About Us and Why We’re Hiring
We build “You Need a Budget,” the best budgeting software around. (But people in the know call us YNAB, which is pronounced “why-nab”). For more than a decade, people have been buying YNAB and then telling their friends what a difference it has made in their lives.
Google us, or read some of our
reviews on the app store, and you’ll see what we mean. We love building something that literally changes people’s lives, and we have an impressive (if we do say so ourselves) ecosystem of apps, live classes, and stellar support.
As YNAB continues to grow, we are looking for friendly, technically-savvy Customer Support Specialists to join our team! It’s a part-time (25-29 hours a week) remote position, and you might just be a perfect fit. You’ll know it if you’re somewhat of a YNAB wizard already (or are quick to learn!), and are known for being helpful, patient, and awesome–particularly when it comes to technical problem solving and explaining complicated things in a way anyone can understand.
We love our YNAB customers, and we want to make sure they love their support experience. You’ll look forward to every chat message and email, because it’s an opportunity to help another person gain control of their money and become a better budgeter.
Requirements:
- Understanding of, or willingness to learn, YNAB
- Tech-savvy. We’re not saying you need to know C++, but navigating multiple programs at once and troubleshooting technical issues shouldn’t scare you
- Excellent written English
- Available to work 5-6 hours a day, five days a week (including a Saturday or Sunday)
That’s a super-brief intro, and there’s a lot more to it. But first, you need to know if you’ll even like working with us. (We think you will.)
We’re profitable, bootstrapped, and growing. YNAB started in 2004, and we haven’t taken any outside funding—we’re in it for the long haul.
We have one overarching requirement when it comes to joining our team: our
Core Value Manifesto has to really click with you. If you’re nodding emphatically while reading it, you’ll probably really like it here, in which case, we can’t wait to hear from you!
First, let’s talk about life at YNAB, and then we’ll go into more detail about what we’re looking for.
Who You’ll Be Working With:
Natalie is our CS Onboarding Manager—which means she has the best job ever. She walks you through your first few months on the team and helps you learn all there is to know about supporting our users. When not working, you’ll find her spending time with her family, planning her next vacation, or taste-testing queso.
Your Team: During your first few months, you’ll be a part of a team of other new Support Specialists along with a few seasoned specialists to support you in your new role. You’ll have your own Slack channel, and work together as you navigate your new position at YNAB. After the onboarding period, you’ll transition to a permanent team of experienced specialists and a passionate manager who are eager to help you continue to learn and grow with the team!
How You’ll Work at YNAB
We work really hard to make working at YNAB an amazing experience (we’ve even been named
Fortune’s #1 Best Small Company to Work For) and have a team full of truly exceptional people—the kind you’ll be excited to work with. Here’s how we operate:
Live Where You Want
We’re a fully distributed team, so you can live and work wherever you want. Proximity doesn’t influence productivity. Just make sure you have a reliable internet connection and are available for your scheduled shifts.
Take Vacation (Seriously)
Just because you can work from anywhere, it doesn’t mean you should—we want you to take vacation. It’s important to get out and do something. We offer a PTO plan for our part-time team members, and look forward to seeing pictures of your vacation in our in our #office_wall Slack channel.
International is Absolutely Okay
If you are Stateside, we’ll set you up as a W2 employee. If you’re international, you’ll be set up as a contractor. (Employee or contractor, it’s all the same to us. You’re part of the team!)
401k
For U.S. employees, we offer Traditional and Roth 401k options. YNAB matches your contributions, up to six percent of your paycheck. Matches vest immediately. (Are you a personal finance junkie like our founder Jesse? He set up YNAB’s 401k to have the lowest fee structure possible, where all plan costs are paid by YNAB, not your retirement nest egg. The investment funds available are fantastic, passively-managed, ultra low-cost index funds. You’re not a PF junkie? Trust us, it’s awesome.)
Your First Eight Weeks
All support specialist roles begin with an eight week temporary employment agreement. Maybe you’ve never had a remote position before, or it’s your first time working in email or chat support. This temporary period helps BOTH you and us confirm this job is a good fit. Our onboarding period provides extensive training and feedback while you learn the ins and outs of the role. While we don’t expect any issues (we only offer these positions to those we feel confident in), these first few weeks are also an opportunity for us to double-check that you can meet the expectations we have for our Specialists. At the end of week 8, if we’re both feeling great about it, we’ll send a new employee agreement for a permanent position on the team.
Other Tidbits
- After your onboarding period, we DEMAND (in a friendly, ALL CAPS IS YELLING way) that you fill out your Bucket List spreadsheet with 50 items. (That’s harder than it sounds!) Good things then follow.
- The bucket list also really helps in deciding what we should give you for your birthday and the holidays.
- After your first 8 weeks, we’ll set you up with a shiny new computer and replace it every three years.
- Did we mention we make a huge, positive difference in people’s lives? You may not think that matters much, but then a few months down the road you’ll realize it’s made your job really, really enjoyable. Don’t underestimate this one!
- If this sounds like your ideal environment, read on because now we want to talk about you. You will play a big part in helping people succeed at budgeting with YNAB. You will change lives.
Now, back to you, our new Support Specialist…
What Success Looks Like:
At YNAB, our goal is for our users to achieve life-changing financial control. No small thing, right? You’ll join our ever-growing support team and work together to deliver quick, accurate, and friendly responses via email and chat.
You balance clarity, accuracy, personalization, and speed as you craft a reply to a user's email. Then with time and practice, you’ll be comfortable taking on the most difficult conversations.
You’re incredibly passionate about great customer support. While you may not have an official support background, you understand the role it plays in the success of a business and know the work you do makes a real difference to our users.
