What makes a job the perfect match?
For Anita Lim-Fritz, current senior director of people and talent, it was a supportive environment that clearly valued employee growth. Throughout the interview process at AI organization Mythic, Lim-Fritz felt she had found a “company that was passionate not just about building an innovative product, but also creating a workplace culture where people could really grow and thrive.”
That first impression was no façade, and her tenure has now spanned more than three years.
In Dave Getman’s experience, the energy of the SentinelOne team matched his own and sealed the deal. His decision wasn’t free from competition, either — “I had an offer from another hot company, but I didn’t sense the same focus and intensity,” he said.
If there is one thing a company can rarely hide or alter, it is the tone of its employees; in this case, Dave’s early impression of the SentinelOne team turned out to be true.
“Almost a year in, I can truly say I’m surrounded by a team of people who are incredible in both their spirit and their talent, many of whom I’m confident that I’ll want to be friends with for years to come,” he said.
For more inspirational first impressions and success stories, we met with seven local leaders to hear what attracted them to their roles and learn about new projects they’re tackling. We also got a few insider tips on what they look for in new hires. If you’re ready for a new opportunity, one of their open roles may be a match.
What they do: GRAIL is a healthcare company whose mission is to detect cancer early using the power of high-intensity sequencing, population-scale clinical studies, and computer science and data science to enhance the scientific understanding of cancer biology, and to develop and commercialize pioneering products.
First impressions: “I began discussions with GRAIL in late 2017 and joined in early 2018,” Chen said. “GRAIL’s goal was to develop a multi-cancer cancer detection test. I had the privilege of being the product manager for the first two versions of our multi-cancer early detection product, and then the opportunity to grow a product and program management organization system that now manages and supports a portfolio of cancer detection products and leads our cross-functional teams. Looking back on nearly four years, it’s been an incredibly fun, wild journey of learning, growth and shared accomplishment.”
The ideal candidate: “I search our candidate pools for technical qualifications and experience, of course, but I also look for team members who have demonstrated a repeated openness to learn, the flexibility to manage through change, and humility. Additionally, I look for a team-oriented mindset when problem-solving. The ability to tackle problems and solutions collectively with others is critical to overcoming the inevitable challenges that occur when working on something innovative.”
What they do: Mythic is a startup developing a platform for deploying artificial intelligence in any device.
First impressions: “In my initial conversations with the Mythic team, I could tell that this was a company that was passionate not just about building an innovative product, but also in creating a workplace culture where people could really grow and thrive,” Lim-Fritz said. “My tenure with the company has now spanned more than three years. People have a tremendous amount of respect for one another here, and we’ve worked hard to cultivate a workplace where everyone feels like they belong and where their voice is heard and respected. Deciding to join the Mythic was one of the best decisions I’ve made!”
What they’re looking for: “Whether a candidate can be a team player. To be successful here, one needs to be able to both share their expertise with others as well as be humble enough to accept that there is much to learn from the collective knowledge of their team. We also look for people that can demonstrate a growth mindset. Taking calculated risks is not only expected but encouraged! We encourage people to be solution-oriented when issues arise and to take ownership of the problem. There will inevitably be ups and downs, but we are always confident that with these character traits, we will prevail as a team.”
What they do: Domino Data Lab powers model-driven businesses with their enterprise MLOps platform that accelerates the development and deployment of data science work while increasing collaboration and governance.
First impressions: “When I learned about Domino’s Enterprise MLOps Platform that enables companies to progress through the end-to-end data science lifecycle and how it is being used by 20 percent of the Fortune 100, I knew I wanted to help make an impact not only in growing Domino but indirectly impacting millions of people through the use of our platform,” Sanchez said. “A lot has changed in the last 12 months. My team has grown, our hiring and employee population has doubled and our brand is expanding in the tech community. Through those changes, our company values continue to provide the foundation for our success. Every team and employee is always looking to improve and be their best.”
