How LinkedIn Top Companies win over the best tech talent — even when they’re not tech companies
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JPMorgan Chase & Co.

There are many reasons to be excited about working for a company the size of JPMorgan Chase (think 240,000-plus global employees and over $5 trillion of payments processed every day), but one specific reason is the chance to work on technology that's disrupting the financial services industry. "We've always thought of ourselves as a technology company," says Dana Deasy, JPMorgan Chase's Global Chief Information Officer. "We're looking for strong technical minds who are innovative." The scale of Chase (and Deasy's $9.5 billion budget) enables Deasy's team to work on a wide variety of projects, including things like blockchain projects, robotics and machine learning. When I asked Deasy how Chase competes with "pure technology" companies for talent, he discussed how they work to fight the perception of tech in banking as "non-strategic, back-office cost centers." His secret? Have candidates meet a wide variety of employees at different levels so that they get immersed in the bank's tech culture. Deasy also discussed the investment they make into training, including specialty programs where top performers are given the chance to rapidly learn a new skill, like AI technology or how to integrate two separate Chase systems, that can then help them grow into a different role.

Booz Allen Hamilton's cyber solution facility. The Washington Post | Getty Images

Booz Allen Hamilton

What sets the management consulting firm apart from technology companies? The real differentiator is the mission-focused aspect of their culture, says Gary Labovich, Booz Allen Hamilton's Executive Vice President for their Digital Solutions team. In 2015, for example, Booz Allen was named the master integrator for the Healthcare.gov revamp; the ongoing project employs hundreds of engineers who are tackling everything from integrating multiple database environments to huge scale infrastructure. Beyond the scale of the technical challenge, of course, is the mission behind the work — giving people access to healthcare is "deep, significant public policy work," and people who are motivated by having access to that type of work are the ones who succeed at Booz Allen, Labovich says. Labovich also discussed Booz Allen's internal training program, known as "Digital Solutions University," where employees combine classroom training, web-based programs, and simulations to learn new skills they can use for the next assignment within the company. Engineers at Booz Allen participate in a process called resource management that helps match projects and opportunities to engineer skills on a regular basis, giving Booz Allen the flexibility to add people to a project or technology that is getting more attention while also giving employees a chance to raise their hand for something new on their next assignment. Additionally, Booz Allen encourages their employees to speak publicly on behalf of the company and to participate in internal hackathons.

Leidos employees during a presentation. Source: Leidos

Leidos