Meet John Hammerlund, a software engineer here at Nextdoor. Read more to learn about his time in the neighborhood.
Why did you join Nextdoor?
For me, the most important factor in evaluating a company is purpose. I never want to be in the position where I develop something I don’t believe in, and as a long-time Nextdoor user, I know the positive impact it can have when that purpose is achieved. The next factor is people, and I immediately was drawn in by the incredibly kind and supportive team that interviewed me. Both of these things hold completely true today.
What has been one of your favorite projects to work on?
It’s difficult to compare many projects, but if I had a favorite so far, it would be the initial launch of our server-driven onboarding platform. This helped us accelerate experiments across many teams, and it still does today. This was a rare opportunity to build something that served both our users as well as our engineers. I’m a bit of an infrastructure nerd, so as a product engineer, this was exciting to be involved in.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
My wife and I are gamers, and we spend day-to-day with friends and family & travel when we can. During the winter, I love to ski!
Most memorable moment at Nextdoor?
Visiting our San Francisco HQ for the first time! Meeting everyone in person was easily the highlight of my employment so far. Looking forward to more visits!
Best career advice?
The key to good leadership is trust, and the key to trust is empathy. Whether you’re a manager working with an underperforming subordinate, or if you’re dealing with a difficult manager yourself, or even if you’re reviewing someone’s code: always try to understand and empathize their perspective. Not only will you build trust, but you might learn a thing or two.
Where is your favorite place in the world?
Any mountain slope is my happy place. If I had to pick one, probably Lone Peak in Big Sky, MT.
How do you like to give back to community?
Teaching and mentoring is extremely gratifying! Aside from that, I like to support local businesses wherever I can.
Interested in joining #TeamNextdoor? Check out our open roles here!
