There is a fast-growing subreddit called “r/antiwork” that offers a snapshot into the worker unrest driving The Great Resignation. The subreddit has recently become dominated by users posting screenshots of toxic conversations with their managers, conversations that usually end with the worker’s resignation. The subtext is clear: People are tired of working for managers who exploit their skill set and passion and are willing to quit their jobs rather than be bullied.
For some companies, this is a reason to panic. For others, it’s further validation of their people-centric focus on management.
Angi is a good example of the latter. The company places a major emphasis on the professional development of its engineers and backs this up with a sort of “professional development contract” between devs and their managers. Omer Yarnitsky, senior engineering manager, told Built In how Angi’s “Role Success Document” works.
“Every few months, every engineer writes a document with their manager specifying growth areas and specific goals for the months ahead,” Yarnitsky said. “That document is revisited in one on ones and quarterly reviews to help keep your growth on track.”
Just because people are tired of working for bad managers doesn’t mean they’re tired of working. The Great Resignation will eventually lead to “The Great Application,” and when it does, companies that respect their workers and offer them real growth opportunities will reap the rewards. Continue reading to learn more about a few New York tech companies that fit that bill, all of which are hiring right now.
Bluecore is a retail marketing technology company that uses artificial intelligence and predictive analytics to help brands communicate with customers in a more personal and relevant way.
Motivation to apply: “I applied to join the Bluecore team as an associate customer success manager back in 2018 because I was craving a new challenge and a dynamic, fast-paced environment,” Loshin said. “Coupled with my passion for e-commerce, Bluecore seemed like the perfect fit. Since joining, Bluecore has almost doubled in size, with our team expanding internationally. The company’s growth has provided me with opportunities for continuous learning and career development.”
Tackling an exciting challenge: “One of the most exciting challenges right now is helping brands adjust their marketing strategy around the shift to digital-first e-commerce. Customer retention is critical for brands looking to grow in a digital-first environment and stay competitive in what is projected to be a $10 trillion dollar market by 2027. Bluecore provides the tools needed to support brands in meeting those challenges.”
“Brands have to be proficient at identifying their shoppers and connecting that data to the real-time shopping behaviors and preferences of that shopper. They need to make it easier for retailers to link their shoppers to the right content, products and offers that make it easy for them to navigate their choices and make decisions while they’re online. Most importantly, we need to factor in repeat purchase behavior. I’m working with our partners to transform their marketing tactics into personalized experiences across their website, emails and other channels.”
The Angi marketplace enables contractors to grow their businesses and homeowners to quickly locate local professionals for basic or more extreme home makeovers.
Motivation to apply: “What drew me to Angi was the emphasis it puts on growth,” Yarnitsky said. “Growth is being actively managed for every engineer with what we call a ‘Role Success Document.’ Every few months, every engineer writes a document with their manager specifying growth areas and specific goals for the months ahead. It could focus on technical skills, soft skills or anything that would support their growth.
Employees revisit that document in one-on-ones and quarterly reviews to help keep their growth on track. Everything here is wired to support that. It is pretty common and always feels great to see people grow out of their initial position to become managers, directors and staff engineers.”
Ideal team member: “The most important thing I’m looking for is enthusiasm and eagerness for growth. I don’t expect candidates to know everything there is to know in the field. Rather, I’m looking for a willingness to learn and the potential to do so. Other than coachability, I’m looking for people who are oriented toward teamwork. Being a part of the team is one of the best assets you get in a place like Angi, and being able to leverage it is key to learning, growing and leveling up your work.”
Companies use Figma’s browser-based software to make the design process more collaborative. Instead of waiting for updates from the design team, Figma lets devs, product people and others be a part of the process from day one and contribute to everything from brainstorming sessions to prototype tests.
Motivation to apply: “When I was interviewing in 2018, I spoke to a few Figma users and quickly realized there was something special going on,” Kleha said. “People were raving about the product and, as a go-to-market leader, it piqued my interest. There was such a strong product-market fit for that early stage of brand awareness. I wanted to be part of Figma’s story.
Over time, I grew to fully appreciate what the design industry is all about — it’s a community of thoughtful, passionate and creative minds who are a lot of fun to work with. Our users are loyal and demanding at the same time, which keeps us humble and focused on providing the best tools for users to do and share their best work. In an increasingly digital age, it’s become clear how great design influences how we interact with products. Figma’s role in that is to make design accessible to more people, and it’s been really fun to be part of that effort.”
Ideal team member: “The Figma community is key to our success: We always aim to bring our users along with us, letting their feedback drive how we prioritize. As a platform, our community helps build on top of our work to make the user experience even better. Internally, we find ways to connect with and learn from one another every day through shared ownership and cultural traditions.
