Shaking up their respective industries in healthcare, green technology and entertainment, these three Chicago area companies are growing quickly and hiring now.
While the work done by teams at GoHealth, LanzaTech and Vivid Seats looks very different, their featured team members were drawn to the organizations for similar reasons; they prized their workplaces’ standout missions and people-first cultures.
Once hired, the featured employees say their companies exceeded expectations, offering opportunities to collaborate with team members on exciting projects, develop their skill sets and, ultimately, further their careers.
Now, they are connecting with Built In Chicago to share highlights from their experiences and helpful hints for job seekers hoping to join an organization where they can make an immediate impact.
GoHealth aims to improve healthcare access through its health insurance marketplace.
What first drew you to GoHealth, and how have your expectations been met since coming aboard?
GoHealth’s mission is what intrigued me about the company. Improving access to healthcare and ensuring that seniors are matched with the right Medicare plan resonate with me. Everyone I spoke to throughout the interview process echoed that.
In addition, everyone I spoke to wanted to know about me personally, not just my accounting skills. They seemed like genuinely good people, and they are! Everyone I have met since I started has been warm and welcoming, and it’s obvious they put the mission first.
Everyone I have met since I started has been warm and welcoming, and it’s obvious they put the mission first.”
I was also excited about working downtown and getting back into an office, as being with my team is very important to me.
What has been your biggest success story since joining the team?
I’ve only been here for about two months, so I’m still definitely in the learning process. There were some things that came up through our quarterly close and SEC filing process that I felt I was able to take the lead on and use my experience to help get us across the finish line. It was great to take the lead and see that people who I had just started working with listened to my ideas and respected my decisions.
GoHealth is currently hiring for a handful of roles. How can new hires make an immediate impact?
GoHealth is such a dynamic place to work. You will not be bored here! New hires can make an impact immediately by listening, learning and asking questions. People here are very willing to talk about the business and what they do, and those interactions alone can be impactful. New team members are able to offer different perspectives that can open up many possibilities.
LanzaTech develops carbon recycling technology to promote a post-pollution future.
What first drew you to LanzaTech, and how have your expectations been met since coming aboard?
I joined LanzaTech in July 2015, when the company was less than a quarter of the size it is now. What initially drew me in was the mission and ethos. I decided pretty early on that while making a good salary is important, what matters most to me is working for a company with like-minded people who want to make a difference in the world, who actually leave a positive mark and don’t just talk about doing it. LanzaTech fit that bill to a T.
What matters most to me is working for a company with like-minded people who want to make a difference in the world.”
The team was diverse, and everyone was as passionate as me about helping to solve our climate crisis. We all worked long hours and in a collaborative fashion, never leaving anyone hanging. It was a true team effort across the board.
In the nearly eight years that have passed since I joined LanzaTech, some aspects of the company have changed, including more structure that naturally comes with being a publicly listed company, but I think the core of who we are remains the same. We are still a bunch of passionate people who are more committed than ever to doing our part to bend the carbon curve. Our mission remains unwavering, and I will continue to do my part to ensure this remains the case in the future.
What has been your biggest success story since joining the team?
One of my biggest success stories at LanzaTech has been the development and creation of my current role of ESG Manager. I have had numerous roles on different teams since joining the company, from being in corporate development to leading our project management office, all while setting up our first two employee resource groups, Green Group and Blend.
Green Group focuses on sustainability in our day-to-day operations, ensuring that they are in full alignment with LanzaTech’s mission. Blend is our diversity, equity and inclusion group focusing on bringing awareness to and creating a space for discussion and dialogue about social justice and inclusion. The goal of this group is to create a culture where all individuals can feel valued and respected and succeed professionally.
I view the creation of my ESG manager role as a success and a natural conclusion to the work I have done to create and sustain Green Group and Blend, which were products of my team-building skills and passions. I learned a great deal about myself through this process, such as how to advocate for myself and how best to present ideas to the company in order to ultimately make them a reality.
LanzaTech is currently hiring for a handful of roles. How can new hires make an immediate impact?
For new hires to have an immediate impact at the company, it really comes down to their mindsets more than their backgrounds or skill sets. My advice is to be open and honest, curious and willing to work hard. Be kind and a true team player.
Also, I encourage everyone to get involved in LanzaTech activities and groups outside of their daily jobs. Our company has grown so much in the past few years that it’s important to put yourself in positions where you can get to know other team members. The more you know and are aware of what’s going on, the more dots you can help connect.
Vivid Seats is an online ticket marketplace for live events.
What first drew you to Vivid Seats, and how have your expectations been met since coming aboard?
There were many elements that drew me to Vivid Seats, but the primary drivers were its innovative culture, investment in the customer experience and the focus on career development. These elements, combined with the opportunity to create lifelong memories for fans across the country at the live events they love, made Vivid Seats an exciting opportunity.
Our continuous focus on the customers’ experience is at the forefront of our philosophy as an organization. Since joining, this has been evident in our work, values and culture. It has been exciting to leverage new and scalable technology solutions that create world-class user experiences.
Grounded in our values, Vivid Seats is a place to learn, grow and expand upon skill sets. We do not only believe in our core values, we live them. We create exceptional experiences for our internal teams and customers when we embrace new perspectives and ideas, empower each other and constantly strive to raise the bar.
Grounded in our values, Vivid Seats is a place to learn, grow and expand upon skill sets.”
What has been your biggest success story since joining the team?
Most recently, we prepared for a high-volume day that was expected to generate substantial traffic to our site. I led the efforts to coordinate our engineering and quality teams to perform load testing across our applications in a new way. While this was new territory for Vivid Seats, one that involved high-level communication across the organization, our strategic vision and cross-functional collaboration led to a highly successful event day.
Load and performance testing at this level was not something that I had participated in before. I learned a lot from my peers during this effort, and I now have a better understanding of how our systems perform and work on a deeper level. Not only did we achieve a successful business outcome but also growth and development outcomes.
I’m excited to face the new challenges ahead and share in both the successes and learning opportunities with my teammates.
Vivid Seats is currently hiring for a handful of roles. How can new hires make an immediate impact?
While impactful performers exist at all levels of Vivid Seats, each with unique skill sets, it’s clear they all possess one similar and important quality: a growth mindset.
With this mindset, they are able to bring an ownership mentality to everything they do and offer fresh ideas that create expectational user experiences. With this kind of focus and attitude, new hires can set themselves up to make an immediate impact at the company.
Everyone’s voice and ideas are valued at Vivid Seats. If you love taking initiative and working in a fast-paced environment, if you want to learn, grow and be empowered, then I highly suggest checking out our open roles.
