At TableCheck, our mission is to help restaurateurs to create a world of extraordinary dining experiences for their guests. Our tech teams build and ship the technology which powers the most respected restaurants and hospitality destinations in the world. We’re constantly on the lookout for new talented people who fit our team.

We could talk volumes about why TableCheck is a great place to work. Much of it boils down to:

• The talented, diverse, and energetic people we have.

• The freedom, responsibility, and trust we give each person.

• The meaning and accomplishment each person derives from their work.

• Perks such as being fully remote, with the ability to relocate to Tokyo.

If our work culture fits your lifestyle and career goals, then let's begin your journey to joining TableCheck’s dream team!

READ MORE:

• The IT culture at TableCheck (coming up)

• The TableCheck approach in software development (coming up)

How to apply to TableCheck

We made this guide to help all TableCheck tech job applicants put their best foot forward. Our hiring process is not radically different from other global tech companies, so we hope you’ll find these tips useful no matter where you apply. This guide is primarily intended for engineers, designers, QA, product managers, etc. joining our tech organization. We’re also hiring sales, account reps, biz dev, etc. but the process for those roles may differ a bit.

Let’s now explore step-by-step how to gain an edge.

Before applying

Check our available positions. We post new openings on a regular basis. We also recommend following us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and subscribing to our blog at the bottom of the article.

Read the job description carefully. Your skills should match at least 75% of the skill requirement. the closer to 100% the more likely you are to get the job. We typically look for candidates who are already skilled in our existing tech stack and tools, and who will be productive on our team from Day 1. Here “skill” means mastery achieved after living, breathing, and struggling mightily with real-world work for several years; completing an online tutorial does not count.

Communication, both verbal and written, in English is also important since TableCheck is a 100% async remote company. We write thorough documentation and share ideas openly in scrum meetings and in Slack. Proficiency in Japanese and other languages is not required but is considered a plus.

Please also pay attention to desired years of experience and/or specified seniority of the role (if any). We’re open to candidates who are hungry and/or foolish to achieve beyond their current years, position, and title. Particularly for managerial roles, however, some knowledge can only be hard-won through career longevity and experience. You’ll go through a rigorous screening and interview process (see below), so it’s not worth your time to apply if you’re far off from the necessary qualifications.

Your job application

When you’ve found the right job opening, please submit a job application using our official careers portal. Kindly use only this portal and refrain from contacting us through email or LinkedIn.

Your job application should include:

• Your CV (Resume)

• Open source code and contributions (for engineering roles)

• Portfolio website, blog, and/or social media

The application form will also ask for a cover letter, however, for us it is optional. Use it only if you need to clarify something about your work experience or application.

Now let’s look at strategies to make a good impression and land an interview. Remember: attention to detail is key!

Your CV

The CV is the primary way we get to know you in the beginning. It should be very clean, polished, and easy to read.

• Your CV and all communications should be written in English.

• List work experience in reverse chronological order, with your most recent job at the top.

• All items in your work experience and education history should have a link to the company/college’s website and indicate the location (city).

• Take a moment to tailor your CV for the job. Put relevant skills (from the last 3 years) up-front and center, and ensure your work experience includes all related projects you’ve done.

• Expand on your best and relevant work and minimize the non-relevant experience.

• Include relevant certifications, coursework, and online learning, especially if you’re a new grad or applying for an entry-level position.

• A clean, professional profile photo is fine, but avoid adding cutesy images or graphics. Visual examples of past work should go in a separate portfolio if you’d like to share them.

• Pro Tip #1: Always use a PDF. Avoid Microsoft Word or other formats.

• Pro Tip #2: Ensure spelling and grammar in all your documents and messages are impeccable. We recommend using Grammarly. If we see typos in your CV, we’ll worry that you’ll make typos in your code too.

• Pro Tip #3: Use a professional resume template to stand out. Keep it minimal and uncluttered; text should be correctly aligned and easy to read. Design taste and creativity in your CV go a long way, For inspiration, we recommend Canva.

• Pro Tip #4: Make sure all links on the CV are clickable.

Open source code (for engineering roles)

Reading your code is the easiest and fastest way for us to get a sense of your skill. Having a comprehensive Github profile and a rich coding footprint on the Internet is always a good sign.

• Include your Github profile in your resume.

• Make sure your pinned Github repositories show your best work.

• Highlight to us any open source projects which you maintain or contribute to frequently. We’re particularly interested in projects which match our tech stack listed in the Job Description. If you have any major feature/refactor pull requests that are worthy of note, please include them.

• Don’t bother including basic project examples, like a "to-do list app" or landing pages that are copies of real brands/companies.

Portfolio website, blog, and social media

Broadcasting your ideas and public work via the web and/or social media gives us valuable insight into your interests and philosophy. It’s a win-win if TableCheck can recruit influential “thought-leaders” in the industry.

• Having a portfolio website can increase your profile as a candidate, especially if it's a creative and well-crafted one. Bonus points if your website shows personality, has a custom design, uses your own domain name, etc.

