability or ability to act on one's will.

Instead each piece of work started with a conversation to ensure that everyone gets the same context and has the opportunity to share their perspectives. The phrase “every strong opinion is loosely held” is one that is used a lot at Auror – it helps us feel at ease to share our opinion, but also a reminder to hear others out. What I’ve learned and enjoy most about working at Auror is the collaborative nature of our culture. Our co-founder Phil once shared this thread from twitter that has resonated with me – it’s the idea that each team is accountable for driving an aligned outcome, rather than an individual.

If my experience sounds interesting, we’re always looking for folks who can add to our collaborative culture. Check out the careers page to look around and reach out anytime.