A Year At Auth0

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6 min read

A year ago today, I started at Auth0. If you had told me 2 years ago, that I would be where I am currently, I probably would have laughed and said "Yeah, okay, sure."

So on this day, my anniversary, I wanted to share my journey to Auth0.

The Job Hunt

In early 2021, I was a .NET developer dipping my toes into the water of open source and JavaScript through RedwoodJS. After 8 years at my company, I was becoming increasingly unhappy and yearning for something new career-wise so I decided to test the waters.

I paid someone on Fiverr to fix up my resume and I started sending it out. I applied to a few positions, some of them JavaScript, to see what bites I might get. During my search Auth0 popped up and as I knew it was an auth provider for RedwoodJS I decided to apply.

I also applied at Microsoft after I saw this tweet by @almeezyuh:

any woman senior software engineers looking for a new position?

โ€” meezy (@almeezyuh) March 18, 2021

Interviews and Offers

I didn't think I'd get much traction on some positions considering I wasn't a JavaScript developer and my resume was mostly Microsft stack. I had recruiter calls with HubSpot, Auth0, Microsoft, and Netflix. Year-ago-me was very much ruled by impostor syndrome so, to my surprise, I made it to the final rounds for all but Netflix.

HubSpot

I was excited about the opportunity at HubSpot. I enjoyed the coding challenge, the culture seemed great, and I had good interviews and met very interesting people. The final interview over Zoom was long and a bit exhausting from what I can remember. Ultimately, however, I was sent a super generic rejection letter with zero feedback due to "the volume of applicants". Oh well.

Auth0

For Auth0 I went through the interview loop twice. The position I applied for was already filled by the time I applied, so I was redirected to another position. That loop went great but in the end, the team had an aggressive roadmap and I was a bit too junior code-wise for them. The hiring manager really liked me, however, and knew of another team that was hiring. The final interviews at Auth0 are usually with the team you will be joining. During my second loop, it was great to get to meet and interact with the people I would be working with. Thankfully I won them over and they sent out the offer. ๐ŸŽ‰

(I must say - the first meeting with my team was a bit easier considering I had met them already.)

Microsoft

The Microsoft story is a bit tame. It was fun to interview with Almicia during my initial and final interviews. The role sounded interesting as it involved prototyping and integrating applications together. I made it to the offer stage around the same time as Auth0. In the end, I opted for Auth0 because I felt the career pivot to JavaScript and open source would help me grow tremendously - and I was right.

Off to a Great Start

From Day 0, I felt supported and set up for success.

There was a slack channel for my cohort of new hires to connect. My entire team made sure to set up 1:1s with me to introduce themselves. I was assigned a buddy that I could lean on for questions during my first couple of weeks. Eugenio, the CEO of Auth0, met with all of the new hires to get to know each and every one. Although we are remote, the sense of connectedness is strong.

There are slack channels and bots for everything. One bot, in particular, called donut, would connect you to random employees allowing you to meet people outside of your immediate team and department to expand your network. (My first one wound up being with Vittorio!)

People tend to say that what they like most about their company is the people. I can say that for sure about Auth0. For whatever reason, Auth0 hires the best people. I have yet to interact with someone that I did not enjoy talking with. Everyone brings their unique skill set to the table. We help and support each other. Coming from a sales-oriented, CYA-style culture,

Learning & Growth Opportunities

The emphasis on personal development I have experienced so far is outstanding.

There are so many resources for learning both internal and external. Over my first several weeks, I had internal training and access to courses on O'Reilly to learn NodeJS. I was encouraged to work on the course and focus on learning during my first few weeks. There was no rush or pressure for me to contribute. (Which made me want to jump in more!)

I meet with my manager weekly - and we actually talk about things that are important, like where I wanted to go with my career or how am I doing as a human being. That is new for me. I'm used 1:1s with my manager being more of a progress report for how my team was doing with a bit of socializing mixed in.

The constant cross-team collaboration means I'm learning from my peers on a daily basis. Everyone is a slack message away and willing to help (assuming they're awake at the time, of course ๐Ÿ˜‰)

I participated in my first Hackauthon earlier this year where I got to use Golang and hack away at the auth0 cli. Talk about a learning experience, and my project even made it to the final! ๐Ÿ’ช The nice thing is that we are encouraged to participate. Don't worry about work - hack away and have fun.

Mental Health Care

Not having work stress the way I used to has given me the chance to make huge strides with my mental health. Thanks to my benefits from Auth0, I was able to start therapy and found a therapist that I love. I learned that I have anxiety, depression, and ADHD. These diagnoses are helping me to work through the struggles that I have had my entire life. It has allowed me to give myself more grace.

Auth0 (Okta) really puts people first. They have provided wellness days, burnout webinars, and all sorts of resources to help employees feel cared for. Headspace subscriptions, mental health benefits, caregiver resources... you name it. They encourage you to take the time you need when you need it. It's nice to feel supported and encouraged in so many ways - especially when it comes to self-care and your personal life.

Still Adjusting

I will say it's been tough adjusting to how good everything is. I didn't realize what toxic culture I had come from until I was out of it. I was used to having so much pressure and little support that I still find myself rolling back to bad habits, like thinking I have to do everything myself ๐Ÿ™ƒ

I feel comfortable enough now to bring these types of issues and concerns to my manager and they are able to reassure me and help get me the support I need to get me back on track. I'm getting better, but I think it's still going to take some time to adjust.

Final Words

Auth0's values are:

  1. We give a shit
  2. N+1 > N
  3. One Team, One Score

I can honestly say, after a year in, they hold themselves to these values. From management down, in my experience, there is nothing but transparency, support, and care.

My first year at Auth0 has been more than I could imagine. The things I have learned, the people I have met, and the path my career is on now make me very excited for what's to come.

If you're interested in applying at Auth0, you can check out our open positions here: auth0.com/careers/positions

Thanks for reading! ๐Ÿค“

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