If 10 years ago someone told you that you would spend a vacation in a stranger’s home, you probably would have thought they were crazy. Today this concept is the norm. With the introduction of ride- and home-sharing apps, you regularly get food deliveries, rides, and accommodation from strangers. You’ve probably heard of Airbnb.
Airbnb is one of the most popular tech companies today. People around the world book stays and experiences through Airbnb every single day. So, what’s your next destination? Perhaps the Airbnb offices as your work destination.
Find out everything you need to know about working for a company that makes everywhere and anywhere feel like home.
Airbnb: Company Background
Brian Chesky, Nathan Blecharczyk, and Joe Gebbia started the community-based company Airbnb in 2008. The business started with two hosts, Brain and Joe, welcoming guests at their sunny San Francisco apartment. Today, there are four million hosts and 800 million guests in 100,000 cities across the world.
Most of the founders of Airbnb created the app when they were design school graduates, so they’ve placed an extensive amount of stock on a candidate’s passion. Airbnb offers more than just stays in apartments, you can now stay in treehouses, tiny homes, farms, cabins, yurts, private islands, lighthouses, boats, and even igloos, 140 to be exact.
In 2016, Airbnb added experiences to their portfolio of offerings, allowing guests to book various activities in different cities during their stay.
Are you interested in working for Airbnb? The company was built on four core values which are still being embodied today: champion the mission, be a host, embrace the adventure, and be a serial entrepreneur.
Airbnb wants you to stay healthy, give back, and leave room to travel often with their suite of benefits, including healthy food and snacks, paid volunteer time, and annual travel and experience credits.
What It’s Like to Work at Airbnb
If you ever wondered what working for one of the most well-known tech companies in the world is like, look no further than Airbnb. Company employees enjoy the standard benefits such as health insurance, but also customizable perk packages, including a hello treehouse-designed meeting room.
Let’s explore some of them below. Please note that working at Airbnb is an adventure in itself.
Lunch a la Airbnb
The Airbnb offices, located in San Francisco, California, feature an open kitchen concept. Lunch is cooked on-site by a chef every day for Airbnb workers. Reportedly, the chef will ring a bell when lunch is ready. Breakfast and dinner are also provided daily by the company.
Diversity
Airbnb strives to create an environment where “everyone feels welcome, and all voices are heard.” The company has employee-led resource groups to ensure this.
These groups guide employee initiatives in a variety of departments, including recruitment, leadership, product development, and community outreach. In terms of gender equality, Airbnb is 40 percent women-run, which is higher than other tech companies.
Perks
Let’s get to the good stuff, like traveling perks. Airbnb employees enjoy $2,000 in annual travel and experience credit.
Additionally, there are stipends offered for commuting, biking, education, and phone service. Remote working is also offered by the company, and if you love gadgets, Apple equipment is provided to you upon hire. All of these perks are on top of a competitive salary, a topic we cover in-depth in this article.
Getting a Job at Airbnb
Disclaimer: must love travel and the hospitality industry. That disclaimer should be written on the job description for Airbnb roles.
Having the required skills for the position you are interested in is significant, but love for travel and hospitality is a plus at Airbnb. Read up on the company’s mission, vision, and values before you start your application. You will want to know if it’s going to be the perfect fit for you and the company.
How Hard Is It to Land a Job at Airbnb?
Landing a job at Airbnb can be difficult — the interview process is lengthy and rigorous. You might think you have it, but getting your foot in the door is hard due to the competitive nature of the job market.
Airbnb job applicants have said if you are lucky enough to score an interview, then prepare for non-technical Interview questions as well as technical ones. Airbnb puts a significant basis on passion and culture, so these are equally as important as technical questions.
You must be prepared for coding and cultural questions, and be efficient with data structures, algorithms, and system design fundamentals.
Reaching out to a recruiter on LinkedIn or catering your resume to the company are advised when applying. Make sure you show your passion for the industry, company, and role you’re applying for through your resume.
