Interview Insider: How to Get a Job at Blue Apron
The meal subscription company is three years old, but already has 3000 employees and growing.
The meal subscription company is three years old, but already has 3000 employees and growing.
For many at-home cooks, accessing local, seasonal produce — not to mention cooking it and coming up with weekly recipes — can seem out of reach. Blue Apron was founded to give all home cooks the tools to chef it up just like the pros. The New York-based startup offers a weekly meal subscription service for two or four people. Members select their favorite foods, indicate any special dietary needs, and receive deliveries of pre-measured, seasonal ingredients — from individually portioned meat to all the seasonings — at their doorstep, complete with step-by-step recipe cards. BlueApron.com is full of interactive recipes, cooking tutorials (How do you prep an artichoke?), and a store that sells professional grade cookware, knives, and kitchen gadgets.
The startup, which began in the kitchens of its three founders in 2012, has grown to 3,000 employees within three years. Kate Muzzatti, vice president of HR and talent, shares advice for a successful interview at this rapidly growing company.
What qualities do you look for in every candidate?
We are looking for self-starters who are constantly trying to learn and grow and better themselves within the core competencies of their jobs, but are also passionate about something outside of that too. Whenever a candidate speaks enthusiastically about any topic, whether job-related or not, and we can we see how engaged they are, it is positive sign.
Where are your jobs located?
We have our headquarters in SoHo with about 200 people in the office. We have three fulfillment centers in Richmond, California; Arlington, Texas; and Jersey City, New Jersey. We hire locally primarily for our fulfillment centers, but we're focused on finding top talent and we're not at all concerned about relocating people. We have a number of international employees who we've sponsored visas for.
How often do you hire new people?
We're hiring daily. I started with the business last August and we had about 500 employees, and we now have 3,000.
What areas of the company are growing fastest right now?
We're growing very quickly in our fulfillment centers, but we're also hiring rapidly for our corporate team across all departments. We have about five new people starting every week here. Our tech team is growing to support the growth in the fulfillment centers. Without the [backend] tools, the fulfillment centers wouldn't run, so that's the area that's growing quickest here at corporate.
How do you recruit candidates?
We do a lot of research to find out where top talent is. We reach out to them on LinkedIn. We attend some career fairs — from culinary institutes to tech fairs, to more traditional career fairs on campus — and we do have a good number of people applying directly through our website. Referrals are a big piece of our recruiting process. We have a really engaged employee population that is actually going out and talking to people about how great it is to work at Blue Apron, actively pulling in new candidates.
How can candidates interact with you on social media to stand out?
I think you see a lot of candidates connecting directly through LinkedIn. I see it less through Facebook and Twitter and other sources like that. My LinkedIn account is open so anyone can message me at any time. That probably isn't typical. If someone is that focused in their search, knows that they want to work at Blue Apron, and they send a thoughtful note, we're going to read it and we're going to respond.
Do you expect all candidates to be experts in food?
It's based on position. Once you work here, we provide everyone with information about our suppliers and our sustainability practices. You don't have to have a ton of food knowledge to work on our accounting team, but there are positions that absolutely need to understand the food market. If you're going to be on our farm sourcing team, for example, that's going to be a prerequisite. If you're going to be coming into our test kitchen on our culinary team, you're absolutely going to need to have a deep culinary knowledge and passion for food.
What types of jobs are available to recent graduates?
Our customer experience team has been a great entry-level [area] where you get your foot in the door. We've had a number of employees who started in [an associate] role and moved into marketing or HR, or another role on the team. There are graphic design positions for people coming right out of school. On our culinary team, we have an associate recipe writer. We have entry-level specialist positions in HR, finance, and accounting, and on the marketing team, there are positions in social media. In tech, we've hired a number of engineers right out of school, and they've come in and operated on the same level as an experienced engineer. They make a tremendous impact on the company right away.
Do you have an internship program?
We've been building out our internship program, especially in tech. This year was the first official year of our internship program. We had one or two interns in every department, working as entry-level employees. We also had them work on a special project where they had to pitch several concepts to the executive team and the co-founders. We have two interns that we're keeping in touch with, and one who we've given a formal offer to.
Do most full-time positions require a specific degree?
Engineering is a good example where we're looking for specific degrees so they're prepared and can start at a higher level. There are roles in finance that need specific degrees. For other positions, we're really open to a range of education backgrounds. You can be successful in a role whether you studied philosophy or business or marketing. A lot of our hiring is for potential, especially at the entry level.
How does your company address diversity in the workplace?
This has been more of a focus for us in our fulfillment centers. We're making sure that all of our interview materials are in multiple languages. We're trying to create an interview experience where we're not just accommodating but encouraging for diverse backgrounds and people who speak different languages.
What's unique about your interview process?
Instead of asking a candidate to talk about a unique situation or just asking simple behavioral questions about what they've done before, we describe what they're going to experience here to gain an understanding of how they would react. In addition to that, we have a practical assignment that applicants have to complete during the interview process. For example, for interviews for our customer experience team, we will ask candidates to draft a response to a customer inquiry during the interview. We are looking to see how candidates think, what assumptions they make, and what questions they ask during this exercise.
What's a mistake people make in interviews all the time and don't know it?
Not being able to answer why you want to work here. It's a red flag if the candidate's responses are generic and not company-specific. You should be able to have a genuine answer to this question, and if you don't, it's not the right company for you. Be honest and talk about why you are excited to work here. We want to see your passion for our business.
The other mistake is not having questions for the interviewer. You should be evaluating the company as much as we are evaluating you. Don't be shy. We look for candidates with intellectual curiosity, and smart questions show us that you are interested and want a better understanding for the business.
What is the interview dress code?
We're a very relaxed environment. If people ask that, we say don't show up in a suit.
Do thank-you cards or emails matter to you?
They matter. It is still a best practice to send personalized notes to everyone you meet during an interview process. Don't cut and paste the same note to all; rather, reference something you discussed with each interviewer. This is your last opportunity to connect with the each member of the team and show them that you want to work here.
By Heather Wood Rudulph | Cosmo Politan
