Everything you need to know about a remote job at Crossover?
I have been receiving a lot of questions on LinkedIn about the joining process of crossover and how my life changed after I joined this company, so I decided to write this article to share my experience with Crossover. I joined Crossover in October 2019 as a chief software architect, and it has been a productive journey so far.
I decided to join Crossover for two main reasons: the first was that I love working on different technologies, and in my previous job, most of my time was spent managing people and clients, so I wanted to break that cycle. The second reason was that I like to explore and experience different traditions and cultures across the globe. So joining a remote job gives me the flexibility to work and explore at the same time.
I believe that I made the right decision to switch to a remote job at a time of unprecedented events like the coronavirus. The COVID-19 did not affect my work schedule, and it is a usual day for me during the lockdown days. I get my tasks for the day in Jira, I meet my team on Zoom, or I communicate with them through Crossover’s chat platform, XOChat.
Hiring process
The hiring process starts with simple questions about your profession and continues with detailed testing. Initially, there are eight rounds that gauge your aptitude and technical skills. This process entirely depends on the hiring position, and the above process is for the Chief Software Architect position.
The hiring process is quite rigorous, and it took me around ~ 6 weeks to complete it. I applied to Crossover on August 19, 2019 (the next day after my birthday :)) and I got my joining letter on September 30, 2019. The duration of this process entirely depends on your availability for the subsequent round. Once you clear a process’s step, you shall have the option to choose the date for your next submission, For example, once you are done with your CCAT exam, you shall be asked for your availability for a language test, and so on.
CCAT Preparation
I read the job description for the position and prepared myself accordingly. This position demands hands-on experience in writing code, Code deployment and integration, and writing test cases. I used to write code on a regular basis to complete the proof of concept or sort out the technical issues for my team, so I did not have any issues with this technical part.
I found that the biggest challenge is to clear the CCAT/UCAT exam as the target score should be among the top 10% of the distribution. So that summarizes that I should be targeting a score of ~40 out of 50 questions in 15 minutes whenever I take practice tests, though it seems that if I get 35, then I have a good chance to qualify for this test. IMHO, you should not apply for a job on crossover unless you achieve this score during your mock tests.
I had to make a serious decision about the time to take my CCAT, as failure to qualify in the exam can lead to a waiting period of 3–6 months for the next attempt. One of my friends was not able to clear the CCAT round and had to wait six months for the next attempt.
So I took my own time to prepare for the exam and spent ~ 2 weeks on the preparation until I achieved the desired score. I’ve come across a bunch of fantastic resources on the internet to help you prepare for the CCAT. Check out this list of websites that can be super useful for anyone gearing up for the CCAT:
Some useful tips for the CCAT (remember that each question carries a single mark):
- Practice, Practice, and Practice.
- Try to attempt all 50 questions and focus on low hanging fruits (easy questions).
- Skip the questions that are not solved in the first 5–10 seconds or are lengthy.
- Don’t use paper for calculation as it takes more time, try mental calculation to find the answers quickly.
- You are not supposed to find the complete solution to the questions and need to pick the appropriate option.
- Read articles on Medium or TedTalks about your interests to improve your English vocabulary, and that will help you score well in the test.
RemoteU — 4 weeks of rigorous training
After acing six rounds of aptitude and technical interviews, as well as two challenging 40-minute technical interviews, I was thrilled to receive a joining letter! However, the letter turned out to be for their training program called RemoteU. My journey to join the crossover depended on how well I did in my rigorous training( 4 weeks). I was paid for this training, and they expect 100% of my commitment, i.e. I cannot do any other job as most of the time was spent on training. This training decides whether I will be part of the crossover team or not. They pick the top 10% of members from the team; otherwise, you are out of the program.
A link will be sent to your email to enroll yourself for Crossover Engineering Remote Training.
