“One thing that might surprise people is how Udemy employees truly live the mission,” said Head of Platform Engineering Madhu Venkatesh.
For Udemy, that mission is to build an accessible educational platform for lifelong learning. According to Venkatesh, her team members actively believe they are making a difference and improving people’s lives, both professionally and personally.
Employees who think their company has a higher purpose than making a profit are 27 percent more likely to stay at their jobs, according to a report by TinyPulse. Company mission and culture are often just as important to job seekers as salary and position title.
For jobseekers looking to find a new professional purpose, look no further. We spoke to senior leaders at four tech companies about the traits they look for in new hires, as well as what unites teammates in the office. Along with belief in the company mission, camaraderie, curiosity and having a strong sock game topped the list.
What they do: Metric Theory s a performance digital marketing agency that is behind the digital growth of companies like FabFitFun, GoFundMe and Zenefits. Recently, the company was named the 2019 SEM Agency of the Year at the Search Engine Land Awards.
One thing that would surprise people about Metric Theory: “The camaraderie,” said Senior Marketing Manager Kendall Todd. “It would be a challenge to find anyone at the company, across all of our offices, that did not get along with someone else. When people from other offices visit, or we have our annual company retreat, everyone is enthusiastically welcomed in a truly friendly way. One of my favorite things about working at Metric Theory is the great people.”
It would be a challenge to find anyone at the company that did not get along with someone else.”
One trait all team members share: “One trait that all the members of my team share is a dedication to the team,” Todd said. “One of our core values at Metric Theory is being team-oriented, and employees across the company step up and exemplify this value every day. From helping out team members with busy weeks to grabbing an unsolicited coffee for a teammate who is feeling stressed, Metric Theory teams are always there for each other. This trait makes everyone feel respected and valued.”
What they do: For those who are students of life, Udemy offers over 150,000 online courses available from experts around the globe. Students can take courses on their laptops for self-enrichment or professional gain. Apart from personalized study, the company's “Udemy for Business” branch allows companies’ teams to take business courses together.
One thing that would surprise people about Udemy: “How Udemy employees truly live the mission,” said Head of Platform Engineering Madhu Venkatesh. “Many companies have a great mission, but too often that mission gets forgotten. At Udemy, people don’t just believe they are making a difference, they actively improve people’s lives by building an accessible educational platform.”
She added: “But Udemy’s platform isn’t just for customers; we use it too. Lifelong learning is highly valued at Udemy, and there are plenty of opportunities to learn new skills here. Employees can enroll in as many Udemy classes as they like and have an hour to learn something new each month!”
Lifelong learning is highly valued at Udemy.”
One trait all team members share: “Intellectual humility is the one trait all members of my team share. While the team is full of smart people, everyone is humble and willing to accept feedback,” said Venkatesh. “Each teammate is also open to being wrong, listening to opposing viewpoints and compromising when needed. This makes us a collaborative group focused on finding the best solution to a problem as a team, rather than as individuals.”
What they do: BetterCloud is a SaaS operations management platform that helps IT departments manage and secure user activity across the digital workplace. More than 2,500 customers in over 65 countries rely on BetterCloud for continuous event monitoring, quickly remediating threats and fully automating policy enforcement.
One thing that would surprise people about BetterCloud: “That we're not disrupting a market, we're making a market, and that we really don't have any direct competitors,” said Andrew Armstrong, director of sales, West. “Also, I think the age of our company can be misleading; we were founded in 2011, but essentially became a new company in 2018 when we successfully transitioned to a SaaS operations management platform as part of the SaaSOps movement. We are right in that sweet spot of having a successful product with more than a thousand customers but still early enough where we are in high-growth mode and still in the early innings of the SaaSOps movement.”
We are right in that sweet spot of having a successful product with but still early enough where we are in high-growth mode.”
One trait all team members share: “Everyone seems to have had that epiphany where they understand they have come across what many would say is a once-in-a-career opportunity to be a part of something very special that we are referring to as the SaaSOps movement,” said Armstrong. “The result is a level of excitement and energy that is contagious, and thinking about how much potential there is to go even further makes it really fun. I also think everyone shares a natural sense of curiosity and creativity to navigate this new space because it's so different from the commodity IT and security software market with bake-offs and RFPs — it's like playing jazz instead of being in a symphony.”
What they do: Smartly.io’s platform allows brands to automate their social advertising. With smartly.io, brands can reduce time spent on campaign management, scale operations efficiently and generate thousands of ad variations automatically. The company’s headquartered in Helsinki and has 13 offices on five continents.
One thing that would surprise people about Smartly.io: “Our headquarters in Helsinki is a shoes-free office. It's a reflection of our laid-back culture and creates a really cozy office environment. It also means that Smartlies have a really strong sock game,” said Head of Strategy Julia Fischer.
We share a mindset that we're all in this together, and nothing is someone else's problem.”
One trait all team members share: “We aren't afraid to ask our teammates for help,” Fischer said. “We share a mindset that we're all in this together, and nothing is someone else's problem. I love working on a team where everyone has each other's backs.”
