June 20th, 2023 will forever be the day that changed my career path. It was the day Krista Eittreim, Technical Recruiter at Insentra, reached out to me via LinkedIn about a new position. Now, I usually skim through LinkedIn messages from recruiters, but there was something different in the tone of her message. I could tell that she really did look at my LinkedIn profile. Now don’t get me wrong, most recruiters do, but she really read my profile.
The Beginning
Krista’s message was genuine, and I believed her when she said she was looking forward to learning more about me and my career aspirations. What also caught my eye was that she was from an Aussie company. I’ve been in IT for 33 years, having started my career in Sydney, Australia. So, this was opportunity to come full circle—ending it, so to speak, at home.
I have been extremely fortunate to have worked this long in a field I was passionate about and enjoyed. However, as I got older, the excitement of a new job, new opportunity started to lessen. I became used to the corporate culture of “obey orders”, “keep your head down and work”, “don’t rock the boat” and most importantly “perception is everything”. In short, I had become jaded.
After a preliminary call, in which Krista provided me with a run down on Insentra, its business model and corporate culture, she then supplied me with some reading material to prepare for the interviews I would need to go through for the position.
The resources she sent over to me were not just your run-of-the-mill stuff about the company. These were more about the company’s culture and how they operate as a cohesive team. The primary resource was about the Insentra Train Story. As I read through it, I found myself thinking “This is too good to be true. I need to see this for myself.” The more I read about Insentra, the more intrigued and excited I got about this potential prospect.
Hopping Onto The Insentra Train
So, I decided to get on the station platform and wait for the Insentra train to arrive for boarding. For the first time in many years, I was actually nervous—anxious to be more precise. I wanted to meet, see and hear out the “train crew” that would determine if I was going to be allowed on the Insentra Express.
The first crew member I met with was Jody Elkins. His title is President Americas. Now, it is very rare to be interviewed by someone at that level of leadership, but clearly Insentra does things differently. I was pleasantly surprised to find that he was laid-back and very easy to talk to. In my first interview, Jody filled me in on the position, and what he and Insentra were looking for. He instantly made me feel at ease. Suffice it to say I was beginning to realize that Insentra, did in fact, practiced what they preached.
The second person I engaged with was Mike Gray. He is the longest US serving member of the Engineering crew. He was knowledgeable, engaging and friendly. I walked away from that interview wanting to work with him and felt he could make me a better engineer/consultant.
As I moved up the train, I then met up with Peter Cooney, Director of Managed Services. I was taken aback by his demeanour. He presented a calm, quiet confidence—traits I have found are very rare with the executive leaders I have worked with in the past. He was the “Cool Hand Luke” of the Insentra locomotive. I use the term locomotive because this train was quickly taking me to a place I was eager to be a part of.
I finally arrived at the head of the train. I couldn’t believe that I was going to be interviewing with the Train Conductor himself, CEO Ronnie Altit. His laid-back Aussie temperament was a fresh reminder of where I am from. He challenged me in his questions, asking me how I would handle certain situations. Believe me when I say, these were scenarios that at any other company, you would respond with the typical “Don’t rock the boat” answer, but not with Ronnie, or at Insentra.
Ronnie challenged me to be audacious. He then imparted a few lines with me that have stuck with me since then, “The standard you walk past, is the standard you accept”. Bloody hell, that was eye opening!
I finally realized that each interview, each question asked by each of them led me to the central tenet this company prides itself on: “Do what you love, in the service of people who love what you do.” This does not just refer to the people you provide a service to, but also your fellow work colleagues. My relationship with IT and my career was experiencing a resurgence of sorts. I was inspired.
Aboard the Insentra Train
It’s been about 9 months since I got on the train, and one thing I have noticed is every member of the Insentra crew supports and cheers each other on. I can confirm the culture is alive and thriving! Never have I worked at an organization where mental health and workload are talked about openly without the fear of repercussions.
Here at Insentra, we have the “How are you?” conversation at the beginning of each meeting. Everyone in the meeting provides two scores out of ten: first is your personal score, and the second is your work score. Any score of 7 and below is a way of letting your peers know, “Hey I’m not so great today”, but guess what, the level of concern and support you receive if you are in that situation is astounding. Not only from your peers, but from leadership as well.
Everyone has a stake in the success of each individual at Insentra. This is only possible through HIT ACES – Honesty, Integrity, Trust, our core values that allow us to practice Accountability, Celebration, Efficiency and Service Excellence.
Why I Love Working in Insentra
Our incredible culture not only fosters a healthy workplace, but it also impacts how we deliver service to our customers and partners. We pour so much love and passion into our work, pushing ourselves to ensure we are communicating loud and clear to our partners and clients that we are invested in their success and are an extension of their team and vision.
We work so hard to turn our partners and clients into raging fans of Insentra. I can honestly say I’m a raging fan!
If you’re interest in experiencing this amazing culture yourself, check out our Careers page to see if any of our open positions suit your career goals.
