Brad Traylor of Podium on Training & Hiring – Working with Elixir

Our theme this season is working with Elixir, and joining in the conversation today is Brad Traylor from Podium. Brad shares his expertise in hiring and training for Podium, a position he is passionate about since it gives him the opportunity to work on the people and tech side of things. We begin by hearing a bit of Brad’s background, when and how he was first introduced to Elixir and the standout qualities that attracted him to Podium. He discusses the hiring process, including what he looks for in an engineer, why they don’t recruit much but rather work with referrals, the step-by-step of onboarding new devs and the resources he recommends to anyone in the industry. Another great talk with a stand-up guy — be sure to tune in!

Key Points From This Episode:

• When Brad was first exposed to Elixir and how he became the engineering manager.
• Searching for rocket ship startups and what specifically drew him to Podium.
• Having a desire to work with the people and the tech side of the industry.
• The growth trajectory of Podium from a management perspective.
• Hiring predominantly from referrals rather than recruiting developers.
• The biggest challenge with hiring Elixir devs, including the scarcity of good ones!
• Two things Brad looks for when hiring engineers: the drive to learn and a cultural fit.
• The benefit of hiring younger developers.
• Thoughts on training different languages and adding them to Podium’s tech stack.
• An overview of the typical onboarding process for a new engineer.
• Elixir 101 and other ways they keep training and refining the skills of developers.
  
• Resources that Brad has recently learned and those he always recommends to devs.

**Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Brad Traylor on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradtraylor
Brad Traylor on Twitter — https://twitter.com/btjordan23
Podium — https://www.podium.com
SmartLogic — https://smartlogic.io/
Elixir — https://elixir-lang.org
University of Michigan — https://umich.edu
Java — https://www.java.com/en/
Python — https://www.python.org
Rust — https://www.rust-lang.org
Ruby — https://www.ruby-lang.org/en/
TypeScript — https://www.typescriptlang.org
Pragmatic Institute — https://www.pragmaticinstitute.com/courses
The Manager’s Path — https://www.amazon.com/Managers-Path-Leaders-Navigating-Growth-ebook/dp/B06XP3GJ7F
Camile Fournier — https://twitter.com/skamille

Special Guest: Brad Traylor.