Colorado's fast-growing startups of 2014 - and how to get a job at them

by Elyse Kent
June 19, 2014

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Colorado is known for building long-lasting and fast-growing companies. National rankings confirm that Colorado has 4 of the top cities for startups  Here's just a few of the companies that are contributing to that growth - and a few inside tips on how to snag a job at them:

 

 

[ibimage==28343==Medium==none==self==ibimage_align-left]iTriage

What they are looking for in applicants: "We recently went through an exercise where we discovered the behaviors that we value most as a company and within each team, since each team has a unique personality, ‘teamwork/ collaboration’ came up on everyone's list, followed by ‘sense of humor’ and ‘positivity’." -Sam Schreiner, Technology Talent Evangelist

Hot hiring areas this year: Across the board in technology. Mobile application developers (iOS and Android), Test Automation Engineers, Ruby and Javascript developers, Infrastructure Engineers, DevOps, and Security.”

How they hire: "We start off with phone interviews to learn about a candidate's experience and get a feel for their technology level and personality. The next round is a half-day onsite with a code test for the technology positions."

 

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PaySimple

What they look for in applicants: “The No. 1 thing we’re looking for in candidates is a culture fit. At PaySimple we’re fanatics about PATHS (Passion, Authenticity, Teamwork, Happiness, and Service). We have questions related to each of those values on our online application, and we have definitely had to turn away candidates when it became apparent during interviews that we weren’t a match when it came to values.” - Mel Torgusen, Director of Empowerment

Hot hiring areas this year: Marketing team, Customer Experience and Sales.

How they hire: "We do a combination of phone and in person interviews. Since we moved our office so close to the Cherry Creek trail, we've have done a few walking interviews if the weather is nice (and the candidate has on comfortable shoes). I’ve also lately been posting our open roles to reddit. It’s an awesome resource, we’ve connected with some great people there."

 

 

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Signpost

What they look for in applicants: “We are looking for individuals who are competitive, driven and looking to make an impact to join our top-notch team.” - Lior Mei-Tal, Campus Recruiter

Hot hiring areas: Sales and Business Development.

How they hire: “ We invite them to our amazing LODO office to meet the management team and get a peek at what a day in the life of a Signpost employee is like. If you’re a fit, you will be surrounded by lively music, countless snacks and encouraging employees clapping and cheering when one of their peers makes a sale. Depending on what exhilarating contest we have going on that week (last week's winners won brand new laptops and Beats by Dre) they will have the opportunity to be introduced to the fast-paced, winning attitude at Signpost.”

 

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ReadyTalk

 

What they are looking for in applicants: "ReadyTalk looks for passion. We believe having employees that are passionate about what they do both at work and outside the office creates motivated and happy employees."- Katie Green, Talent Acquisition Manager

Hot hiring areas this year: Software Engineers and Account Executives.

How they hire: “After completing the application online, your information is reviewed by a Talent Acquisition Manager and submitted for review by the appropriate hiring manager. From there ReadyTalk has a 3 step process which includes a talent, technical and cultural interview. We believe in trying to get to know our candidates on a very real level. This process is a win-win because the candidates get a chance to interview us just as much as we interview them.”

 

 

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HomeAdvisor

 

What they are looking for in applicants: “The number one thing we look for beyond that is a combination of communication ability and passion. The people we hire at HomeAdvisor are excited by their work – and they love to talk about what they do. If someone is looking for just a job, and aren’t really excited or engaged by what they do, it comes out in how they describe their past work, how they talk about their favorite projects, etc. We look for folks who can share what they love and what they’ve done concisely and precisely.” - Tanya Jones, Sr. Corporate Recruiter

Hot hiring areas this year: Development and software QA teams.

How they hire: “For qualified candidates, the interview process usually starts with a phone interview/screen with one of the recruiters, and progresses to more interview stages after we review profiles with the hiring manager. We try to be as transparent as possible with our feedback and communication with our candidates, and do what we can to make sure they know where they stand at every stage of the process.”

 

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LogRhythm

 

What they look for in applicants: “A collaborative mindset. This is well seeped into our culture here at LogRhythm. We develop an incredibly complicated security solution which requires time sensitive support from several areas of the organization. Everybody’s position is reliant upon support from several others.” - Marty Vespa, Recruiting Manager

Hot hiring areas this year: Engineering on both the product side and the support side.

How they hire: “Our hiring process tends to involve a lot of participants internally although we really strive to make it as efficient as possible. In order for us to maintain the culture that we have to date, buy-in from the team and management is critical. Involving several employees also gives the candidate a good feel for what its going to be like to work here on a daily basis.”

 

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SpotXchange

What they look for in applicants: "We don’t have just one thing we are looking for in candidates at SpotXchange but we do have a top three criteria: we're looking for intelligent, personable people that play well with others." - Maureen Schilling, ‎Global Technical Talent Acquisition

Hot hiring areas this year: "We currently have about fifty engineers and we are looking to grow that to at least 100 engineers by the end of 2014. In Operations, we are always looking for strong players in the advertising community and we need people willing to start from the ground up and build their career here."

How they hire: "After applying online, one of our recruiters will review your resume and schedule a phone screen with you. The process from there can vary depending on the department. Typically you can expect a couple of phone interviews and then you'll be brought on site to meet the team."

 

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HOSTING

What they look for in applicants: "We're looking for skills and experience that is equally balanced by culture fit." - Brenda Armstrong, Talent Manager 

Hot hiring areas this year: Three Sr. Software Engineers and sales leaders.
 
How they hire: "We have several interviews so we can understand both technical performance and values fit and we also utilize a culture management software – called RoundPegg to see that we hire folks that align with HOSTING's current culture."
 
 

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Solidfire

What they are looking for in applicants: "Cultural fit - looking for candidates who will align with our company culture and values. Our values are: 1) performance orientation (hard work) 2) competitiveness (striving to do better), 3) innovation (out of the box thinking), 4) supportiveness (team environment & collaborative teams)." - Hannah Levine, HR Manager
 
Hot hiring areas this year: Engineering (QA and development) and Sales and Marketing. Also, an HR Director.
 
How they hire: "We focus on a positive candidate experience and give candidates an opportunity to really get to know SolidFire and our team by giving candidates a chance to meet multiple people in a given department and often time across other departments. Candidates typically do one longer (full or half day) in-person interviews, but sometimes have a couple of in-person interviews."
 

[ibimage==28352==Medium==none==self==ibimage_align-left]Location3 Media

What they are looking for in applicants: “Without question, we always seek to hire people who are truly passionate about the digital marketing industry. While experience plays a key role during the hiring process, the nature of our business can change virtually overnight and so we seek to hire people that have an endless thirst for knowledge, who aren’t afraid to roll up their sleeves and help out on projects outside of their job scope, and who are active in the digital marketing community.” -Joshua Allen, Marketing Manager
 
Hot hiring areas this year: Technology and client services.
 
How they hire: “After an initial posting goes up, the manager responsible for the posted position reviews candidates and selects those that qualify to be contacted for a phone pre-screen, or sends a pre-screening questionnaire. From there, we have one to two rounds of in-person interviews, exposing the final candidates to as many people in the agency as possible to determine skill level, cultural fit and any other appropriate details.” 

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