When hiring, it’s important to us that we find people who really appreciate the value of building community. We also look for people who show they can run with things, care about their craft and are eager to grow. These four aspects represent our company values and we look for value alignment outside of the core skills needed for the role. Last but certainly not least, we are still very much building. People who enjoy that phase typically end up being the most fulfilled and making the most impact.”
Attune’s technology makes it easier for insurers to offer commercial coverage to small businesses. The company’s underwriting platform leverages data aggregation and analytics to assess risk and can issue a custom quote in as little as five minutes.
Motivation to apply: “Attune Insurance reached out to me through LinkedIn, and while I’d never heard of the company, after some research I was intrigued,” Blye said. “An insurtech startup specializing in small commercial businesses and on a platform that allows a quote and bind within minutes is a refreshing idea. I’ve been at Attune for four months and can honestly attest to being part of a company that is inclusive, forward-thinking, innovative, has an amazing culture.
I will admit to being challenged daily to figure out better processes, strategies and build-outs. I welcome and embrace those challenges because I know collaboration and insight are just a Slack message or meeting away. Coming from corporate America makes me appreciate the freedom to work without dealing with bureaucracy. My decision to join Attune was one of the best I’ve made career-wise.”
Ideal team member: “I believe that a team is as strong as their leader and a leader is as strong as their team. One can’t function and grow without the other. When adding to my team, I want individuals who have positive energy, an inclusive personality and a creative, focused mindset. These characteristics are important because we are in a constant state of growth and evolution and need people who are adaptable when change inevitably comes.”
Unqork’s no-code app development platform is designed to enable enterprise companies to more quickly, easily and affordably build and launch custom software.
Motivation to apply: “I was introduced to our CMO through a friend, and Unqork piqued my interest after I gained a rudimentary understanding of the implications of a no-code platform with enterprise capabilities,” Caggia said. “The technology is exciting, but what really drew me in were the people. When meeting with our founding leadership team, I was truly blown away by how down-to-earth, easy to talk to, approachable and friendly everyone was. It was clear to me that Unqork was an amazing opportunity: a product with endless potential and a team filled with real, genuine people who care deeply about each other.
I joined Unqork as the 40th employee. As we approach 600 employees, it’s hard to summarize just how much has changed. That said, the essence of what brought me to Unqork still stands true. The people here are still incredibly down-to-earth, friendly, unique and fun to work with.”
Ideal team member: “When hiring, I look for a collaborative spirit. In talent acquisition it’s easy to get fixated on individual metrics and competition. We all want to be the one who fills that elusive, hard-to-fill role. Individuals who have an elevated understanding of the adage ‘one team, one dream,’ are, in my experience, a special breed of strategic thinkers who tend to be high-impact members of the team.
Folks who embody a collaborative spirit have a true partner mentality, the desire to drive inclusive team practices and a sense of humility, or an understanding that the company’s success is more important than their individual success. A truly collaborative team leaves a safe space for vulnerability and humble leadership where we can all own the fact that everyone makes mistakes — which is OK, provided we learn from them — and that we all have something to learn from every member of the team.”
Laika has built a platform that leverages both automation and human expertise to ensure companies remain compliant as they grow and are prepared and able to pass audits with flying colors when the time comes.
Motivation to appIy: “I applied to Laika in the midst of the pandemic,” Lister said. “I was looking for an opportunity to learn and grow within a business that was strategically positioned to be thought leaders in their space. Having left previous fast-scaling startups due to cultural growing pains, it was important to find a company with strong values, and I found that in Laika!
As the first hire on the marketing team, I tackled the announcement of the company’s Series A the first week on the job. Now, we’re almost a 100-person company, and in the past year I’ve learned more than I ever thought I could about cybersecurity, compliance and SaaS.”
Ideal team member: “My favorite part about working at Laika is that we have a ‘one team’ mentality. No matter how we may disagree or reprioritize, we’re all in it together and working toward the same goal: serving our customers to the best of our ability and building a sustainable, mission-driven business. When looking for new team members, it’s important to find people with creative ideas, diverse thoughts and backgrounds, and the courage to fail with your eyes on progression.”
Telehealth has gone to the dogs (and cats) thanks to Pawp, whose digital pet clinic enables pet owners to take their furry friends to the vet over video chat.
Motivation to found Pawp: “I co-founded Pawp nearly three years ago with our CEO, Marc Atiyeh, and CTO, Andrew Malek,” Simons said. “The company has undergone some significant changes since those early days, namely because our focus in scaling has always been about staying nimble and adapting. Pawp’s growth has been explosive, and it’s largely because we’ve iterated quickly and without ego. We’ve thrown away some really treasured concepts and made changes on a whim for the overall benefit of the company and pets worldwide.
