Trust, Relationships, Outcomes. They’re the “Why” in “Why Work for Yugabyte”

People Stories: Focused on Trust, Relationships, and Outcomes
Christiane Soto

Early in 2022, I decided that I needed a career change. I won’t say that it was my new year’s resolution since I fail miserably at those—always have. It wasn’t a snap decision either since I’m pretty dedicated to the companies I work for, and I like to dig into my job to develop my skills. However, after several years working remotely for a large tech firm, I did decide it was time to move on.

Where I Was Before Yugabyte

There are pros and cons to working at what can only be described as a humongous company.

Pros: I could work remotely (even pre-pandemic) in my yoga pants. As a content marketing strategist/manager, I had the opportunity to move into different areas of content marketing—website marketing, digital content creation, campaign content, and SEO—which significantly broadened my skill set. Insert happy dance emoji.

Cons: The downside was that it’s all-to-easy to find yourself hyper-specialized with a broad swath of atrophied skills. Think of it as the difference between working as a tradesperson or working on an assembly line. An assembly line worker is super specialized, only doing one tiny part of a nineteen-step process. A tradesperson sees the big picture and can easily move back and forth between strategical and tactical to bring together seemingly disparate pieces to create something great.

After several years in the role, I worried that I might be stuck on the metaphorical assembly line. So, I began my search and discovered Yugabyte.

If you are reading this on our blog, you may already know about the Yugabyte database, YugabyteDB. If not, just know that it’s an open-source, distributed SQL database for cloud native, geo-distributed, transactional applications.

That’s a lot of adjectives, I agree. But once I had internalized that statement, the significance hit me—YugabyteDB is the future. This database will ensure that I can satisfy my need for instant gratification. Whether that’s supporting the app that I use to binge-watch both seasons of Mayor of Kingstown, or ensuring that my swiped credit card is instantly approved when I buy that random assortment of dog leashes, casserole dishes, and other sundry items during my next visit to TJMaxx. In the same way that a distributed, remote workforce can provide the right talent to the right companies at the right times, a distributed database can provide the right data to the right place at all the right moments.

Hiring and Onboarding at Yugabyte

I decided that a smaller team of dedicated individuals working for a company with a remote-first mindset was for me. So, I interviewed.

I have gone through a lot of interviews in my career, and they have ranged from horrific to fun. I’ve been ghosted (honestly, before I even knew that was a thing), and I have had some great one-off conversations. However, the interview process at Yugabyte was fabulous.

I enjoyed every single conversation with every single person. I loved the dedication that each Yugabeing showed to their product and company, and I appreciated that they took the time to understand this job role and how it would play into the bigger picture. The fact that they identified as Yugabeings absolutely delighted me. I wanted a t-shirt; I demanded a t-shirt. In short, I saw myself working with this group of people. I decided that I wanted to be a Yugabeing.

Onboarding was easy. In all honesty, I probably over-thought it, and for that I apologize to our HR team. This was my first job change after COVID-19, so I had not experienced the weirdness of walking into a home office (still in my yoga pants), flipping on a computer, and logging into a new system—all while drinking out of the same coffee mug and watching the same two squirrels fight in the same tree outside my office window. However, by that afternoon, I was actively working and contributing.

Life at Yugabyte

Yugabyte states that they are people-first and remote-first. I am here to tell you that this is true. We summarize our core values in three words—trust, relationships, and outcomes. Now no one walks through these core values during the interview—at least they didn’t during mine. No one gave me a tutorial on trust, relationships, and outcomes. They didn’t have to; those three words permeated every conversation, but not in ways that are easily explained.

When friends asked me why I picked Yugabyte (I had other job offers), I could not vocalize the “why”. I could only answer, “it feels right,” and “these are truly nice people,” and “this is the job I want to do.” And I really wanted to work with what I could only describe as “nice” people on cool products—in my yoga pants. I really love my yoga pants. I have heard others say that “the energy/vibe is good” and “I have a great team.” So, it looks like others might have also struggled to articulate the “why” in “why work for Yugabyte,” but the “why” really does come down to our core values.

So, what is it about trust, relationships, and outcomes that resonates, and why is it so powerful a combination?

Well, that feeling I had during my interviews is still there several months later. This is the job I want to do. But now, I realize that it is also very simple. Trust is paramount when you work with a team of remote Yugabeings (across many different time zones). You have to trust that your team members have your back and are working just as hard as you are. You have to trust that they will celebrate your successes and support your setbacks. And you have to do the same for them.

That trust builds relationships, and relationships lead to higher and tighter levels of communication, inclusion, teamwork, and (uhm) more trust. It’s a loop. Trust builds relationships which builds stronger levels of trust.

And the outcomes? Well, the outcomes are a result of Yugabeings coming together and supporting one another to build a fabulous database that our customers love. Everything builds on each other, and that is the brilliance of our core values. If you don’t build trust, you cannot build relationships and do amazing things.

So, if you think that a change might be in order and want to be part of a team that has laid down a strong foundation of trust, relationships, and outcomes, I recommend you check out the Yugabyte careers page.

Additional People Stories:

Christiane Soto

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