1. How long has your company been in business? What is a cool or little known fact about your company?
DP Professionals (DPP) was founded in 1996 by Barbara Blau. The essence of what Barbara started all those years ago is captured in the tagline of her company: ideal fIT.® This dual play on words encompasses her mission and vision for the company. The first bit of wordplay is the “IT” within the word fIT and it defines our niche. The second bit reveals the true meaning behind ideal fIT.® This phrase came to Barbara as she was thinking of the Cinderella story, and how Cinderella was the perfect fit in every way. This is the motivation and passion we want to see in every employee at DP Professionals: finding the ideal fIT.® for the candidate and the client. It epitomizes our dedication to being a staffing firm committed to providing customers with additional services that would enable them to be successful and stay competitive in the rapidly evolving IT business world.
2. What are your favorite things about Columbia?
One of our recruiters, a transplant to Columbia, shares her thoughts: There are so many great things about Columbia! Where do I even begin? First of all, the downtown area is awesome, including the nightlife and local restaurants. The restaurants are probably the #1 thing Cola has to offer, if you’re a foodie like me. There is always something to do here, too. Saturdays in South Carolina are the best! Between the Soda City Market and football season, it’s a lot of fun. The weather is great, too; we don’t get snow, but most days are warm and sunny. I couldn’t imagine making anywhere but Cola my home.
3. What does your office look like on a Friday?
We took this question to our team as well:
“Who doesn’t love FriYAYs! Fridays at DPP usually start with a bunch of us eating Chick-fil-A® in the dark. Yes, in the dark! We all decided that working without the fluorescents one day a week was the way to go, and we call it “lights off Friday”. After fueling time, we get to work! There are so many people to talk to on a Friday, and most everyone is in a good mood looking toward the weekend ahead. Along with beating the bulbs, our president has implemented an early dismissal for the last couple years.”
“Shorts Friday! Everyone is excited for the weekend but ready to get to work and end on a great note. Casual comfort and a great buzz ends the week. You will see people in shorts and sneakers listening to music, all while wrapping up a busy week!”
“We LOVE Fridays at DP Professionals. Friday is the day we tie up loose ends for the week, follow-up with the candidates we have in play, and celebrate the wins for the week. Don’t be mistaken; we do work too, of course, but we try to keep a cool, chill vibe in the office on Fridays as we get ready for the weekend.”
4. How would you describe your company culture?
We take company culture seriously — by not taking ourselves too seriously! We work in a high pressure, high demand space, where fires come across our desks all of the time! By taking a step back and making the personality of our company about collaboration, instead of finding fault, and about solutions instead of insurmountable obstacles, we find triumph around most corners; and even in the darkest of corners we find growth and a helping hand. Some of our favorite sayings are “work is what you do, not where you do it ” and “create the conditions whereby every person on the team can be the greatest version of themselves.” The voice of our team speaks loudest for us, and that is the culture we encourage at DP Professionals. We are a team in search of one thing: finding the ideal fIT.®
This article was originally written for and appeared in the September 2018 newsletter for iTs|SC, Columbia’s Insurance Technology and Services Cluster. DPP is a member of iTs|SC.
