gaitwhihald: Hiring Now: MSDSonline

We recently interviewed Glenn Trout, President & CEO of MSDSonline about the company, what they?re looking for in job seekers and their current job openings. Read on to learn more about this great company hiring now on hiredMYway.com!

Founded in 1996 and based in Chicago, MSDSonline is a leading provider of cost-effective, cloud-based compliance solutions that help businesses manage a variety of global Environmental, Health & Safety (EH&S) regulatory compliance requirements.

The company?s products and services are focused on streamlining hazardous chemical/MSDS management, reporting workplace injuries and illnesses, training employees and administering other critical EH&S information.

By leveraging cloud-based technologies, MSDSonline delivers enterprise-level functionality to help safety professionals at any-size business improve employee safety, improve compliance recordkeeping and reduce potential exposures to workplace hazards and risks. MSDSonline has been recognized for the last six years on Inc. magazine?s list of America?s 5,000 fastest-growing private companies.

Describe your company in one sentence. MSDSonline is a young, fast growing, fast moving, environmental health and safety software company located in downtown Chicago.

What is the work environment like at MSDSonline? The work environment is very open, collaborative and friendly. Our employees are bright, hard working and good team players. That?s the primary reason the company is growing so well. Our employees make MSDSonline the great place it is to work.

What is a typical day like at MSDSonline? Well, it?s really hard to avoid the clich? answer of ?There?s no such thing as a typical day at MSDSonline? but I will try. A typical day for most of our employees would involve a commute on a train, subway or bus, as 90% of our employees take public transportation. This is a great benefit as no one likes sitting in traffic.

Our work environment is pretty collaborative so you will often see teams of people in meetings, working on projects together and there is always a lot of movement in the office. We have 170 employees, and almost all are located in our office in Chicago. While we all have specific responsibilities and work functions, I think it?s safe to say, for a company our size, most people know each other and get along exceptionally well.

What is your favorite thing about your company? Our employees. It?s nice to work with people who you respect, admire and look forward to seeing. I?ve been exposed to dozens of work environments at previous employers, consulting projects, and customer sites, and MSDSonline is by far the best work environment I?ve ever seen.

How did you get into this field? Actually, MSDSonline started as a free website that was born out of a dot.com that failed in the late 1990?s.? I worked for the dot.com and after the dot.com bubble burst, I and a few others, quickly recognized that the opportunity with MSDSonline was greater than the original dot.com business. So in some ways it was an accident that I am here today. The early days were very difficult?because we didn?t have any revenue but luckily, we were patient, listened to our prospects and customers and over time, our employees have turned MSDSonline into the profitable, fast growing company that it is today.

What characteristics do you look for in job seekers when hiring?

While different jobs may require different technical skill sets, generally, MSDSonline is looking for smart, hard working, employees who are self motivated and work well with others. Generally, this requires good communication and people skills. No one wants to work with someone who isn?t fun to be around or isn?t a team player.

Any advice for job seekers looking to work in your industry? The best advice I can give someone is to look for a growing company in a growing industry. Growing companies produce career opportunities and career growth. When I started my career in the late 1980?s, the paper industry was booming. By the time I left in the late 1990?s, the paper industry that I was in was under a great deal of pressure from electronic media. The business segment I was in wasn?t growing and there was no real opportunity for advancement. You never want to be in a position where you have to wait for people to retire to be promoted. Growing companies allow for advancement as they expand.

Where is your field/industry headed? The software business in general and our segment of software specifically will continue to grow for the foreseeable future. This is one really bright spot in the US Economy.

Where do you see your company in five years? I see us continuing to expand our business and broadening our product and services offering to support our growing customer base. I fully expect us to continue to grow at a rapid pace over the next 5 years, mostly through organic growth.

How has technology changed or affected your business? Adoption of the Internet as a workplace tool has been the most important development in technology for our company. In 2000, many companies simply weren?t connected or didn?t allow their employees access to the internet in the workplace. Today, it?s not uncommon for employees to have access to the Internet at work. In fact, many can?t do their job without access to the Internet. This has allowed Software as a Service (SaaS) companies like ours to serve a much wider customer base, efficiently and cost effectively.

What are some of the things you do for fun when you are not working? I spend time with my family. My kids are into sports and I coach several of their sports teams, which keeps me really busy on the weekends, but I wouldn?t trade that for my own personal hobbies, which have taken a back seat to their activities in recent years.??? When I?m done coaching, I?ll have more time to play golf, paddle tennis, and snowboard, which I really enjoy.

How do you want to be remembered? I want to be remembered as a guy who had an impact on people?s lives in a positive way.? I want to help create jobs and career advancement for our employees and create stability and build wealth for their families. Probably most importantly, I want to be remembered as someone who surrounded himself with good people, and let them grow and learn from them as we build good things together.? Finally, I like to have fun, so I think it fine for people to remember that about me too.

See all MSDSonline jobs on hiredMYway.com here.

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