RemoteU is a mandatory program for all new joiners of Crossover, and they taught different processes and techniques to become productive remote team workers. In the first week, I learned about the importance of techniques like Deep diving, Time Motion Study (TMS), Zero-Based Target (ZBT), First-Time Acceptance ratio (FTAR), Gemba Walk, WSPro tools, and so on. They taught me to thrive for a 3x productive goal and take ownership of your own productivity rather than expecting someone to spoon feed me. There was training (1 week) to get familiar with these concepts, and it was followed by three weeks of technical training (Architectural Documents and Writing E2E). Here is another article that gives insight into doing more work in less time.
If you’re not collecting productivity data, you’ll never succeed at work — by Michael Schrage
The training encouraged me to keep on finding and learning new ways for improvement, automating repetitive tasks, welcoming negative feedback from my coaches, and looking forward to the challenging problems to solve. I always have access to my daily activity data (there is a software program installed on your system that monitors how much time is spent on different software applications) using the WSPro tool, so I can easily measure my performance and work on improving it.
This training has changed the way I used to handle problems, nowadays, I always think of saving a single second of my time and try to automate most of my tasks. In my previous jobs, I had never analyzed my work this closely, in fact, no one ever advised me to do things like this. Frankly speaking, I never estimated tasks in seconds (it was either in days or weeks), and this training helps me visualize a task breakup in seconds. Now, I would know the tiny steps involved in a task and would try to focus on improving the steps by automating them.
During the training, I kept my FTAR closer to 100% and completed my tasks on time. I was adaptable to the changes, as things can change quite dramatically here. I was assigned to optimize the source code on the first day of my technical training and was assigned to work on architectural diagrams and end-to-end test cases (E2E) on the second day (they had started this program for the first time). In that first week, I was able to complete the assigned tasks with 100% FTAR, and I got a surprise gift from my VP in the second week, he increased my target to double :D. They wanted to bring out the best in you, and I was able to achieve that target as well.
During the training, they conducted a proctored CCAT exam to make sure that you were the real person who took the unproctored CCAT. There was a video recording from two angles, the first was from my iMac and the other was through my mobile. You shall be thrown out of the program if your score is not satisfactory (35). Finally, my training was completed, and my final round was to present my case (PPT) to the RemoteU graduation panel (EVPs, VPs, and your manager). I had a 15-minute meeting with them and after that, I got this email from Crossover:
I was assigned to the central team as product chief architect (PCA) and responsible for managing CRM-based software. The fun part was that this software is built on technology (C# Dotnet and C++) that I worked a few years ago, so it was another challenge for me to prove myself :)
How does it change my life?
I used to work ~60 hours a week in my previous job, and I realized that I was spending extra hours because I was not thinking critically about tasks. Now I know that I could have done those tasks in less than 40 hours and saved those precious hours for my personal and professional growth. Here are some of the changes in my life after I joined the crossover:
The flexibility of Remote Work
I always have a desire to explore the world, and I believe that I can get the best of both worlds as a remote worker. I have plans to visit a country in the world, spend a month there to learn about their culture and places. Now those plans can be easily executed, as I can work remotely from anywhere. Once this Coronavirus is over, I will visit Canada and spend a month there to analyze how it works.
Time efficiency
I used to spend ~ 3 hours(~1.5 hours each side) commuting to my office and home. Now I can save those hours by working from a home office, and that’s a daily saving of 12.5% of my time. I start fresh with my work and try to complete my tasks within 8 hours. I have allocated time blocks (4 hours each) for my daily tasks, and I feel that I achieve those targets as there is no distraction to my work.
Critical Thinking
I try to automate the process after analyzing the task so that there is the least amount of manual intervention. I look at my daily/weekly activities and find those repetitive tasks that can be automated to reduce my time. For example, a substantial part of my job profile is to write E2E, so I created a small utility in Google Sheets (apps script) to automate my submission to JIRA and that saves at least 20% of my time on an E2E.