You love problem-solving. You’ll have the impossible task of seeing the forest and the trees. You’ll dive into the depths of a customer’s issue, infer from their (sometimes vague) descriptions of exactly what’s going on, anticipate where they may get confused next, and clearly explain what they need to do in order to have continued success with YNAB.
You’re tech-savvy. Maybe you’ve dabbled in APIs or geek out over data in a spreadsheet, or maybe you’re the go-to person for friends and family when an app or program isn’t working. Regardless, you know your way around a computer, and can easily navigate the multiple tools and programs we use every day (sometimes simultaneously!). And when something doesn’t work as expected, you feel confident troubleshooting the issue yourself.
You don’t mind answering the same question multiple times a day, because it’s a different customer each time—another chance to make someone’s day. You manage to exceed expectations even when delivering a different answer than the customer was hoping for.
You’re really good at switching gears. You’ll answer three emails in a row—one about how to get a reluctant spouse to budget, the next about a bank not pulling in transactions, and another from a college student who realized they really need a budget for all their pizza and ramen—and not miss a beat.
You know that speed of response is extremely important, but you can walk that fine line between speed and accuracy. You are a master of being clear and friendly within the same sentence, and consistently meet or exceed our team-wide metrics. Though you might be a perfectionist, you know when it’s time to ship it and click send.
You play really nicely with others. You’re flexible. You adapt and adjust. You pick up conversations mid-stream from a colleague who is off for the weekend, and offer a virtual high-five when the conversation is closed: customer satisfied. And when we ask you to jump in on a project with other support specialists, or lend your skills to a fellow team member, it's your best week ever. We're a team of helpful and friendly people; you fit right in.
You love to learn. You love constructive feedback because it helps you improve. You look forward to getting feedback on your responses because you know it is an opportunity to learn and see someone else's point of view.
You enjoy taking that one extra step beyond what’s expected. You’re creative in that way. You consistently force us to ask you questions like, “How did you know the customer meant ‘x’, when he was saying ‘y’ the whole time?”
You’re open-minded. Even if you do have prior customer support experience, you’re not afraid to learn about how we do things at YNAB, and seeing how our team goes above and beyond.
A Day in the Life…
You always know your schedule, because it’s consistent week after week. Let’s say you work Tuesday through Saturday from 5pm – 10pm UTC (that’s 1pm-6pm Eastern Time). It’s Wednesday, and you’ve opened your laptop to start your working. You clock in and spend a few minutes catching up on any important updates since yesterday.
It’s the first day of the month, so the queue is busier than normal, but that’s expected. To warm up, you take care of any follow-ups that may be lingering since you were last in the queue. A few are from users letting you know your last responses solved their issues perfectly, so your day is off to a great start!
Then, you head to the back of the queue and pick up a couple of the oldest conversations. You’re often surprised by the complexity of questions you see, but you’re excited for the challenge each one brings. And you know you can skip the ones beyond your knowledge level, after tagging it with your name so you can learn what you didn’t know.
Once the email queue is in good shape, you begin your chat shift and enjoy the wide range of topics coming your way. After a couple hours, you finish up your chat shift and follow up with a few chatters via email.
Today you have your weekly one-to-one with your manager, so you pop in your headphones and hop on a video call to talk about your metrics, goals, and bring up some ideas you have on how we can make the support experience more effortless for our users.
Before you know it your work day is over, so you say goodbye to your team in Slack, change your Slack status, and quickly scan your task list and calendar for tomorrow. Satisfied with the day’s work, you close your laptop and move on with the rest of your day.
You’re our ideal candidate if you:
- Are an excellent self-manager and can send at least 9 email replies per hour.
- Can flawlessly juggle three live chat conversations at a time.
- Can commit to a set schedule of 25-29 hours per week, with one shift on Saturday or Sunday.
- Value excellence and continuous improvement. At the same time.
- Have excellent written English.
- Understand how every support response is an expression of the YNAB culture and brand.
- Are considered a stellar communicator.
- Love brightening someone’s day.
- Can tactfully deliver difficult news and get a thank you for it. You’re that good.
- Enjoy trying things you haven’t ever done before.
- Aren’t afraid to ask questions and come to every 1:1 with topics to discuss.
- Are wildly productive and independent, but a team-player at heart.
- Have a laptop or computer for your training period (a tablet or Chromebook won’t quite cut it for some of the programs we use).
Bonus points if:
- You already use and love YNAB.
- You have experience working remotely.
- You have customer support experience.
Pay for this role is $18 an hour during the 8-week temporary training period, and increases to $20 an hour for permanent part-time team members.
YNAB is an equal opportunity employer. We believe diversity of backgrounds, beliefs, abilities, and experiences to be critical to our success and are passionate about creating a welcoming, supportive, and collaborative environment for all employees. All are encouraged to apply as we continue to grow a smart, hard-working, and diverse team who love working together to build something that matters.
How to Apply:
Attach a PDF of your cover letter. In your cover letter:
- Introduce yourself and explain why this position is of interest to you, and why you would be a great fit. Please limit this section of the cover letter to 1 page.
- On a separate page of your cover letter, answer the following questions (with each response being about a paragraph in length):
- What attracted you to this position? (This is not about what attracted you to the software.)
- What is your favorite company to be a customer of?
- What are your favorite and least favorite parts of your current or most recent job?
- Tell us about a time when you had to learn something new to excel at your job.
If you have a prepared resume, attach it in PDF form. If you don’t have a resume because you aren’t even sure you’re looking to change jobs, that’s fine! An informal list of your work and education history is all we’re looking for.
Please send all attachments as PDFs.
Please submit your application by 12:00pm Eastern on March 15, 2021.
We can't wait to hear from you!
P.S. If you’re not interested in or available for this position, but know someone who is, we would really appreciate it if you passed this along!