ADS is looking for an experienced Ruby on Rails developer to work with our Orlando, Florida based team.
Ruby on Rails Developer
Our focus is creating business to business applications with technologies such as Amazon Web Services (EC2 and S3), data warehouses, data mining, and JRuby.
We aren’t just another development firm. Part of your time will be spent researching new applications of Rails to business problems, keeping up on the latest in web development, posting to our blog about business/technical topics, and creating screencasts and how-to’s.
On-site here in Orlando is preferred, but for the right person with the right skills telecommuting is definitely an option. Also, we are currently working to provide health benefits to all of our full-time employees. This is a full-time position - no contractors please.
If you want to do more than just develop, you want to work with us. Call me - Robert Dempsey - 321.356.6855.
How to Apply
Send an email to jobs@techcfl.com with the subject “Ruby on Rails Developer” and a resume in plain text or PDF format.
A company, when you get down to the basics, is really just a collection of its employees, united in achieving a common cause. The company culture, then, is very much dictated by the collective character and tastes of the employees. It follows that one great way for a company to spread its culture is to simply let its employees do it!
With this in mind, I’ve set up a little feature called Planet Standout Jobs. Go on, click it, I know you want to. Cool eh? It’s a mashup of the blogs of all the people who are behind Standout Jobs (At this moment: Austin, Ben, Daniel, Marc-Andre, and myself). So if you are curious about us, you will be able to keep track of what we’re all thinking and posting about through the Planet. An RSS Feed is also available.
We’re pleased to announce that Daniel Haran has joined Standout Jobs as our second Ruby Guru. Ben and I courted him all the way from Quebec City, where he was previously a developer at Growwwing.
I first met Daniel at DemoCampMontreal1, where he showed off his chops as a Ruby on Rails developer. But before having met him I was already keeping an eye on his blog as we were starting to look out for developers to recruit to the cause.
It all goes to show that writing about your craft and participating in tech community events really does bring the right opportunity to your door!
MyCarpoolStation.com supplies web-based, community-run carpool stations to every school, workplace, and region in the U.S. and Canada. The truth is: we’re kind of a big deal. Now you can carpool with people you know, save money on gas and parking, and see how much GHG you reduced by sharing rides. We’re currently in public Beta… and ramping up fast.
Web Developer
We are looking for a web developer who…
Is a real web developer.
Has written clean code for web applications using PHP, Ruby, etc… and who can work with existing code.
Develops using some sort of systems design life cycle such as Agile, Extreme, etc…
Works well with Open Source Software from applications like WordPress, to scripting frameworks like Prototype JavaScript.
Believes in MVC architecture.
Is well-versed in CSS/XHTML.
Likes to work with different APIs such as the ones provided by MapQuest, Facebook, etc…
Can brainstorm using PBWiki and has experience using project management tools like BaseCamp.
Stays current on the Web 2.0 literature by reading TechCrunch, The Cluetrain Manifesto, etc…
Wants to disrupt things a bit by basically creating the web-enabled carpooling industry, and building a profitable business along the way.
Has an entrepreneurial spirit and is willing to work for stock-based compensation only during this pre-seed stage.
How to Apply
Send an email to jobs@mycarpoolstation.com with the subject “Web Developer” and a resume in plain text or PDF format.
One of the best ways of hiring people is through your existing employees. When an employee refers someone for a job they’re motivated by the right factors: helping the company and helping a friend. Many companies have reward and incentive programs as well, but I doubt many employees refer people for the rewards alone; they’re putting their own ego and reputation on the line by referring others.
But it’s not always easy to get employees to help. They’re busy, they might not think they know anyone, or they might not be motivated enough to spend the time on it.
Gestalt solved all of those issues in a big way. They ran an internal contest for employees to create recruitment videos for the company. Gestalt awarded $2,000 to the winner.
You can check out all the videos, which were put on YouTube for everyone to enjoy. Here’s the video that won:
It doesn’t look like the CEO, William Loftus, did anything to dictate content. In fact, some of the videos poke fun at him. It’s clear he gets the ideas behind employer branding and promoting a company’s culture from the employees up.
“I have to admit I was nervous,” said William Loftus… “We have a lot of creative people. When you give them free creative license, that is something that is going to put me out of my comfort zone.”
But he knew that was how it had to be to get the results he wanted. “Bigger companies want to control the message,” he said, “but the real image comes from what people really are, not what veneer the marketing department puts on a company.”
After watching the videos you get a great picture of what Gestalt is all about - not from a corporate, “top down” view - but from the employees; the people on the ground floor. I’m sure the response they’ve received is tremendous.
Marc Andreessen provides some great advice and insights into retaining great people. The initial focus of his post is on big companies, but he speaks in detail about startups as well, particularly those that launched big, grew fast and have since plateaued.
Marc writes, “Companies that have a retention problem usually have a winning problem. Or rather, a ‘not winning’ problem.”
Straightforward enough. A company that’s no longer succeeding as well as it was before will cause concern amongst employees. The best will shift their attention elsewhere, looking for big growth potential and patterns. They want to play for winners.
“All the raises, perks, and HR-sponsored ‘company values’ drafting sessions in the world won’t help you retain great people if you’re not winning — not even the $6,000 heated Japanese toilets in all the restrooms, the $30,000 Olympic lap pool out back, and the free $4 bottles of organic orange juice in all the snack rooms.”
Part of the importance in retaining great people is being able to attract other great people. It’s not only about keeping who you have, but adding to the team in a positive way. Marc calls these people “magnets”:
If you bear down and focus on retaining the magnets, retaining everyone else … will be much easier.
Extending that point, keeping the magnets gives you a better chance of attracting other top talent, other magnets. And that’s how you build a successful organization.
Marc also makes two other points that I find very important when thinking about recruiting:
For really critical jobs, go out and recruit the right person yourself.
In a large company this is tough. The CEO has layers of people below her to do recruiting. But in startups and smaller organizations the CEO and Founders need to be on the ground. They should be the best at telling the company’s story, which leads to…
Stories don’t change by themselves. Change the story.
I’m taking this somewhat out of context, but the key for me is that companies need to do a better job of telling their stories. And this starts with the Founders and needs to go through the entire organization. What makes your company unique? What is your company passionate about? What is your company doing? A company’s story (which is a reflection of each person’s story within the organization) is critical for spreading the “good word”, for having a strong employer brand, and attracting great people.
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