For Aret Ozdemirci, manager of cloud infrastructure engineering at Questrade Inc., the company is “all about opportunities.” Since joining the Toronto-based firm, Canada’s fastest-growing and No. 1-rated online brokerage, he has advanced through various roles over six years and become an expert on cloud technology.
“The company has been investing more and more in digital transformation, and there are a lot of initiatives going on to improve scaling and to better serve our customers,” he says. “With that evolution, anyone at Questrade, regardless of their position, can say, ‘I’m up for the challenge’ – and I’m a good example of that.”
“With the cloud,” he continues, “I was in the right place at the right time. I built a scaffold for our cloud platform and created a team that enables our engineers to deliver new products to market with incredible speed.
“Everyone who works at Questrade has the opportunity to be an entrepreneur,” says Christine Day, chief information technology officer, “and that means the freedom to pursue solutions or find new ways of doing things, and that sense of ownership over initiatives and projects. There are many opportunities to grow personally as well as professionally.”
Questrade has been in business for more than 20 years, with some $25 billion in assets under administration and more than 200,000 accounts opened every year.
The company continually adds new services for its clients. It recently launched QuestMobile, an app that allows new investors to research and trade stocks, among other activities, on their phones. Currently in the pipeline is a new mobile app for more experienced and active traders. And there is a lot more planned.
Day observes that the company is growing so quickly that it has hired close to 200 tech professionals in the past year and has about 150 open tech positions.
“We’re about to add about 300 more positions.” “Working at Questrade,” she adds, “is not just an opportunity to join a really innovative organization, but it’s the opportunity to learn, grow and make an impact. The career paths available in a hyper-growth firm are far beyond what you see in small or average-growth ones.”
Questrade competes against organizations many times its size, Day notes. “That means there is a challenger spirit in the organization. So, we’re leveraging technology as a means of disruption, and of advocacy for Canadians and their financial needs.”
The firm’s culture is very important, she says. “That's why we continually ask our employees to provide feedback, completely anonymously, on how they feel about the workplace. What has come through time and time again is that people value the ability to learn from peers across the company, and I do have to say we have an extremely high concentration of top talent to learn from.”
“Questrade gives everyone the opportunity to engage with and learn from one another, which is so much more powerful than what can be learned in any kind of formal training program.”
This “one team” culture is not only driven from the top down but also from employees upward. Employees wanted a way to give back to the community, so Questrade implemented a paid day to volunteer for a charity of their choice. On top of that, Questrade works with Food Banks Canada and also Junior Achievement, helping teach schoolchildren the importance of financial literacy.
Collegiality among staff is a gratifying aspect of working for Questrade, says Ozdemirci. “We have a very respectful, supportive and, most important, an empowering culture. That starts with the leadership, which is always there to guide, support and celebrate success.”
