[Culture] “There’s work. And then there’s work you’re proud of” – Advitiya Sharma, Co-Founder, Housing.com

Have you ever seen a school of fish? In the ocean a large group of fish move together, as if they were one entity. And they moved fast. And when a new fish joins it, it doesn’t really think about moving fast; the school just takes it along and the new fish moves as fast too.

This is what comes to my mind when I think of Housing.com. The founders just graduated out of college a year back, and had they joined the lucrative offers that they were getting straight out of college, it would have been just another year for them. But they chose the tough road to starting up, which is not easy, even for the experienced. But, what they did post that, will put Housing.com in Indian startup folklore. 3 quick rounds of funding, one after the other, a 750+ member team, spread all across India, with their eyes set on the international market; all this in a year or so. If you’re a fish in the housing.com school, you’re swimming, really, really fast.

But apart from the cohesive team that is Housing.com, much of its growth can be credited to the product itself. Their revolutionary map based real estate search won rave reviews from critics and users, for disrupting an otherwise stable market. This product was built and enhanced by its 75 member engineering team and they’re looking to add some resources for their mobile wing. They’re a participating company in the mobile hiring challenge and they are looking to hire the best performing Android developers from the challenge.

But before you opt for the fast paced Housing.com, go through this interaction which we had with one of the company’s co-founders, Advitiya Sharma, on what it is like to work for them. Read on –

How did Housing.com come to be? 

Housing has been founded by a group of graduates from IIT Bombay. And one thing that most of us founders have in common, is that we all come from small towns and villages of the country. I myself am from Jammu and all my life I’ve either stayed at home or in the hostel at IIT. So never really had to worry about searching for accommodation.

I remember it clearly. It was February of last year, my final semester. We suddenly realized that for the first time in our lives, we needed to search for a place to stay for the next few years. So, we started our home search process pretty early. But within the first few days we realized that “Oh boy it’s going to be a nightmare!”

After around 30 frustrating days, roaming all over the city, we finally found something that, sort of met our requirements. But the only thought that kept on coming back to us again and again and again was that “This problem, has existed for many years now. And if nothing is done about it. It’ll simply continue to exist”.

And at that moment, we had a realization that maybe we could come up with a solution for this problem. This problem:

• Clearly affects a large number of people. Every single one of us sitting here is going to be affected by it
•  Its a problem that has existed for a long time now. People wanted a solution for it

And I think it is this germ of an idea that few of us could solve this problem. That has now blossomed into Housing.com 🙂

Why is Housing.com the coolest place to work for an engineer? 

The thing we really care about is changing the trajectory of the industry. We’re doing that by creating great products and platforms for our users. And this is made possible by constantly innovating in technology. The most exciting thing is we always keep on challenging ourselves to push boundaries of technology to develop amazing products. These products rely upon use of the best technology available and at the same time keeping it intuitive and simple enough for an end user.

What kind of engineers really impress you at Housing.com and how do you keep them there?

I think people who are not only great at the stuff they do but also passionate about it; these are the kind of people we’re looking for. We do not follow fix working hours model. Everyone is responsible for the projects they are assigned.

But they are free to work on them as per their own working hours with flexibility of working from home from time to time. Last but not the least we provide many facilities at our HQ. Free lunch, Pizza parties, Group Movie tickets. We have it all 🙂

What is the most difficult part of working at Housing.com? 

We’re the kind of people who believe in doing work, that makes us feel proud. People don’t come here to sit by the sidelines. They come here to rub shoulders with the best. You need to keep improving at a very fast pace because the phenomenal growth of the company because of the phenomenal growth of its people.

So, scaling up at a fast pace and taking up tough but exciting responsibilities is something that people find most challenging.

Is it easy for a new recruit to settle in? 

The India team is around 750 people now with 75+ working in Technology. They’ve been doing a phenomenal job working together. The culture in the company is that a great idea, supersedes any hierarchy. And when people come in the company and share their ideas and are willing to learn. They settle in. Instantaneously.

We’ve got A+ people in every dept. And it’s great to see amazing people do some revolutionary work.

In the future, what do you want the culture of Housing.com to be? 

Housing is all about the people it has and the ideas they bring. Everyone is focused on doing great work and having a lot of fun doing it. Our emphasis on the design of even our offices goes beyond design. And the best part it that, people come to work not because the have to but because they want to. So, I believe that having amazing people doing some great work, growing, and having fun, and being passionate about it. This is the vision I have for the culture in the company.

In one line, why should a developer join Housing.com?

There’s work. And then there’s work that makes you feel proud. The kind of work that has your fingerprints all over it. The kind of work you believe can bring a change. And you can do that kind of work at Housing every single day.

You heard the man. If you’re an Android developer and you want to work for this insanely fast growing company, sign up for the Android Hiring Challenge today!

Raghu Mohan Author 58 Blogs