From Newcomer to Innovator in 90 days: The Island Onboarding Experience

When your goal is to reach a very specific target that’s very far away, trajectory is everything. The slightest turn and you may miss the mark entirely.

This is why we at Island have been obsessed with onboarding since day zero. Set the precise trajectory for each engineer, and they’ll be perfectly positioned to build amazing things for months and years to come. But what does that onboarding experience look like? And how do we build an easily scalable process for the huge amount of talent showing up? And what if these aren’t entry-level developers, but first-class engineers, team leaders, superstars, ex-founders, top engineers in their former company? What kind of process will prepare them to work at the highest level as soon as possible?

This made our challenge especially difficult.

The most talented people are usually already happy where they are. Companies invest in retaining them, both by compensating them well, and challenging them to do meaningful work. We needed to convince them to take a big step out of their comfort zones and enter the unknown. And even after they do make the move to a new company, it can be months before they learn the new role, product, and team, and begin making the impact they were used to making in their previous role.

This pushed us to think up the ideal onboarding plan.

One that will help new team members get comfortable with new tech, a new codebase, and new team dynamics. One that empowers all types of engineers to learn and develop at their own pace, inside their specific domain, and within their own areas of interest. And most importantly - one that continuously offers opportunities to do cutting-edge, innovative work.

I was so impressed by how early the company started investing in training. All onboarding materials were perfectly organized. I’m 90 days in, and the challenges are only getting bigger and more exciting - and I don't see it slowing down any time soon.

- Adi K., Software Tech Lead

And like our development cycle, we’re continuously investing in our onboarding. Testing it. Adjusting it. Doing frequent retrospectives on it. So we know it continues to serve our people and our business in the best way possible.

But enough talking - let’s dive into it. Here is the experience our engineers encounter in the first 90 days at Island.

First, meet your buddy

Before you start, we assign you a “buddy”. Your buddy is your go-to mentor. The one who will help you in the coming months with everything you need, from learning the company culture and mission, to all the technical stuff like product architecture and code reviews, as well as the day-to-day activities like lunch, operations and administration.

Your buddy will also introduce you to some new groups of fellow engineers to expand your personal and professional network beyond the friends you already have inside the company.

A few days before you start, your new group lead will reach out to tell you who your chosen buddy is, how your first days and weeks will look, and some of the basics like when to show up on day one. He/she will also tell you a bit about which “Island”  (a.k.a team) you’re joining. This is to help the newcomer feel welcome, get acquainted with things before walking through the door, and know how excited we are for them to join.

Day One

You’re finally here! We’ve been waiting for you! So what does your first day look like?

You’ll arrive a little bit early to meet a few people in the dining area to get those first few awkward introductions out of the way. And of course, coffee and breakfast :).

Your workspace will already be set up with your new computer and some swag waiting at your desk.

You’ll start the day getting to know your direct manager. Your manager will talk a little bit about how the business is doing, where we are as a company,  what your Island will focus on, and some other general points. He/she will also discuss your goals, targets and milestones as an Islander.  You’ll also have your first daily stand-up meeting with your island. There, you’ll get to meet all of your new teammates.

Next comes your first meeting with your buddy. He/she will share your onboarding plan and show you our detailed onboarding guide. He/she will also advise you on what to focus on based on your previous skills and experience.

I'm not just learning what to code. I'm understanding how we present the product to potential customers, how we respond to their needs, and what our role is as engineers in getting a customer to choose us.

- Eran A., Software Engineer

Remember - take your time. Ask even the most basic questions. Learn about the areas of your work you’re not yet familiar with. Don’t hop on the train until you’re ready - because once you do, the train won’t stop moving. Fast. So enjoy the peace and quiet while you can :)

In addition to that, you will also meet our Engineering & Product leadership. They'll share some aspects of Island that are core to what we do – like our agile methodology, end-to-end ownership, and putting the customer first as well as where we are from a business perspective and what our high level company goals are.

Week One - The Organization & Business

Your first week will include many face-to-face introductions, where you’ll learn about Island’s different departments and stakeholders (product, design, HR, engineering and many many more!) , you’ll also watch some great recorded presentations on business goals, product introduction, the Island brand and company architecture.

You’ll start reading up on our technology, get familiar with our development process and learn about our tech stack.

You like headphones? Perfect - you’ll be spending most of this week wearing them ;).

Day 30 - Technical Deep Dive

By now, you’ve gotten your hands dirty, learned the technology stack, and had an exercise or two reviewed by your buddy and some fellow engineers.

You completed a few automation tasks, know your way around the architecture, and can run the product end to end.

You even did some field-impacting tasks from a backlog of small tasks we always have.

Congratulations – you’ve officially completed your first milestone as an Islander. (There’s a beer in the fridge with your name on it - go celebrate :)

I'm three months in and already completing tasks like everyone else on my team. And yet, I'm still learning and developing each day as if I just started.
- Noa D., Software Engineer

Day 90 - Crossing The Entire Stack

Now, it’s time to become an expert. After completing the initial milestones of your onboarding, we know what your sweet spot is and where you can strengthen your knowledge and skills in order to become an Island engineer.  

Your manager will now assign tasks from different areas across the architecture to ensure that you get real comfortable with the product’s entire technology stack. The ultimate goal? To give you a deep understanding of our coding standards, how to write code for each component, what the right CI and automation is for each, how to deploy gradually and safely, and how to monitor and track all your deployments and features. Soon, you’ll be ready to do your first demo in front of the entire team (that’s a big deal around here), where you’ll explain how you built your feature, why you made it that way, and its business impact on the company as a whole.

You will also gain visibility into the different deployments and customer engagements so that you know what’s going on with our customers. At Island, we keep our customer engagements very visible to everyone and promote engaging with the field, keeping the engineering team very close to our go-to-market team and the product itself. We believe this will give engineers a broader perspective on the development process and on customers' needs. And ultimately, it will lead to better products and greater innovation.

From Engineer to Company Builder

Ok - so you’ve seen it all. How we plan, build, and ship products at the highest possible standard. What’s next? Time to explore. With an enormous platform and architecture, we rely on our engineers to actively seek out new business cases, investigate new technologies, and innovate on our product continuously. And by doing so, your job never stays the same. You and the environment around you will constantly evolve, expand, and accelerate. New challenges will arise, and with them, new opportunities will emerge. And in a short while, you’ll find yourself leading an entire Island of your own (more on our ‘Islands of Innovation’ model here). Building standalone products, competing against large companies’ core business, onboarding new engineers of your own, and overseeing all aspects of your team’s success.

It’ll be like operating your own startup within a startup.

If you’re an ambitious engineer, you’re an entrepreneur at heart. And here, you’re purposely positioned to naturally evolve into one. Which means the ‘ceiling’ that engineers often hit at startups - when work begins to feel stale, routine, unsatisfying - that doesn’t exist at Island. By design.

So roll up your sleeves. Hop on the train. And start building something special.

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