There is a secret among Chicagoans — we all put up with winter here because the summers are so magical.
Chicago winters aren’t all bad, though. The holidays in the Windy City bring a lot of festivities.
Like our Christkindlmarket, for one. Since 1996, the German American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest has put on the German-style outdoor market, complete with “glow-wine” — the literal translation of glühwein, a mulled spiced wine.
Chicago theater season reaches its peak in December with annual shows at many of the city’s 200 theatres and five Tony Award-winning theater companies. Also on stage is the annual Nutcracker ballet from the world-renowned Joffrey Ballet.
Of course, holiday season means gifts, and shopping at Macy’s holds a chapter in the city’s history, as well — the company is now on year 57 of its famous window displays and year 117 of sponsoring the annual tree lighting in Millennium Park.
Built In Chicago took a break from enjoying the holiday traditions around the city to find five tech companies that are looking to hire this year. We found a few noteworthy additions to each company’s tech stack, hardware updates and technical expectations that applicants can talk about in the interview to stand out.
What the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago does: The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago is one of 12 regional Reserve Banks across the United States that, together with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., serve as the nation’s central bank.
Onsite Perks
- Commuter benefits
- Company-sponsored outings
- Fitness stipend
- Onsite gym
- Relocation assistance
What you will do: Working at The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago means more than trips to the Money Museum — although the bags of shredded money are still cool to see as an adult. The IT teams spend their time analyzing and visualizing data, building applications and working with cloud and AI technologies.
What Quantum Metric does: Quantum Metric’s digital intelligence platform helps companies improve their user experience with continuous product design.
Financial Perks
- 401(k) matching
- Company equity
- Charitable contribution matching
- Performance bonus
- Pay transparency
Research forward: Quantum Metric makes a point to stay ahead in the AI and data industry, which is why the team surveyed 200 digital leaders across industries in the United States. It found that “57 percent of respondents identified leadership’s hesitance to embrace new technologies as the primary barrier to leveraging data for improving customer experiences. This reluctance seems rooted in a combination of fear of change (56 percent) and concerns about ROI (53 percent). Most importantly, it contrasted with the 50 percent of digital leaders who aspire to modernize their tech stack in the coming year.”
What SteelSeries does: SteelSeries creates hardware and software that enhances the gaming experience, improving user performance.
Office Perks
- Commuter benefits
- Company-sponsored outings
- Company-sponsored happy hours
- Pet friendly
- Relocation assistance
- Free snacks and drinks
- Home-office stipend for remote employees
Fastest keyboard in the West: We don’t actually know if SteelSeries makes the fastest keyboard in the West, but we did see some noteworthy updates that rolled out with the release of its new Apex Pro Gen 3 Series gaming keyboard. “Protection Mode” prevents accidentally pressing the wrong key by reducing the sensitivity of selected surrounding keys. The new “Rapid Trigger” feature allows gamers to press the same key over and over without having to wait for a full return. A slight finger lift gets the job done, according to a SteelSeries press release.
What Rocket Travel does: Rocket Travel by Agoda is the strategic partnerships arm of Agoda, a Booking Holdings company. The company creates and delivers travel tech solutions that support loyalty initiatives for large global brands.
Culture Perks
- Flexible work schedule
- Open door policy
- Open office floor plan
- Pair programming
- Partners with nonprofits
- Remote work program
- Team based strategic planning
- Employee-led culture committees
- Employee awards
How Rocket Travel is changing: U.S. Bank has a new travel booking platform for credit card holders because of a strategic partnership with Rocket Travel by Agoda. A press release from Rocket Travel notes that the company has access to more than 2.4 million properties worldwide.
“Our technology unlocks the full potential of the Booking Holdings group of brands for U.S. Bank cardholders,” said SVP Sarah Moore in the press release. “Cardholders will find a transformed travel planning experience, more options and deeper value in this new travel platform.”
What Supernova Technology does: Supernova Technology creates digital wealth-management tools and lending software that makes flexible liquidity solutions more accessible.
Professional Development Perks
- Continuing education stipend
- Job training and conferences
- Online course subscriptions available
- Paid industry certifications
- Promote-from-within culture
- Lunch-and-learn sessions
- Continuing education available during work hours
What’s new in Supernova tech: Supernova Technology announced the launch of Aperture, a bank collateral management solution for all major collateral types such as securities, real estate, accounts receivable, insurance, fixed assets and more.
“In today’s uncertain economic and fiscal environment, having a comprehensive solution to monitor and mitigate risk across different collateral and loan types is more important than ever,” said CEO Tao Huang in a press release. “Using Aperture, risk professionals no longer need to shuffle between multiple systems to find the data they need to confidently make informed decisions.”
