It’s easy to approach a new position at a new company through rose-colored glasses. Optimism is a trait that many employees, entry-level and otherwise, cultivate and for obvious reasons. Enthusiasm is a great way to telegraph a willingness to learn and a desire to grow.
In retrospect, though, it’s the accounts of those workplaces that have proven to be legitimately rose-tinted that often make the most valuable testimonials for job seekers. Employees who have taken the time to sit down, take off their proverbial shades and come to understand their employer, their role and its relationship to their career can give indispensable advice to incoming candidates — and help discern a company where enthusiasm truly abounds from one that quickly loses its shine.
According to Pew Research Center, there is a dramatic inflection point where only 26 percent of employees under 29 see their job as a career — as opposed to 60 percent of employees 30 to 49. And having journeymen employees who have understood a company and retained their enthusiasm can be a tremendous asset in terms of mentorship — as well as a testament to the quality of employee experience at a company.
This month, Built In Austin asked three employees to look back at their first impressions of their employers and reflect on the opportunities for growth that have borne out the initial promise of those first impressions. All these employers are hiring; read on to learn more about how you can join in on their efforts.
A gaming solutions company, Aristocrat offers products and services that include electronic gaming machines, social gaming and casino management systems.
Think back to your early days on the job; what surprised you or stood out to you most about Aristocrat’s culture?
Aristocrat is an amazing place to work because the company leaders genuinely care about their people and the culture they are working hard to create. The first year I was here, I was invited to a mixer to meet the board of directors. Everyone was approachable, smiling, easy to talk to and interested in my story. Leadership has changed a little since then, but the board and executives maintain that same friendly, humble culture that I’m proud to be a part of.
The company saw potential in me, and they helped foster my growth as a leader.”
How long have you been with Aristocrat, and what professional growth or development have you seen in that time?
I’ve worked at Aristocrat for more than seven years. In that time, I have gone from being an individual contributor on games to running a studio. The company saw potential in me, and they helped foster my growth as a leader in the company. With a full and talented team by my side, I’m now able to create even more fun and exciting games for the company!
Restore Hyper Wellness is a retail provider of alternative health and wellness products and services including red light saunas, IV drip therapy and intramuscular shots.
Think back to your early days on the job. What surprised you or stood out to you most about Restore’s culture?
When I first started at Restore, I was painted a picture of the company culture, but it’s one thing to talk about it and another to experience it. I didn’t expect how close knit, family-oriented and passionate this company really is about family, company goals and initiatives. This is a really cool place to work.
What’s the coolest project you’ve worked on recently, and what skills did it help you develop?
The coolest project I have been a part of at Restore is the development of our own point-of-sale system. Seeing it being built from the ground up is really complex and amazing. I personally have been able to touch our SQL database and learn the nuances of how the system works. I had never done that before.
I didn’t expect how close knit, family-oriented and passionate this company really is about family, company goals and initiatives.”
I’ve also grown knowledge-wise in other aspects of IT, picking the brains of my cohorts and learning how to create automated scripts in Selenium and pull query reports in Tableau Cloud. There is still so much to learn, and I look forward to the challenge.
Fintech company Method Financial is an API that works with more than 15,000 financial institutions to enable data retrieval and debt repayments to any type of consumer liability.
Think back to your early days on the job. What surprised you or stood out to you most about Method Financial’s culture?
I was pleasantly surprised with how humble everyone was. Regardless of job duties, everyone steps in to help each other, including our founders. I’ve worked for a handful of startups and found it’s quite rare to find founders and leaders who are willing to step in and do the hands-on work while also being able to manage gracefully and accept feedback themselves.
There’s never a feeling of stepping on each other’s toes or feeling competitive toward one another at Method. It’s truly a collaborative environment.
When I first joined, we had an outstanding amount of applicants in our pipeline, which is awesome, but I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with learning a new system and keeping the candidate experience top of mind. Without hesitation, our CEO Jose and COO Mit jumped in and started working through candidate pipelines and sending feedback to candidates to help to maintain our candidate experience.
Our culture encourages employees to explore different ways that will help them be successful in their roles and in daily life.”
What’s the coolest project you’ve worked on recently, and what skills did it help you develop?
I recently campaigned for an AI-based tool that acts as an in-house sourcer for the team. I was able to flex my research and analytical skills in this project as I wanted to be able to present a solid business case for implementing this tool.
I did a comparative analysis on several different tools and dug into research, feedback and demos to find the best product fit. I truly appreciate that the leaders at Method are open and welcoming to bringing in new tools, skills and methodologies. Our culture encourages employees to explore different ways that will help them be successful in their roles and in daily life.
