Hi, I’m Kat. If you’re a regular reader of our blog, you’ll have noticed I’ve been the primary author for just over 3 months.
I’m new to the Periphery team, and I decided to write a blog post about my experience so far in hopes I could educate prospective employees on what it’s like to work here. We’re growing rapidly — we’ve hired 8 people in 2020, growing the company 80% in one year. We’re bound to be hiring again soon, so keep checking our LinkedIn for updates. Tip: Write a short blog post for us to have your application stand out from the crowd.
Periphery is an awesome team with a diverse range of skills and backgrounds that takes pride in our fun and inclusive culture. We look forward to hiring more awesome people to join the Periphery team and we hope this post will give you some insight into what it’s like to work with us!
The Hiring Process
The entire hiring process took about 2 weeks for me. This can vary depending on the time of year, but the leadership team makes every effort to keep things moving. After submitting my application, I was contacted within 3 days for an interview with Darwin, the Director of Growth. After making it through the initial round, I was contacted again 2 days later for a second-round interview with three Periphery leaders: Alex, our CEO and Managing Director, Marjo, our Co-Founder & President, and Kessie, our Accounts Director. These three interviews were done separately as one-on-ones which definitely calmed my nerves. I was also given the option of a number of different time slots to choose from, which I felt was very considerate of my time and commitments. Two days later I received a phone call from Darwin — I got the job!
Overall, the hiring process was fast, fair, and I was never left in the dark. The questions I was asked weren’t outside my realm of expertise, nor did I feel put on the spot. There were no ‘trick questions’ — the team genuinely wanted to learn about me and my professional goals. The company leaders were extremely easy to talk to, friendly, and curious about my thoughts. I was given plenty of time to ask questions at the end, and despite initial nervousness, the interviewers made me feel very much at ease.
Onboarding
Judging by some of my friends’ experiences working at agencies, they typically don’t leave much time to onboard new hires and instead throw them into the flames without much guidance. I won’t lie and say I wasn’t afraid of this happening. From what I’ve heard, there’s often a lot of work to be done, and not enough brains to actually do it, not leaving sufficient time for the new hires to be sufficiently informed about role expectations, all the moving parts, and where they fit into the mix.
I’m happy to say this was not the case at all at Periphery. Meetings were scheduled for me throughout my first few weeks to go over relevant aspects of the role and company on a one-topic-per-meeting basis so I did not feel overwhelmed. I was shown how to use the productivity tools that would help me to do my job and pointed in the right direction to acquire any information I may need. I was encouraged to ask any and all questions that came to mind and not at all made to feel like I should know everything.
Starting a new job remotely was an interesting challenge regardless of how well it’s executed. It’s not like I could poke my direct support every 5 seconds and ask him to show me something. We do use Slack to keep in touch virtually, and I was frequently checked on to make sure everything was going smoothly, but it’s still not the same as sitting next to each other. In any case, onboarding went much smoother than I thought!
Culture
You’ll notice above I used the wording ‘direct support’ instead of ‘boss’ or ‘manager’. Periphery uses this terminology because a managers’ first priority should be to support their team members. It’s a different way of viewing traditional company hierarchies, but it has helped me get over any fears of asking for help.
Company-wide Meetings
I’ve felt very supported and welcomed by the team in my first few months at Periphery. Each morning we have a huddle with the entire team where we list out our tasks for the day and any announcements. It helps to start the day with a plan and updates on our progress. It also reminds us that despite the fact we aren’t in the same room these days, we’re still a team and working towards the same goals.
We also have a Friday retrospective that takes place on Friday afternoon, in which we take some time to reflect on the week. We have a sheet we fill out as a group with any ‘good news’, ‘lessons learned’ and ‘ideas’, and go over each person’s contribution one by one. We usually have a lot of fun during these ‘retros’, it being Friday afternoon, after all.
We hold a quarterly ‘Town Hall’ led by our co-founders Alex & Marjo where we go through company, culture, client, and financial updates, and new goals and initiatives for the following quarter. We also drive alignment around company mission and strategy, celebrate milestones, and allot time to ask questions. These are usually filled with memes and team photos to keep up the hype!
Team Activities
The company organizes a monthly Wellness Wednesday where we attend a team-wide wellness-related class. These can be anything from a group exercise class such as dancing or yoga, meditation session led by an expert, or even a cooking class. Although these are optional, they are highly encouraged as Periphery believes taking care of one’s mental and physical wellbeing is crucial in order to do good work and stay productive. Despite all the work to be done, it’s great to know our leaders support taking care of ourselves first and foremost.
Unfortunately since I joined the team during the lockdown period, I have yet to experience an in-person team gathering. These days our team activities are limited, but we do try to host a monthly game of Among Us!
In a pre-pandemic world, from looking through pictures and hearing some interesting stories, it’s evident the team are more than just colleagues by all the fun activities they’ve done together! Team retreats to Vegas and Whistler, as well as regular happy hours, birthday parties, game nights and limo rides — it’s clear this team enjoys each other’s company beyond the office.
Benefits
Periphery’s extended health benefits kick in after the new team member’s 3-month probationary period is over.
Benefits at Periphery don’t stop there. They have evolved throughout the years based on team feedback, but to give you an idea of some perks we’ve provided:
- During COVID we introduced a home office equipment allowance
- Monthly Uber rides and meals
- Partial mobile phone bill or Internet reimbursements
- Wellness credits
- Increased paid vacation days proportionate to years of employment
There are also random things we do to show our appreciation and celebrate together. Chinese New Year is a special holiday for us, and the team usually does a group activity to celebrate. This year, we sent out gift cards for dumpling delivery, and we were given the day off to an already-long weekend.
Please note we’re always coming up with new ideas and these things are subject to change depending on our team’s current needs. Just know the company will be looking after you no matter what
In Conclusion
My experience at Periphery so far has been extremely positive. It’s evident that the company leaders are invested in the wellbeing and professional development of their employees. We’re given room to grow into our individual strengths, pushed to overcome challenges and supported through the process, and share laughter and good times along the way. I can’t wait to see what the future holds at Periphery, and if we have a job opening that aligns with your skills, we’d love to have you join us!