Supercharged for success: “Our increase in headcount has created an exciting opportunity to invest in building our teams. We are supercharging hiring and focusing on expanding our engineering, product and sales teams. The increase in hiring will lead to doubling our headcount from the end of last year. The short window and increased headcount come with challenges. Velocity, capacity to interview and maintaining a high bar are all areas that need to be maintained without jeopardizing the hiring goal. The Domino of tomorrow is already taking shape, and I am energized about the ride ahead.”
What they do: Afresh has built the first Fresh Operating System — a solution created specifically for fresh inventory, forecasting, ordering and grocery store operations.
First impressions: “Afresh hits the most important things I was looking for,” Mostafa said. “A positive social impact (reduce food waste and make fresh food accessible to all) brings meaning into my work, a solid value proposition that is founded on frontier technology capabilities drives our company growth, and there’s a genuine commitment to an empathetic and mindful culture.”
Where product paths meet: “Our product sits at a very interesting intersection of user-centered software, enterprise system integrations, and machine learning and optimization algorithms. I find it incredibly exciting and challenging to establish effective product development teams who can build products across these varying design and engineering domains.”
What they do: SentinelOne delivers autonomous security for the endpoint, datacenter and cloud environments to help organizations secure their assets with speed and simplicity.
First impressions: “After my interviews, I knew that SentinelOne was different,” Getman said. “When I talked to friends at other security and endpoint vendors about where SentinelOne was four years ago versus now, it was clear that something incredible was happening. I had an offer from another hot company but I didn’t sense the same focus and intensity. In the end, it was a decision to join a group of people that seemed to have an exceptional focus on building a product that could meet today’s mounting attacks. Almost a year in, I can truly say I’m surrounded by a team of people who are incredible in both their spirit and their talent, many of whom I’m confident that I’ll want to be friends with for years to come.”
An eye on the future: “This is a company that lives and breathes security and responds to new threats with unmatched intensity. The force multiplier is that it’s all distilled into a simple UX and autonomous agent, so this is security that can protect the masses. I’m thrilled to be in a position to help drive that future. To leverage the data and response actions possible through our vendors, I work with engineering, our innovation team and Scalyr team to ingest external data and bring it into detection and triage and then allow third-party response actions. There’s no other product I’d rather be working on.”
What they do: Lob automates and simplifies direct mail and address verification, giving businesses greater flexibility, visibility and accuracy of offline communications and data.
First impressions: “I was intrigued by the mission: the connection between the offline and online world,” Chittoor said. “I’ve always loved building things but I had never worked on something with a physical goods component. I knew that would represent a different set of challenges to solve. I was also very excited to join a company at its growth stage, and for the opportunity to drive meaningful impact. The experience to date has been awesome. I feel fortunate to be surrounded by smart, capable and collaborative individuals.”
A key new-hire trait: “I always look for a growth mindset. I’ve found that this approach is critical because you have to constantly learn new skills to keep up to date. This is essential in a fast growing startup like Lob where you’re putting on so many different hats and the company changes so quickly.”
What they do: Side transforms high-performing agents, teams and independent brokerages into successful businesses and boutique brands that are 100 percent agent-owned.
First impressions: “I learned of the opportunity at Side through my network,” Whitney said. “Although I wasn’t looking for a new role, I was immediately intrigued by the opportunity to head up talent acquisition. I love growing organizations and building teams, and I am really excited about scaling the business from three states to 18 by the end of the year.”
Identifying improvements: “One of the most interesting challenges for me right now is looking, with a critical eye, for efficiencies in our processes and systems so we can achieve our expansion goals for 2022. We are looking at our sourcing strategies, and what additional resources we should be utilizing to ensure we are finding and engaging with top talent. We are also looking at the candidate journey from the application stage through onboarding, and how we can set the framework to handle the expected growth while ensuring a great candidate experience. For me, this is fun.”
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