Applying for a Job at Airbnb
Applying for a job at Airbnb can seem intimidating at first; after all, it’s one of the world’s most recognized tech companies. However, if you have the skills, passion, and carefully prepare for it, then there is no reason why you can’t land the job.
Airbnb Application and Interview Process
Airbnb has a strenuous hiring process, and the steps may be different, depending on the role you are applying for. However, all interviews will start with an initial phone screening before you are asked to attend a phone interview.
A third interview could be conducted at an Airbnb office, or you might be asked to conduct a presentation. The onsite portion could be a full day interview that features a technical and cultural portion. Additionally, there could be a cross-functional interview during the hiring process.
Airbnb Career Opportunities: Job Titles and Descriptions
Good news: Airbnb is hiring. So get your resume ready because the company is hiring for multiple positions spanning various industries and expertise. Find your perfect fit with one of the jobs listed below.
Host Marketing Lead, Campaigns
- Salary: $75–$105K
- Benefits: 401K, paid holidays/vacation, casual dress, free drinks/snacks, paid sick leave, life insurance, stock options
- Level: Expert
- Experience: 10+ years of marketing
- Education: None specified
Consider applying for the host marketing lead position if you have a digital marketing background. A host marketing lead reports to the director of host marketing and creates strategic campaigns to encourage homeowners to become Airbnb hosts.
You must be obsessed with the customer journey, love collaborating closely with product teams to perform well. You must also be comfortable collaborating with creative, technical, and business teams.
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Social Media Specialist
- Salary: $36,015–$46,323
- Benefits: 401K, paid holidays/vacation, casual dress, free drinks/snacks, paid sick leave, life insurance, stock options
- Level: Specialist
- Experience: 1–3 years of customer service
- Education: Bachelor’s degree
Do you love scrolling through your social media feed, liking, and posting content? A social media specialist position might be your next career move. Airbnb’s social media specialist position provides support to 100 million guests and three million listings in more than 191 countries. You will be working to implement responses, personalize resolutions, and create memorable reactions to the Airbnb community.
Data Science Manager, Core Host
- Salary: $133–$216K
- Benefits: 401K, paid holidays/vacation, casual dress, free drinks/snacks, paid sick leave, life insurance, stock options
- Level: Manager
- Experience: 8+ years in the industry
- Education: None specified
Leverage the Airbnb data sets as a data science manager. People in this position utilize data to increase the number of Airbnb hosts.
Their duties include building new products to ensure hosts are successful, designing experiments to measure the impact of new marketplace features, designing new data products to surface information, and running and strategic analysis. To gain this position, you must show advanced computer skills in your resume.
Experience Researcher
- Salary: $148,746
- Benefits: 401K, paid holidays/vacation, casual dress, free drinks/snacks, paid sick leave, life insurance, stock options
- Level: Expert
- Experience: 8+ years in the industry
- Education: Master’s or PhD in Human-Computer Interaction, Sociology, Psychology, Information Science, Computer Science (or similar), or equivalent
Do you love to provide a best in class research? Or maybe you love being “on the frontlines of delivering insights”. Consider a career as an Airbnb experience researcher.
In this role, you provide research the product team needs for every step of a product development cycle. You will work with a team of designers, project managers, and other partners to focus on online and offline research to provide a personalized experience within Airbnb products.
What Does It Take to Get a Job at Airbnb?
Airbnb is a global brand. Getting a job at Airbnb is a resume builder and can be a stepping stone to other tech companies such as Apple and Google. You could also step into cooperate roles in major companies like Costco or Nordstrom.
To do so, you must first have the apparent skills needed in the role you are applying to, but that’s not the only thing Airbnb is looking for. The company wants to know if you are passionate about their business. Passion is essential to securing a job at Airbnb.
About us: Career Karma is a platform designed to help job seekers find, research, and connect with job training programs to advance their careers. Learn about the CK publication.
