Tech Recruitment Experience
Although this page is mainly focused on tech vacancies, most of the information also applies to all other positions.
We want to make our hiring process as smooth as possible for you. On this page, you’ll find everything about our hiring process.
If you have any question, don’t hesitate to reach out!
Picnic is rethinking the way people buy food. Without physical stores, we use an app-only approach and a user-centric philosophy, to make grocery shopping quick, simple, and fun.
Starting in one Dutch town in 2015, we now serve over 60 cities in both the Netherlands and Germany. The secret to our success? An end-to-end business and a just-in-time supply chain. From the app-only store, forecasting of orders, warehouse fulfilment, to the evolving distribution strategy of our fleet of electric vehicles, we build everything in-house on our own developed software.
The team has expanded from 10 to over 200 in 3 years. Growth has been exponential and we’re not the only ones to say so. With multiple awards to our name and a Series B funding round of 100 million, we have become true disruptors in some of the most challenging industries: inner-city logistics, e-commerce retail and enterprise software. And thanks to our people-first attitude and a friendly delivery team, we become part of every neighbourhood we serve.
Technology, smart planning, and a fleet of electric vehicles lead to less food waste and fewer food miles. Picnic is competitive and sustainable.
Software is helping us lead a grocery revolution. But we don’t just sell apples. Our entire operation is run in-house: the supply-chain, forecasting, warehouse systems, partnership and fleet strategies. From the backend to the front, we’re pioneering development in e-commerce and urban logistics.
With a data-driven approach and an app-only store, Picnic has become Europe’s fastest growing online supermarket.
We value freedom and responsibility. There’s always room to design unique solutions and upset the status quo. In a dynamic atmosphere, diverse teams collaborate on projects, taking ideas from the drawing board to implementation. We’re all curious, and everyone is hungry for a challenge.
Picnic started small, and our roots have never been forgotten. Real customers are involved day-to-day in the development of our product. We have a weekly user-testing session and a dedicated customer success team. This allows us to continue creating products that people love, complemented with first-class service and a modern flair.
At Picnic, our team works hard on a rewarding project: to lead a grocery revolution in a tech-driven, sustainable, and affordable way.
By bringing minds with assorted backgrounds together, we unlock the potential of diversity. From data scientists, analysts, in-house consultants, to software developers, everyone combines forces to bring simplicity out of complexity and run company changing projects.
📱 Directly influence customers’ experience:
Tens of thousands of people use our app on a daily basis, not just to browse, but to order real groceries delivered to their homes. Working at Picnic means having an impact on the customer’s experience and helping them make their grocery shopping as simple and fun as possible. We make our service innovative and easy because we like to save people time, not consume it.
🚚 Improve urban living:
Our electric Picnic Vehicles (ePVs) are small, clean and electric: perfectly suited to delivery in the urban environment. The fleet of 600 ePVs is deployed on an evolving distribution system. This intuitive and efficient system ensures that we only visit the same street once a day. So with each order, we ease inner-city traffic and reduce transport emissions. Making cities and neighbours greener, cleaner and safer.
👨🏽🎨👩💼👩🏻🔧 Work in cross-functional teams, revolving around products:
Owning an entire supply chain and running all software in-house means we have many products (e.g. our Warehouse Management System, the Purchase Order Management, or the customer-facing app). Each of which is handled by complementary teams of front- and back-end engineers working together to get the best possible results.
🏦 You get to be the business:
Everyone involved in Picnic, from marketing to finance, owns his or her part of the business. Want to start a new project, experiment with a new technology, or organize the next team event? Just do it! The business belongs to you as much as to anyone else.
🏆 Do code reviews on the blockchain:
Code reviews are at the core of our development, but it’s not always fun. We want everything to be interesting so we’ve put code reviews on the blockchain. You can find out more in Crypto incentives for code reviews.
🧔👩🏿🧒🏻 Be part of an international, friendly, and helpful team:
With more than 25 nationalities, we are a very diverse bunch. This mix of backgrounds means we are a very open-minded team, happy to help anyone with (almost) anything, but also a friendly group of colleagues who like to hang out outside of work, as much as working with one another.
👩🏾🏫👨🏼🏫 Develop yourself and your career:
Constant development is one of our core beliefs. Not just for the business, but also technology and our team.
Want to attend a tech meetup? Just let us know, and we’ll support you however required.
Fancy learning Dutch? Then join one of our free weekly classes (all levels covered 😉).
Looking to develop your developer skills? Then join the Picnic Tech Academy, a monthly meeting where the tech department comes together to discuss a new technology, and where everyone shares their knowledge.
Or maybe you’d like to improve your professional skills? Then join the Picnic Fundamentals Program, where you’ll get to learn all the basics of the professional world with online content and classroom workshops.
👩💻 Infrastructure as Code
Due to the nature of our business, along with our quick growth, new environments are deployed on a weekly basis (e.g. new hub opening in Amsterdam, a new Fulfilment Centre in Rotterdam or a new office in Germany). Infrastructure as code enables us to apply Software Engineering methodologies to infrastructure processes and deployments. We use modular code to keep our environments consistent and up to date. But it also allows us to version control and peer review our cloud infrastructure. This means that all teams learn from one another while overseeing each other’s work.
