At no point in the history of OmniTI has it "shrunk" in size. It's a beast now and it continues to grow in fantastic ways. As such, we're are hiring.
I'm looking for a junior developer. However, I'm looking for a good junior developer. I've been so frustrated in the past with the various definitions of junior and mid-level and senior. Constantly I see an entry-level programmer come in with delusions of being an enterprise architect or a senior-level web application program because they made their own website.
At OmniTI we build big things. We regularly deal with multi-terabyte databases, sites with tens of millions of users, and distributed systems that service hundreds of thousands of transactions per second. We use a variety of technologies (mostly focused on open source). So, when someone says that they are senior, I expect them to be able to code excellently in 2-3 languages, passably in 2-3 more and learn a new language passably inside a week if needed. I expect them to be able to merge changesets between branches and resolve complicated conflicts with the same effort they put into breathing. I expect them to be able to have a client screaming on the phone while they are troubleshooting a critical issue without moistening their chair.
Luckily, I'm not actively in the market for a senior programmer right now. However, if you are a ambitious programmer that takes considerable pride in the quality of their work, are interested in a challenging work environment where you get to play with big toys, and want the opportunity to work with and be mentored by colleagues that have been presenting and teaching at conferences for the past 10 years (and happen to hold 16 time slots at this year's OSCON) then we have an opening for you.
And to give this posting a true Theo feel, here are the rules of engagement:
- If you have never used a VCS (version control system) or SCM (source code management), I'll beat you with a stick;
- If I hear the word "framework," I'll beat you with a stick;
- If you use the word "scalable" when you should have used "high performance," I'll beat you with a stick (hint: avoid the word scalable);
- If you don't know what TCP port HTTP uses by default, I'll beat you with a stick;
- If you don't have a sense of humor, I'll beat you with a stick (but only I will think it's funny);
- The stupid need not apply;
- I'm actually a really nice guy.
Wednesday, April 12. 2006 at 11:49 (Reply)
Wow, yeah. You sound great. With all of those terabytes and millions of users, it does sound amazing!
And being able to work with such industry acclaimed players! Wow!
Thursday, April 13. 2006 at 10:17 (Link) (Reply)
Hola Theo,
Be careful that you don't just end up attracting someone who enjoys being beaten with a stick. ;-]
Tuesday, June 27. 2006 at 08:54 (Link) (Reply)
Well, I match all but the "Stupid Need not Apply," but I think that is counter-intuitive since the stupid wouldn't know that they shouldn't apply. You should be more descriptive on what 'stupid' actually means.
Like, being able to tell the difference between a function and a variable. The language constructs and various others.
I think it is really to broad, because I could be 'stupid' generally in life, but be a god master of programming and totally own all things computer. I'm not and I'm not a god either.
Sunday, December 3. 2006 at 00:45 (Reply)
Well how about being intellect on all things , knowledge on 3 programming languages, but no ideas or experience implementation at most. A smart person is not useful, you know. Well a smart person would be most desperate at all on how much time he has to experience stuff and be desparate at all and etc etc. Stupid motivated people are better sometimes.
Thursday, November 8. 2007 at 07:42 (Reply)
Since when in a organization with hundreds of thousands of users do developers directly interact with the customer? No Pm's? Sounds like a shady business to me.
'Play with big toys'. Ha! Soon free pop will be passed off as a benefit.
Saturday, November 17. 2007 at 15:03 (Reply)
Since the Internet started. The beauty of the Internet is that a group of ten people can build a web application that services 30 million users. Also, a company like ours (with about 50 people) can provide invaluable services to them. Some of the large clients need project managers and some of the small ones can't -- their size is often inversely proportional to the size of the userbase they serve, at least in our experience.
And free "Pop" (we call it soda in this state) would be a benefit. Ours aren't free as it poses some small legal issues. However, we have a lot of spontaneous benefits and I've heard many people in the office say "man, I love this job." -- that is one of the most personally gratifying things I hear in my position as a founder.