Our much bigger team has afforded us the ability to really focus on our areas of expertise and hone our skills. We’ve restructured to make sure the team has the support it needs to elicit the most output possible. I get the chance to work with high-caliber talent every day. The team can lean on each other so that everyone is not only contributing, but happy, learning and excited.”
Ideal team member: “When hiring, we gravitate toward people with a large or diverse breadth of experience, those who can contribute to a role in different ways. Approaching a project or problem from multiple perspectives not only helps with cross-team collaboration but ensures that person is consistently thinking through each situation uniquely.
When it comes to actual personality traits, we’re in the pet business and empathy is key. We need people to not only care about the work but also the people they’re working with. That’s why the ‘culture interview’ is so important. It ensures Pawp is the right environment for a new candidate to thrive. There’s a lot of independence in these roles and some people can find owning their work and results intimidating. We’re looking for people who always push boundaries and think a little bit differently than everyone else.”
Quartet Health is on a mission to make mental health care easier to access. The company’s platform breaks down the silos between primary care providers, mental health professionals and insurers to make it easier for patients to be referred to, or find their own, therapist.
Motivation to apply: “I started my career in the mental health space at NYC’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene supporting program evaluation for the state’s Assisted Outpatient Treatment Program,” Smiley said. “I left that role to jump into the startup space. But before long, I knew I wanted to get back into mental health. In 2018, I attended a data event hosted by Quartet where the company’s head of data science spoke — and I was immediately sold.
I joined Quartet in 2019 as a data integration specialist where I collaborated with our health plan partners to create and enhance our data pipeline. Since then, I’ve grown as a manager of this team, both scaling and building out data operations at Quartet, which now incorporates our data engineering and analytics engineering teams.”
Ideal team member: “Working in healthtech comes with a unique experience set. Understanding healthcare data and having the technical chops to manage it is no small ask. But when it comes to growing the team, the quality I look for most is the ability to be a self-starter. Whether you’re a data analyst, an analytics engineer or a data engineer, this is the one skill set that begets success. As we build out our analytics capabilities, it’s critical that we have creative and independent thinkers who are able to follow through on their ideas.”
Share Local Media works exclusively with e-commerce companies to create targeted and trigger-based direct mail campaigns.
Motivation to apply: “I was interested in a position where I would have agency and ownership over my work despite being in the earlier stages of my career,” Tobin said. “With time, that same ability to ‘call the shots’ that drew me to the position has only grown. While I always have the guidance and support of my managers to fall back on if needed, I am able to make critical decisions on behalf of my clients.”
Tackling a big, exciting challenge: “I love whenever clients come to me looking to do something bespoke and unique — like designing a mail campaign that a recipient would keep in their home. While it can be a challenge to stray from the norm and design something we’ve never done before, the added work ultimately makes the campaign more engaging and interesting to me.”
Pulse Analytics has created a business intelligence platform specifically for biopharma companies to support their customer engagement strategies with a focus on oncology and specialty therapeutics.
Motivation to apply: “I applied because I saw the opportunity to work with a small team tackling a problem that is helping change people’s lives,” Carey said. “I wanted my next company to be creating a product that does good for the world — and Pulse does. A lot has changed since I joined Pulse. We have been through an acquisition, grown over 100 percent and adjusted our lifestyle and benefits to how our employees are now working and living their lives.
We don’t ever want employees to feel like they aren’t a part of the decisions that affect the product they are building. Most importantly, the changes at Pulse have been the result of listening. We listened when the world changed, and we asked our employees what benefits they valued. A growing and changing business is nothing if it isn’t growing and changing with its people.”
Ideal team member: “We hire the right person for the job, not just the right skill set. Hiring the right person has so many long-term effects. There are certain soft skills, like leadership, empathy, ambition and patience, that you cannot teach. Sure, a new technical skill can be picked up rather quickly. But we like to surround ourselves with coworkers who are passionate about their work and want to take their career to the next level.
Pulse often has group brainstorming sessions to see how we can better our product and processes. We are always looking for fresh ideas to be brought to the table. Watching people grow into the next generation of leadership is my favorite part of talent acquisition.”
Contentsquare’s user experience analytics platform is used by companies like Rakuten, Adobe and Walmart to better understand the behavior of their customers and identify the UX challenges that stand in the way of sales.
Motivation to apply: “I was fortunate enough to be approached to join the team at Contentsquare,” Bryan said. “I had some mutual connections working for them in Paris, and they mentioned my experience might be a match for the global VP talent opportunity. Since I started working here last summer, we’ve been very busy. I have built up a team of enthusiastic professionals, both through promotions and hiring, and we’re all working together to achieve some very exciting goals.”
Tackling a big, exciting challenge: “What processes or practices do we need to adapt and modify to ensure we’re globally relevant? How can we stand out from other companies that are scaling? What makes us unique? These are the challenges we’re facing, that and being compassionate as we recover from a really difficult year.”