📈 Data-driven
At Picnic, we’re all about data! Whether it’s to measure the impact of a new feature on the app, to figure out why bananas are the highest selling item (yes, that’s true), or to determine where our next ski trip should take place, we use data to drive every aspect of the business.
🆓 Open source
We strongly believe in open sourcing our tech. But don’t take our word for it. Just check out our OSS portfolio or go directly to our Github page.
🤔 Not satisfied?
Then you can review our full 
or read our Engineering Blog.
The Picnic Hiring Experience is designed to be efficient yet thorough, so that everyone involved is 100% sure of the decisions they’re taking. For you, the candidate, this means an extensive look into how we work and what we work with while remaining quick so that no one wastes any time. For us, Picnic, it means an in-depth understanding of who you are, and how you might fit into our team, so that once you’re here, you’ll be at your happiest and most productive. If you’re curious to know how we make all this work, read on!
Application
- Duration: 1 to 2 days
- What is expected of you:
Send in your CV and cover letter (keep to the famous proverb: A cover letter is always better). Don’t hesitate to give us as much information as you can (LinkedIn and GitHub profile, where you’re from, where you studied, etc.). This will help us make a more informed and faster decision.
- What happens in the background:
Once you’ve clicked “Send”, your application ends up in our Applicant Tracking System (recruiters like to sound smart and usually call it an ATS). We always aim to get back to you within 24 hours, but sometimes it can take up to 48 hours until you hear back from us.
Phone call
- Duration: ~ 1 week (depending on your availability)
- What is expected of you:
- Phone call: You’ve passed the application stage and are now wondering what is going to happen. Well, here it is! One of our Tech Recruiters will give you a call at a pre-determined time, and during an informal and non-technical chat, will discuss the following things with you:
- Experience: Where have you been and where do you want to go? What is your favorite stack? What does your team look like?
- Motivation: What is it about Picnic that attracts you so much? Is there a specific reason you’re leaving your current job? What does a perfect job look like to you?
- Personality: What do you do besides work? What is your opinion on code reviews?
- Practical stuff: What’s your notice period? Are you moving to the Netherlands (if applicable) on your own? Have you thought about your salary expectations?
- One word of notice: These are just examples, your interview might be completely different, so make sure to prepare by doing some light research and figuring out what you’re looking for in your next opportunity.
- Phone call: You’ve passed the application stage and are now wondering what is going to happen. Well, here it is! One of our Tech Recruiters will give you a call at a pre-determined time, and during an informal and non-technical chat, will discuss the following things with you:
- What happens in the background:
- Phone call: Before any phone call, your Tech Recruiter will do a quick check of your profile to note if there are any strange things that they should mention (gaps in your timeline, short periods of work, unfinished studies). If there is anything like that in your CV, make sure you’re able to give us a quick explanation.
Assignment & interview
- Duration: Dependent upon role
- Assignment:
- What is expected of you: You’ve had a good chat with your recruiter, and now it’s time to get down to business. Depending on the position you’re applying for, the assignment will have different goals and requirements, but they all share commonalities:
- Quality of code: The main goal of the assignment is to assess your technical abilities when you’re performing at your best. Make sure to give yourself the right environment to write the best code you can, and don’t hesitate to pull out all the stops to impress the tech team. But remember, at Picnic, we like efficient answers, so avoid over-engineering.
- Time limit: Officially, there is no deadline. Your time to submit will never be taken into account, so if you think you’re done but could still use some time to polish a couple of things, do not hesitate to take that time. However, after about a week without any contact, your recruiter may come back to you to check-in and see if you need any help.
- Quality of code: The main goal of the assignment is to assess your technical abilities when you’re performing at your best. Make sure to give yourself the right environment to write the best code you can, and don’t hesitate to pull out all the stops to impress the tech team. But remember, at Picnic, we like efficient answers, so avoid over-engineering.
- What happens in the background: Once you’ve submitted your assignment, two members of the tech team will take a look independently, and then join and discuss. They will then share their feedback with your recruiter, and together, they will decide whether to invite you to the next stage: the technical interview.
- What is expected of you: You’ve had a good chat with your recruiter, and now it’s time to get down to business. Depending on the position you’re applying for, the assignment will have different goals and requirements, but they all share commonalities:
- Interview
- What is expected of you: Before the interview, we recommend you go over your work and prepare to answer any questions regarding your solution. The interview lasts roughly an hour and is divided into three main sections:
- Introduction: Your interviewers will introduce themselves and ask you to do the same.
- Assignment: This is the important part. The developers will focus on certain decisions you have made when working out your solution, so make sure you’re able to communicate them clearly.
- Questions: If you have any questions (especially technical ones), now is the time to ask.