• If you write IT-related blog posts, make sure to include them in your application.

• If you’ve given any tech talks posted on YouTube, please include links.

• Add any social media accounts, including LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. which you use in a professional or artistic capacity.

The screening interview

If your resume piques our interest, the hiring manager or HR will contact you to arrange a screening interview. This will be a 30-60 minute online video call with the hiring manager to discuss the role requirements, your experience, and expectations.

Preparing for your interview

• When communicating your availability for any interview, use the timezone of the TableCheck office for which you are applying, i.e. usually Japan (JST).

• Prepare a computer with a stable Internet connection, a webcam with good video quality, and be in a quiet and well-lit environment.

• Be prepared to share your projects on-screen if required. For coders, it’s a good idea to have access to a development environment (IDE, core packages installed, etc.).

• Reflect on why you want to work at TableCheck and how you envision your career going forward. Jog your memory about your past work experiences, key accomplishments, and things you would have done differently.

• Review your coding knowledge regarding the technologies required for the job to which you are applying.

During the interviews

• Relax. Be calm, honest, positive, and curious. We want to get a sense of who you genuinely are as a person, and what it will be to work with you daily.

• Be punctual. If you can't attend for any reason, make sure to send an email before the interview begins. If you’ve already taken another offer, simply inform our HR; ghosting will create a lasting bad impression.

• Focus on the questions. If you don't understand precisely what the interviewer meant, always ask for more information.

• Keep your answers succinct. You can always mention that you can provide more details if needed.

• When working through technical questions, explain your thought process aloud. It’s more important for us to understand how you think and approach problems than whether or not you ultimately get the right answer.

• Remember that it is a conversation, not a monologue. Feel free to ask about the specifics of your daily responsibilities, our culture, potential career growth within TableCheck, etc.

• Don’t read prepared answers. You should be able to remember your past work experiences and share your ideas freely and conversationally.

The take-home assignment and team interview

Once you pass the screening interview, the hiring manager will discuss with you and the hiring team whether you need to complete a take-home assignment or not. In some exceptional cases, if you have an open-source project or strong portfolio that uses the tech stack required in the job description, that could be an option to move directly to the team interview and skip the take-home assignment.

The take-home assignment also provides you a chance to explore what TableCheck's tech looks like and have a great example to discuss during the team interview.

After submitting the assignment, our team will review it. If it passes the TableCheck standards, the hiring manager or HR will arrange one or several interviews (depending on the role) with members of the team you would be joining at TableCheck. Typically these will be conducted with pairs of interviewers who will deep-dive into assessing your technical skill and fit. We tend to avoid brainteasers and instead focus on exploring scenarios or case studies which give us a sense of how you approach the challenging work you’ll be doing if you land the job. The same interview advice given above applies equally for these subsequent rounds – stay sharp!

Final interviews and offer

If you pass the take-home assignment and the team interview(s) give yourself a pat on the back: you've demonstrated prowess within the top 5% of all candidates.

From here we'll set up two final interviews, first with our CTO and then with our HR team. Although we haven’t made our final decision yet, at this stage we'll discuss things like start date, salary, employment terms, and whether you intend to relocate to Japan and require visa sponsorship. Separately, HR will also conduct a reference check.

Once we've interviewed all candidates in the round, the interviewers will convene and make a final hiring decision. Ultimately we choose the player whose music we judge will best harmonize in our orchestra.

If you don't get the offer...

Don't fret about it! We’re often seeking very specific qualities in each role, and many decisions are close calls.

If you made it to the final round, keep in touch as we’re growing rapidly and there may be an opening for you in the future. We’ve had many successful hires who didn’t get the offer the first time around.

If you didn’t make it in earlier rounds, your experience may be lagging behind the candidate pool. Good advice here is to focus daily on learning and improving yourself; seek a job that pushes you to develop skills rapidly. You’re welcome to ask us for specific feedback, although we may not always be able to give it. Our door is always open to apply again once you’ve leveled up.

If you get the offer: welcome aboard!

Congrats, you've finally made it! Your first weeks will be intense but fun: you'll learn and read about many new things, meet a lot of people, and get used to how things are done at TableCheck.

The first six months of your employment at TableCheck will be a probationary period. We treat this as an “extended interview” where we can fully validate that you are the right role and culture fit for our team. Don't worry; we'd never hire anyone who we don't expect to pass probation with flying colors.

After your HR onboarding, your hiring manager will assign you a buddy, usually another senior member of your team who is knowledgeable about the company processes. At the same time, you will also join one of the squads in the IT department and start working on a product with other engineers, PMs, and designers. Once you settle in, your manager will work with you to set goals and ensure your daily work at TableCheck is aligned with your long-term career objectives.

Now your real journey at TableCheck to transform the worldwide hospitality industry begins…

If you have any other questions regarding the hiring or onboarding process, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Special thanks to Johnny Shields (TableCheck's CTO & Co-founder) for his contributions to this article.