Uncubed Approved: Shopify’s Career Page

There’s just something about clarity. When job seekers vet a potential employer, they want the answers to a few existential questions: 

• What’s the company’s mission and how does it contribute to the greater good?

• Will my work there matter?

• Is this a place where I can belong?

And a few practical ones:

• Will I be able to work where I want to? (i.e., remote, hybrid, on-site)

• What’s the pay like? What about benefits?

• What can I expect in the hiring process?

• Is there a job for me?

Ecom platform Shopify has one of the simplest, most straightforward, and effective career pages I’ve seen. They answer the existential and practical questions (save one, but I’ll get to that).

What’s the company’s mission and how does it contribute to the greater good?

Above the fold, Shopify tells applicants why the work matters.

Our product enables entrepreneurship to create new value for the world and unlocks unlimited personal growth for the people who build it.

In case you missed it, they distill the message in block letters.

Will my work there matter?

Shopify thinks so. The company ties its mission and employee contributions to entrepreneurship, equity, and even social progress. Despite being a huge, publicly traded company whose revenue in 2020 was almost $3 billion, they manage to send the message that the work it does matters to individuals and improves life for the everyman.

This is life-defining work that directly impacts people’s lives as much as it transforms your own. This is putting the power of the few in the hands of the many, is a future with more voices rather than fewer, and is creating more choices instead of an elite option.

Is this a place where I can belong?

Scroll up. The answer to this question is in the opening message. Here are some of the highlights.

We operate on low process and high trust, and trade on impact. You have to care deeply about what you’re doing, and commit to continuously developing your craft, to keep pace here.

If you prefer a prescriptive corporate structure and an in-person office environment, that’s not us. If you’re seeking hypergrowth, can solve complex problems, and can thrive on change (and a bit of chaos), you’ve found the right place.

Some people who join us are already the world’s best at something: gold-medallist, chess grandmaster, Michelin-star chef.

Shopify makes it clear that it’s a high-pressure environment of high-performers. This candor will help some of the wrong candidates self-select out and save their recruiters time.

Will I be able to work where I want to? (i.e., remote, hybrid, on-site)

Shopify is crystal clear about its location policy: You do your daily work wherever you work best.

Tick. Done.

What’s the pay like? What about benefits?

Below working location, there’s an accordion drop-down of juicy bits, including info about Shopify’s unique Flex Comp system. There is only passing mention of “benefits, perks, and learning and growth opportunities,” and I wish we got more about that.  

What can I expect in the hiring process?

The drop-down has this info too, in three parts: The Life Story interview, The Process, and Hiring FAQs. In concert, they provide a sturdy overview of how candidates are evaluated, the steps in the interview/hiring process, and little ways to prep. 

Is there a job for me?

At the bottom of the page is a list of open positions that is both searchable and filterable. Simple enough.

Bonus: Can I grow my career here?

Workers are increasingly concerned about career growth. According to the 2019 LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report, 94% of employees say they would stay at a company longer if it invested in their learning and development. That concern is even more top-of-mine four years later, when many skills are outdated at a discouraging page.

Shopify has created a genius little snapshot of growth potential within the company. At the bottom of each job description, we meet Ben, Shopify’s director of support and CX engineering, who started in customer service at the company in 2014 with no programming experience. 

Then, we’re given this helpful illustration of Ben’s career growth at Spotify, followed by the message: We hire people, not resumes.

Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza is a freelance reporter based in Richmond, VA, who covers the future of work and women’s experience in the workplace. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, Fast Company, Quartz at Work, and Digiday’s Worklife.news, among others.

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