Hiring isn’t just about filling seats or conducting day-to-day business for a company. It’s about embracing fresh talent and viewpoints to move the industry forward.
While factors like previous work experience and educational background can be essential pieces to the hiring puzzle, building a team that seeks to enhance the industry also requires matches in personal attitude and philosophy.
Individuals who consider themselves to be thoughtful, for example, might find a great match with coding education platform Codecademy. “Everyone who works at Codecademy cares deeply about one another, and this extends to our colleagues, learners and potential candidates,” said Recruiting Manager Harmeet Parmar.
Others who see themselves as passionate personalities could feel at home at transaction data company CompStak. “Many of my colleagues were themselves CompStak users for years before working here and their energy is contagious,” said Senior Director of Product Adrian Rogowski. “When I see that combination of energy, curiosity and passion in someone, I know they’ll thrive and grow quickly here.”
See yourself as more curious, scrappy, driven or even well-rounded? You’re in luck. Built In NYC curated a list of eight companies hiring this month to learn more about the impactful team dynamics they foster, the ways their current projects are shaping the industries they work within, and the various career growth opportunities made possible for employees since accepting their role.
Spring Health is a comprehensive mental health benefit for employers.
What’s one word you would use to describe your colleagues?
One word is tough, so here are three: scrappy, smart and friendly.
As engineers, it’s important that our people are both skilled and curious about their field. With rapid growth comes a lot of new challenges around scaling and ensuring our technical platform can handle all the new members that are signing up — as well as continue to deliver new functionality to support those members. We need people with the chops to handle all of that.
At the same time, the things I appreciate most about my colleagues are their openness to collaboration, their willingness to share their knowledge and experience, and their good humor to laugh at my dumb jokes. Software development is a surprisingly social enterprise and what I value most is working with supportive, smart and caring people.
My managers have played an active role in helping me decide what my next steps will be and making sure I get there.”
How has your skill set and overall career grown at Spring Health?
Spring Health is growing really quickly, but in a lot of ways it still has the energy of a young startup — we’re really scrappy and things change quickly. The upshot of this is that there is a ton of opportunity to take ownership of things and to chart your own path.
On a technical level, I’ve grown a lot on the planning and strategy side of things by working with teammates to start new projects and to identify architectural paths for our code to move toward in the future. On an organizational level, I’ve been lucky to work with a lot of new folks as they join the company, being a bit of an ambassador for our team as well as for our code. My managers have played an active role in helping me decide what my next steps will be and making sure I get the experiences that will help me get there.
The Farmer’s Dog is helping to reimagine what pet food is, how it’s made, and how it’s delivered.
What’s one word you would use to describe your colleagues?
Well-rounded. Beyond being incredibly smart and capable in their own roles, my co-workers are extraordinarily kind, caring and more than willing to help others. And to top it all off, they’re also ridiculously fun!
The fact that we’ve been able to maintain this high standard while growing so fast as a company amazes me every day. When we’re interviewing potential candidates, we look for applicable experience to ensure each new hire raises the bar for their department — but culture and values are equally important. We’re always looking for compassionate, motivated people who can contribute to the company’s success and also help foster an inspiring and positive workplace. Working in service of dogs and their health certainly helps with that too.
In less than three years, I’ve been promoted three times and have had the opportunity to join different functions.”
How has your skill set and overall career grown at The Farmer’s Dog?
In my time with The Farmer’s Dog, I’ve grown so much and I still continue to grow and learn every single day. I joined the company from a completely unrelated industry, starting out on our customer experience team to get a grounding in our business and our customers. In less than three years, I’ve been promoted three times and have had the opportunity to join different functions where I can apply my experience on CX to focus on improving our customer retention.
As a senior retention associate, I’m able to work with and learn from almost every other department — from operations and product to engineering, marketing and CX — tackling projects as diverse as optimizing the timing and content of all of our subscriber communications to reimagining the components of our physical experience. There’s truly never a dull day.
Even Financial is a B2B fintech company that is transforming the way financial institutions reach consumers.
What’s one word you would use to describe your colleagues?
Empowered. Leadership at Even is incredibly passionate about fostering an environment of creativity, innovation and inclusion. Everyone’s voice matters in driving the direction of the organization — including product and engineering decisions — regardless of department or level. When hiring, we look for inquisitive individuals with strong opinions, loosely held.
