An In-Depth Look at SV Academy

Welcome to the first episode of Culture Add! Tune into this session where Moe speaks to Alizain Feerasta, the head of engineering for SV Academy. This California based company aims to connect its students to tech sales opportunities.

A Bit About Alizain

After getting a degree in economics and finance from McGill University, Alizain went straight into programming and joined a startup after self-teaching himself the necessary skills. Through some trial and error with his startup, and joining a few other engineering firms as a software engineer, he landed at SV Academy. As the head of engineering for SV Academy, Alizain now focuses on hiring, working with vendors and key partners, and leading projects with his team.

What Does SV Academy Look for in Candidates?

SV Academy looks for passionate and curious individuals who are interested in the work they do, regardless of the level of experience they hold. The value of a high growth individual in a startup environment is extremely valuable, and Alizain seeks out candidates who have this drive.

“I want to see that growth trajectory that signals to me, that as we continue investing in this person, this person will continue growing.”

What’s one key feature of a high-growth individual? Ownership. Being able to identify key problems in a project and doing something about it, demonstrates a candidate’s responsibility for their work actions to the highest degree.

What is SV Academy?

SV Academy is a matchmaking organization that helps people find a career in tech, specifically in sales and customer support roles. Careers range from entry-level customer support roles to managerial roles. SV Academy’s unique service: part-time and full-time programs that provide the opportunity to those who may not have the credentials to succeed in structured environments.

What is the Hiring and Work Process like for Engineers?

Alizain is looking for individuals with breadth of general knowledge, depth in specific areas of interest and passion, and once again: those who value ownership in the workplace. Overall, the interview and hiring cycle is very much oriented around connection-building. Being able to understand an applicant’s goals, the type of person they are, and how they will fit into the company’s values are of utmost importance — SV Academy wants to get to know who its applicants are.

For the next year, SV Academy will be focusing on building its own logged-in student facing mobile experience for users to connect all workflow processes. How will this be done? Engineers will be synchronizing data in backend systems like Salesforce and Mailchimp into a single coherent system.

What are SV Academy’s Values?

SV Academy highly values responsibility in the way that each employee has full control over their actions. This allows for a strong team, where everyone is able to ask questions and have deep conversations with each other. Alizain comments on the prevalence of openness and respect in SV Academy’s working environment, especially through their Friday wind down sessions as a company — allowing everyone to be close with one another.

As a fully remote company, Alizain stresses that SV Academy values flexible meetings times and work schedules, and a high trust environment, so everyone is free to complete their work on their own schedules to meet deadlines.

Check Out The Episode!

Interested in learning more about Alizain and SV Academy? Culture Add’s first episode has been released on Spotify and AnchorFM!