Professional Growth
I have started learning new things in my spare time, I have enrolled in two courses (Machine Learning and Financial Markets) on Coursera. I would try to implement machine learning in my current job and further optimize the time taken for repetitive tasks.
I have an interest in corporate finance and was managing finance for my last company, but I always want to enroll in a formal course. Now I have the time to pursue that interest and have enrolled myself in the financial markets course.
Personal Growth
Now I have time to spend time with my family and friends. I spend an hour with my parents, and I play with my daughter, my nephew, and my niece on a daily basis. Sometimes we are learning a dance step, doing Zumba, or playing badminton or tennis. I try to meet my friend/partner every Saturday. I keep my Sundays reserved for my family, and we try to go out and explore new places/restaurants in my city.
I spend my time reading blogs on medium and listening to ted talks on topics like productivity, self-awareness, motivation, the universe, and arts/cultures. So I have a whale of time now for these activities, and it becomes possible only after joining a remote job in this company.
No Effect on my work during Coronavirus
While most of the world comes to a standstill and is locked in their homes, my work is unaffected by this unprecedented event. I get the usual paycheck, start my day from the home office, and complete my work as if there were no coronavirus around the globe.
I hope you enjoyed this article and got a high-level view of what to expect while you are applying for a remote job in the crossover. If you like this article, then please clap and share it. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need help!
FAQs
I have received a number of questions from different people on my LinkedIn account, so I am summarizing those questions so that they can be helpful for others as well.
After how many days of the HR interview, does the RemoteU training starts?
It should be 3–4 days, and you should receive an email for remote camp training.
Do we need to buy our own system (laptop and other computer accessories) or they reimburse for the same?
Yes, you need to buy a System and Crossover won’t reimburse it.
After completing the RemoteU training, you received an email that said that “we will monitor quality, productivity, and compliance for the next 4 more weeks”. So did it happen just for 4 weeks after that or does it still continue to happen on a daily/weekly basis?
RemoteU shall continue watching your performance until you start working productively.
Do we get paid during this RemoteU training?
You will be paid for remote camp training.
What happens if we use other apps on the system during a day? Does it impact negatively? Like Udemy, YouTube or some other app? Is there a requirement to use a particular app for these many hours each day?
It depends on your manager to allow which apps you can use, but you should only use the app for work. Your manager will decide your schedule and the type of work that you need to do.
Since the payment is in dollars, what is the conversion rate applicable to Indians and how is it processed?
Payment is done through Payoneer. You need to connect your bank account with Payoneer and Payoneer charges 2% as a fee for conversion.
Is the salary as described in the job role or are there any hidden clauses? and is it given on a week to week basis?
Payment is done on a weekly basis (after 2 weeks) as per the hourly rate* the number of hours worked.
A 40 hour week is what is stated in the job description, how strictly is that followed?
It depends on a manager or higher management to decide the hours, but eventually, it’s work metrics that are visible to everyone.
What if do more than 40 hrs per week? Do they pay more?
You get paid for 40 hours unless there is approval from the SVP.
How many leaves do we get in a month? How do you manage exigencies which may occur at home? And what about planning for leaves like for a 1–2 weeks? Do we just take a weekly pay-cut. Or the contract terminates and we have to rejoin?
You can contact your manager to request leave and get approval. It’s a contractual job, so no work, no pay. If the contract was terminated, then you need to reapply and follow the same process.
Each day, how many breaks are we allowed to take?
Ideally, one should have < 3 breaks, but again, it depends on the manager and performance.
What is the level of job security?
It all depends on your performance, so if you are meeting the metrics, then you should continue to work.
How long does it take for a person on average to land his/her first contract after the Training? And how long between contracts?
It’s ~ week time. I got my manager after 3 days
Do you receive payslips? Is this considered to be a full time job or a contractual one?
You get an experience letter, which contains details about your work.
Are their daily targets or targets which extend to 2–3 days or a week?
There shall be weekly targets, and the entire focus is on the FTAR( First Time Acceptance Ratio).