Even is dedicated to ensuring an environment of continuous learning where talent from diverse backgrounds at all levels across the organization have endless opportunities to make a meaningful impact on our long-term success, while also reaching our full potential professionally and as a unique individual. My colleagues are highly engaged in the shaping of an emerging industry, and we benefit from a collaborative environment where diverse viewpoints are leveraged to solve dynamic, multi-faceted and complex challenges across the fintech landscape. We are empowered to take an empirical approach to our work which contributes to ensuring the best end-results.
I’ve been able to collaborate with my manager on shaping my career for me instead of shaping me for my career.”
How has your skill set and overall career grown at Even Financial?
Throughout my career at Even, I’ve been given the opportunity to nurture my strengths through varied work streams and cross-functional collaboration while still honing my weaker skills. Using these learnings, I’ve been able to collaborate with my manager on shaping my career for me instead of shaping me for my career.
Originally a chapter lead, I frequently found myself involved in strategic planning conversations more often than managing individual tasks. As I continued to take on greater strategic initiatives, my focus naturally gravitated towards a stronger leadership position. I shared these observations with my manager and by the end of our conversation, we had assembled and enacted a plan for me to assume a director role by year’s end. In this new role, I’m able to leverage my existing skill set to a greater degree while also building and nurturing talent. This allowed me to continue to advance my career while simultaneously giving me the tools to be successful in my career beyond Even Financial.
Codecademy helps learners upgrade their careers, build meaningful projects and gain confidence in their skills through coding education.
What’s one word you would use to describe your colleagues?
Thoughtful. Everyone who works at Codecademy cares deeply about one another, and this extends to our colleagues, learners and potential candidates. This comes up in many ways during the recruiting process. Before approaching an employee about grading a candidate’s take-home assignment, our coordination team always checks in to make sure they have the bandwidth to do so. If I ever receive a Slack or email message from a colleague after hours, there’s always a note saying: “Please do not respond to this until tomorrow.” It’s the little things that all add up and make this team really special.
At Codecademy, our employees care deeply about our mission and breaking down barriers to entry in tech. That’s best brought to life through our apprenticeship program. The amount of collaboration and thoughtfulness I’ve seen from working on the program shows just how passionate our team is about hiring and nurturing talent who are just getting their foot in the door in software development. Whether our teammates are collaborating with one another internally or working with candidates externally, that thoughtfulness is ingrained in Codecademy’s DNA.
Our goal has always been to open doors for people who can’t afford the means to learn software development via the traditional avenues.”
Why is your industry an exciting place to work right now, and what role does Codecademy play within it?
Around the globe, there is a major shortage of technical talent. There is more demand to hire software developers, data scientists and other types of technologists, but unfortunately there is not enough talent to close the gap. Codecademy is directly solving that problem, which makes this such an exciting place to work. Our platform empowers people to learn new skills, make a career change in tech and help them continue to grow once they’ve landed a job. Not only are we one of the premiere and most widely-used platforms for technical education, but now we’re joining forces with Skillsoft to become one of the largest edtech players in the space.
Our goal has always been to open doors for people who can’t afford the means to learn software development via the traditional avenues — such as a four-year college degree or a six-month bootcamp. With the support of Skillsoft, we are able to accelerate our growth and scale our impact to reach more people all around the world. We’re doubling down on efforts to expand our B2B presence, launch new curriculum domains and grow our reach in key international markets like India in order to help more people lead inspiring careers in tech.
CompStak creates transparency in commercial real estate by gathering unique or hard-to-find data.
What’s one word you would use to describe your colleagues?
Passionate. Everyone I come across at CompStak is extremely passionate about their work and the overall mission to enable better, faster deals by creating transparency in the commercial real estate industry with accurate data. Many of my colleagues were themselves CompStak users for years before working here and their energy is contagious. When I see that combination of energy, curiosity and passion in someone, I know they’ll thrive and grow quickly here.
As a fast-growing company, there is always the opportunity to solve problems that you care deeply about.”
How has your skill set and overall career grown at CompStak?
What I love about CompStak is that I’ve been able to quickly grow with the company and share in its success. I’ve learned about so many different areas, from scaling marketplaces to emerging technologies, and as someone who is naturally curious it makes work extremely exciting.
