About Paperless Parts and what they do
We make software for manufacturing. So if you think about manufacturing, it's a very antiquated underserved industry. But it's a very necessary one things have been, you know, needed to be made forever, right things from parts in your car to parts and rocker chips, whatever someone needs to make them. Those people that make those parts are our customers. So it's also a very antiquated, underserved industry. So nobody is building software for manufacturing, because it's not sexy, right? Nobody is a six year old, raising their hand and going like I really want to work in manufacturing, it just doesn't happen. So what that means is, we've got these manufacturing companies that are just, they're surviving on these very antiquated processes and software. And we're talking like Excel spreadsheets, and pen and paper. And it takes them hours and hours, and even weeks to do one specific part of their job quoting. So Paperless Parts comes into this industry with a different approach of well, let's build software that is actually useful to these people to this industry, that makes their jobs faster, more efficient, that makes them able to do more things with their time. We are really taking a modern approach to manufacturing. And it's showing our users love us, we are very user first company. So we listen. And we take feedback from users every single day. And we are here to change the industry because we are facilitating innovation, the kinds of parts, the kinds of things that our customers are helping make are things that, you know, haven't been seen before that are critical parts for you know, you name the industry, you name the application. So we're here at the heart of it, we're trying to make it easy for innovation to happen. And it is showing the growth is showing.
Details on Paperless Parts' design team
In order to really understand the design teams organization, you need to understand a little bit about the product organization. So we do things a little bit differently here, I Paperless Parts. So if you think about how the traditional product organization is structured, there's usually product, there's engineering, and there's design, and they're all kind of siloed, they're sitting in separate rooms, we take a more integrated approach, where we take leaders from each of these three functions, we pair them together and say you're in charge of this thing, this part of the product or this feature. And they're expected to almost semi autonomously go and figure out the problems. We don't handle it here. So we say, well, you know, the mission, you know what you're in charge of go run and do it. So on the design team, that doesn't mean that there's no collaboration between designers, right? So typically, there's one or two designers on each pod, you work really closely with a product manager with engineers. And on the design team, we have a very collaborative culture, right? So, we all work on projects, and we all share projects, and we all critique and give each other feedback all the time, every single day. So it's kind of this interesting structure where Okay, well, your main primary focuses while I'm focused on this pod, but you also get the benefits of design collaboration, right? Your craft, I'm getting better as a designer, I'm getting better at my craft every single day. So it's interesting matrix that makes this a really good place to be a designer.
Interesting projects the teams get to tackle
Paperless Parts, we have this idea that geometry is really the key to the whole manufacturing process. So it's what the designers intent is communicated through. So we have a pod that is dedicated towards the geometry. So how do we extract insights from these models that our customers see? How do we make it easier for them to view and analyze and dissect these files so that at the end of the day, they can really produce an accurate quote. So there is a there's data hidden in that geometry that is not always visible, and you might need, you know, several different tools to do it, you might need a very special computer to get to extract this data. Recently, one of our pods came up with a way to extract that data and to show it in the viewer. Right in 3d space. So, you know, that really saves our users a ton of time, a ton of effort, they don't need these expensive software licenses, they can view these model based definition data's right in their browser and just really streamlined the workflows. It was saving them hours and hours and hours and honestly just mental the headache of having to go chase out all these tools. You know, that's the kind of impact you have on people's lives is you save them a lot of time you make them a lot more efficient. And that's just one of many examples.
What to expect during the interview process
So the interview process for designers is a really no BS process. There's not a lot of pomp there's. So really, I just want to get to know you. Typically, you would just have a chat with me, well, yeah, I want to get to know you kind of who you are, as a designer, What's your philosophy? I, we definitely will look at your portfolio together. And that's really an opportunity for you to show me like, here's my approach, here's, here's why. Here's where I shine. As a designer, here's what I can bring. And after that, we have you meet with a team, it typically looks like a team presentation. So you might do the same thing that you just did with me. So you might put together a presentation and say, well, here, you know, I'm this person, here's my experience, here's who I am. And then you have an opportunity after that to talk to people one on one to really talk to them about like, hey, what's it really like working here? You know, what's the team? Like? What's the work like? And that's, that's really it. I think the interesting thing about the interview process here is we want to make sure that this is a good opportunity for you as well. So it's not a one sided thing, right? Because I think it's it's very transparent. We want to make sure that it's a place where you can come and thrive on whatever it is that you need, out of a job. You know, whether it's a wall, yeah, I have aspirations to be, you know, in a manager role, or I want to do this specific kind of work, we want to make sure that we can offer it to you. So we'll aim to do that throughout the entire interview process.
Why now is the ideal time to join
When I joined PayPal as part of your eight people in a gross Boston basement in the West End, we are now over 120 people, we've got a brand new headquarters in Boston, and we are growing like crazy in every single department. So I hate the term rocket ship. I think it's really overused and really cliche. But we are growing really fast. And we're able to grow really fast, because our customers love us. We are making a difference. And it is showing in our growth. So I'm going to be honest, there's no sugarcoating it. This is not the environment for everybody. If you're somebody that needs a lot of structure and hand holding, and somebody telling you, here's exactly what we need to do. This is probably not the place for you. But if you're somebody that wants to make an impact on the world, on people's lives, and if you're somebody that wants to embark on a really challenging mission that pushes you to grow, then you need to talk to me right now. Because, you know, we're growing really fast. Everybody here is growing along with the company through really challenging problems and you have the autonomy to go solve. You're going to be joining a really awesome team that has your back. We have a very kind of team first culture here of really caring about our teammates, and you're wasting time by not joining if you're somebody that wants to grow that wants to make an impact talk to me right now. Pause this video, send me a message
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