- What happens in the background: Once the interview is over, the developers will share their feedback with your recruiter, and together, they will decide whether to invite you to the last stage of the process: an on-site visit.
- What is expected of you: Before the interview, we recommend you go over your work and prepare to answer any questions regarding your solution. The interview lasts roughly an hour and is divided into three main sections:
Assessment day
- Duration: 2-3 hours
- What is expected of you:
Depending on the role you are applying for, you will have different sessions to attend. One of them can be pair-programming or whiteboard session. You will meet with a few different people, from possible teammates, to our CTO. We will organize it all online for you, so you can join them from the comfort of your own home. During this time, all that we expect is that you be yourself. We understand that this can be a stressful time for you, and we do everything we can to make as enjoyable for you as possible, but being relaxed an trying to have fun is the best way for us to see who you are.
- What happens in the background:
During the assessment day your recruiter will keep track of all the sessions and be available if you or the team are having any issues with for example the connection. Afterwards, your recruiter will be meeting with the different people you met with to get a sense of how the day is going, and before the final meeting with you recruiter, everyone involved in your process will meet to discuss your case and take a final decision.
Hired!
Amazing news! We’ve made you an offer, and in your infinite wisdom, you’ve decided to accept it. At this point, the People Team will assist you with everything you need during your transition period. For more information on this, have a look here.As
Whether you’re dropping by for a coffee, have interviews, or are starting on your first day, knowing how to get here is important. The next few pictures give you a rough idea of how to get around using public transportation between the main destinations that will be relevant for you during your trip. Please bear in mind that although biking is the favorite method of transportation, this is not covered here. If you want to know how to get to the office by bike, you can use Google Maps Picnic HQ.
Amsterdam
Public transport websites
Onboarding
Starting a new job can be exciting and a little scary. You meet a lot of new people, have to work in a new environment, and is generally an experience filled with unknowns. This is why Picnic has a clear onboarding procedure, from the second you sign your contract, until the end of your first month of work.
Moving to the Netherlands
Moving to a new country can always be a little daunting. Fortunately, we’re here to help! Have a look at the diagram below, which gives you an overview of the different steps you, Picnic, and the Dutch government will be involved in for your smooth transition:
Getting to know Picnic
So you’re done moving (or were already here 😉), and you’re ready for your first day. Curious what to expect? Have a look:
Monday: On your first day, you’ll receive a warm welcome, a Picnic introduction, your gear and set-up the office systems. In the afternoon, you’ll spend 2-3 hours with the Customer Success team and meet your buddy (see below).
Tuesday: You’ll have the chance to spend some time at the heart of our supply chain. For half a day, you’ll tag along a runner to see what the deliveries look like for Picnic and the customers.
Wednesday: To continue the Picnic distribution experience, you’ll spend one full day in one of our Fulfilment Centers to be a shopper. You’ll get to see how every order is put together, from the moment it is delivered by our supplier, until it’s dispatched to a hub.
Thursday: First work-day! You’ll be properly introduced to the team and will be invited to the relevant Slack channels.
Within a couple of weeks, on a Friday: The Picnic Deep Dive, a full immersion on all the Picnic teams to get to know their goals and role better.
Your Buddy
Everyone who starts at Picnic is assigned a buddy, usually someone with some experience in Picnic, with similar interests and personality. If you’ll work in the tech team, your buddy will also be from the tech team, so he or she can help you set up your computer and development environment. If you will work in any other team, your buddy will not be from your team, to encourage intra company connectivity.
Here is what you can expect from your buddy:
You’ll share a coffee on your first day.
You’ll check-in with one another once per week.
An approachable person who will enjoy answering any questions.
Follow the link to our job page and have a look at our openings. If you find any of them interesting, you can apply at the bottom of every ad. Make sure to give as much detail about yourself as you can, answer the questions (if your job has some) and click Apply. Simple!
The answer is dependent on a lot of factors, like your availability, how quickly you submit your assignment and where you live. On average, we are able to go from application to offer in a month. Not to brag though, but our record is 6 days. 🏆
Whatever you feel like. We don’t have a dress code (whether for interviews or on a daily basis) so make sure you wear what you like. Our only rule is that we all should wear something…
Yes! We take care of booking your flights and hotel room and cover those costs. As part of the visit, you will most likely have lunch with us, however, meals (along with anything else) taking place outside the office are on you.
When you move to Amsterdam to work at Picnic, we cover the costs of your flights (for you and your direct family) and we put you up in one of the Picnic apartments (or hotel room should there be no apartment available) for one month, to give you time to find your own place while getting onboarded.
Went through the whole repository and still want more? Was a question you have left unanswered? Then maybe the following can help:
All our available jobs are listed here, along with lots of more information about us. This is also where to go to apply. 😉
If you’re in or around Amsterdam, you’re welcome to join us. Entrance is free, and we guarantee beers and snacks (on us!). 🤑
If you want to stay appraised of the latest and coolest things we develop, make sure to keep an eye on our engineering blog.
The amazing things that happen in our offices, supply chain, and anywhere else that is not related to tech can be found here.