As a fast-growing company, there is always the opportunity to take on additional scope and solve problems that you care deeply about. CompStak now has a unique opportunity to transform the commercial real estate industry and help it become more data-driven by building and nurturing communities of real estate professionals — and for people joining the CompStak team, there is a ton of room to grow with us.
Healthee helps employees gain easier access to health benefits and better understand their health insurance plans.
What’s one word you would use to describe your colleagues?
Curious. Healthee employees are natural learners, constantly discovering new and better ways of doing things. Propelled by curiosity, employees respond easily to the fast-changing work environment. They are intrigued by new challenges and work collaboratively to craft the optimal solution.
We’re helping employees be healthier by making health benefits simple and accessible to everyone, everywhere.”
Why is your industry an exciting place to work right now, and what role does Healthee play within it?
Changes in the world have been fast-tracked and recent history has exposed the inextricable link between the health of the American workforce and the productivity of U.S. businesses. In the future of work, the key to success is employee health and well-being.
At Healthee, we have been provided a unique opportunity to redefine that traditional U.S. healthcare model by creating a customer-centric solution that bridges the gap between health insurance and quality care. By partnering with organizations we are able to provide employees with the necessary tools to access, understand and utilize their health benefits. We’re helping employees be healthier by making health benefits simple and accessible to everyone, everywhere.
DearDoc is a technology-driven growth management platform for private practice doctors.
What’s one word you would use to describe your colleagues?
Family. The reason I chose this word is because the moment I stepped into my role here at DearDoc, I felt that I was a part of one large, positive family.
The culture that has been built here in this company is unmatched. The amount of support and love that each individual gives off is incredible. I have never felt more at home and I am so fortunate to be alongside a group of people that I can consider my second family. There is never a moment that you feel you’re on your own. Every single individual is here to support the person to their left and to their right. Every single person is looking to give — whether it’s guidance, support or even a good laugh — and you never once feel that you are in a negative place.
The kind of traits that we look for in potential colleagues are caring, positive and selfless. Sales is an up-and-down game. It can be very easy to fall down a negative spiral, but knowing you have an army of individuals all on the same mission, all with the same passion to help and serve, but more importantly willing to go out of their way for you — this is what it’s all about.
Every single person is looking to give — whether it’s guidance, support or even a good laugh.”
How has your skill set and overall career grown at DearDoc?
My growth within the company has been unmatched. The skills and lessons I’ve learned in my time here at DearDoc cannot be put into words. Not only have I grown as a professional, but more importantly I’ve grown as an individual.
I’m extremely passionate about developing myself into a highly calibrated individual. As the sales trainer, one of the key things I mention to each new rep here is that not only will you grow as an employee, but your personal growth will take off as well. You’re going to learn how to communicate on a higher level, make decisions with confidence and how to present yourself in an extremely professional manner. This is what I strive to teach every single rep that comes through our doors.
These are skills people would do anything to be taught. It takes people years to learn these types of skills for themselves, and you have the potential to learn them in six months or even less. You’re going to learn how to approach life with a newfound confidence after applying what’s been taught during your time at DearDoc and be able to apply this to anything in your life. This is something I will never take for granted.
Thesis is reinventing the world of brain health and mental performance by personalizing nootropics, a brain supplement.
What’s one word you would use to describe your colleagues?
Driven. We are a tight team moving quickly. People who are hungry for growth, purpose and opportunity for ownership from ideation to execution will fit right in.
When I speak about my time at Thesis, I always come back to the same three words: dynamic, challenging and worthwhile.”
How has your skill set and overall career grown at Thesis?
Growth is the core of Thesis. I have consistently seen ambition and aptitude rewarded with opportunity — regardless of where you started. The team will encourage the vision you’re inspired to build.
I initially interviewed to be a customer experience manager and quickly became the department head. After helping raise a CX team, my cross-departmental interest and drive to facilitate was rewarded with a promotion into director of special projects. When I speak about my time and role at Thesis, I always come back to the same three words: dynamic, challenging and worthwhile.
It’s exciting to watch the word “nootropic” become more widely understood as leaders in biotech, like Thesis, perfect solutions that support cognitive function — specifically mood, focus and energy levels. It is rare to have a team that you care about, a company with a mission you’re proud of and a product that has made a positive change in the lives of those who use it.
