As a senior engineering manager at CompanyCam, Matt Lathrop doesn’t just get to spearhead creative projects — he gets to actually enjoy his life, too.
“There’s no expectation to constantly check Slack or email,” he said. “This isn’t just a guideline or policy — leaders actively reinforce and re-emphasize this.”
It’s for these reasons that Lathrop considers his role a “dream” job. To secure this otherworldly opportunity, he had to prove both his technical skills and his dedication as a leader.
During the interview process, he emphasized his beliefs surrounding the keys to impactful and driven engineering teams, highlighting his past experiences creating ownership and autonomy within teams. In doing so, he demonstrated his ability to help others understand how their work fits into the bigger picture.
“Being able to clearly speak to what motivates me as a leader and my approach to helping team members overcome roadblocks and barriers was essential to landing this job,” Lathrop said.
Below, Lathrop shares more about how he landed his position at CompanyCam, what he enjoys the most about his work and the advice he’d offer to others eager to follow in his footsteps.
About CompanyCam
CompanyCam’s platform enables commercial and home services contractors to document projects with photos, organize projects with to-do lists, collaborate with crew members and promote their businesses with marketing and sales tools.
What makes your current role a dream job? What do you get to do that you didn’t at other companies? What perks/value-add do you see as the most beneficial?
CompanyCam offers the perfect work-life balance. While our culture values drive, innovation and excellence, we’re also expected to completely unplug and enjoy life at the end of the day. There’s no expectation to constantly check Slack or email. This isn’t just a guideline or policy — leaders actively reinforce and re-emphasize this. Every team member has the opportunity to shape company goals and define the features we ship to customers. Rather than senior leadership dictating tasks, everyone plays a crucial role in setting quarterly outcomes and determining which features or tools will best serve our customers.
We’re encouraged to take risks, focus on outcomes over outputs and make mistakes, so long as we’re learning and moving in the right direction. Our core value of “Grow Up” empowers employees to take ownership and make decisions independently. CompanyCam genuinely wants me to have a life outside of work and offers unique benefits to support it. With unlimited PTO and a flexible work policy for employees anywhere in the United States, I can get my work done when and how I choose. The “early out” policy allows me to wrap up work early every Friday, giving me a head start on the weekend.
“We’re encouraged to take risks, focus on outcomes over outputs and make mistakes, so long as we’re learning and moving in the right direction.”
What do you think helped you land the job? Were you able to bring any special expertise or project experience that CompanyCam found valuable?
For a company like CompanyCam that cares deeply about culture, I made sure to emphasize my beliefs around what fosters impactful and driven engineering teams. While interviewing, I highlighted my past experiences creating ownership and autonomy within teams, and I emphasized my ability to effectively help team members understand the context and value of their work. Being able to clearly speak to what motivates me as a leader and my approach to helping team members overcome roadblocks and barriers was essential to landing this job.
It’s crucial to highlight past projects that make you stand out from other candidates. In my previous role, I built, hired and managed the first three engineering teams for a satellite office. These teams developed an entirely new product line for the company. This experience not only grew my leadership skills but gave me the opportunity to work closely with product and design team members to play a key role in defining what shipped to customers.
What do you think helps engineers move up quickly or be the top pick for a competitive employer? What should engineers seek out if they hope to move up or be hired by their “dream” company?
Helping your team members succeed, stay happy, and do their best work will make you stand out. Success comes from focusing on outcomes, building a healthy and supportive culture, and creating processes that enable your engineering team to consistently deliver great results. As an engineering manager, when you put the focus on showcasing your team members’ achievements and ensuring they receive the recognition they deserve, you’ll naturally build up your own achievements that help you become a top pick.
Find a company whose values align with yours. Remember that you’re interviewing them as much as they’re interviewing you. Ask specific, thoughtful questions to dig in and understand their culture. Know what makes you unique and how your specific skills and experiences differentiate you from others. Before starting your job search, take time to reflect on and document what drives you as an engineering leader so you can articulate it clearly.
