Studies consistently show that workers’ job satisfaction has a lot more to do with company values and culture than salary and benefits. A recent Glassdoor survey found that this held true across various industries and countries: finding a good job fit means finding a company whose values align with your own.
But that’s a tricky thing to figure out. Compensation and benefits are laid out in clear charts and spreadsheets when the job offer comes through; assessing the culture of a whole organization takes a bit more work.
Built In sat down with employees from two Colorado tech companies to learn how they knew they’d found the right fit. Stephanie Williams, an analyst at Invenergy, says she knew she’d found the place for her when she felt “seen” in the interview. Kohn Phu, director of operations at Vorto, found himself resonating strongly with the energy and drive of the team creating an unprecedented platform.
If values and culture fit, connections prove sustainable beyond that initial onboarding process. Almost a year into her tenure at Invenergy, Williams still feels the rightness of the job. “Even now, my colleagues are often willing to take time out of their busy schedules to help me with a problem or teach me about something new,” she said.
These Colorado companies are hiring now; maybe you’ll find your own fit with one of them.
Invenergy is a global developer and operator of sustainable energy solutions.
At what point in the interview/hiring process did you realize that Invenergy was the company for you?
I joined Invenergy on October 31, 2022. I first suspected Invenergy could be the company for me after an interview with my now-manager and was further convinced in a follow-up interview with my team's director.
After a long summer of job searching and countless interviews, Invenergy was the first time I felt “seen” as a candidate. My work history was relatively unconventional for the role I had applied for, but my hiring managers were able to draw a line from my past to my future with Invenergy. They recognized my skills, my potential, and were able to clearly describe what a career track at Invenergy might look like for me.
It has been a welcoming place full of folks who are willing to lend a helping hand.”
How did your colleagues set you up for success and help you get acclimated once you came aboard?
One of the things I appreciate most about Invenergy is how many nice, helpful people there are. In my experience, it has been a welcoming place full of folks who are willing to lend a helping hand, point you in the right direction or explain something new.
Invenergy is a fast-growing and dynamic company, so it is no small feat to get up to speed as a new hire. My team supported my acclimation by providing me with important resources like training videos and process documents and frequently checking in on my development.
Looking ahead, what do you hope to accomplish with your team?
The exciting part of working at a place like Invenergy and in an industry like renewable energy is the need to be nimble. We have to adapt to emerging technologies and meet complex, novel problems with complex, novel solutions.
Looking ahead, I hope my team can continue to meet the technology needs of the business with proficiency, sustainability, and scalability.
Vorto has created an autonomous supply chain platform that uses artificial intelligence and automation to enable companies to put procurement, payment and logistics on autopilot.
At what point in the interview/hiring process did you realize that your Vorto was the company for you?
I realized that Vorto was the right company for me when I met the team and saw the product. At the time, an AI-based application in the oil and gas industry was a unicorn. Even today, an AI based logistics application does not exist. To build something like our platform required a highly skilled and motivated team.
After meeting the developers and the CEO, I knew this was where I belonged. This was a place where I could find highly intelligent individuals with the motivation and will to build something that never existed before.
After meeting the developers and the CEO, I knew this was where I belonged.”
When I saw how similar the team was to me, I knew I wanted to help them reach their highest potential. They had the will to change the world and the drive to do something amazing. I knew that the sky was the limit for them and it was something I wanted to be a part of because it was going to be very special.
The team had the development expertise; they needed someone like me to help operationalize everything they were building. I knew then that I had a mission and a home.
How did your colleagues set you up for success and help you get acclimated once you came aboard?
In a team-first environment such as ours, we all knew that we had skills and talents in highly specialized fields. From a skill standpoint, it was very easy to know how to technically support each other. The more important factor was motivation and morale.
Building something that’s never been built before is an extremely difficult mountain to climb. The only way to get through it is to stay together as a team. They kept me motivated by offering encouragement and leading by example.
I knew that I didn't want to fail the team, especially after seeing the hours they put into building our product. So I kept pushing no matter what walls I hit with a client or issues we had with the application or whether my energy level was drained due to staying up multiple nights in a row training. That’s what kept me going and in return, my dedication kept them going.
Since joining your company, what’s your favorite success story?
The day we signed a long-term contract with our largest client in energy would be my favorite success story. Everything we did for the previous three years finally culminated in success.
At that point, we were all almost in shock. After three long years of continuous pushing and very small wins with bringing on other companies, finally we were able to complete building the full trucking network platform of our dreams.
We proved that the usage of the full platform saved clients a substantial amount of money and we were finally able to experience a big win. The emotion that the entire team felt was unbelievable.
It felt amazing to see a dream come true and to know that we did it with a group that we could only call a family because of the amount of time we spent together and the ups and downs and hard battles we fought.
The best part about it was that we knew that we weren’t done. We wanted to bring value to other sectors as well, and now we definitely have the confidence to do it. That’s the next goal for us and I’m certain that we are going to achieve the same glory again.
