Simon Willison's Weblog: jobs

What are the best strategies to get a tech job at YC-backed startups in the next 5 months?

2015-12-18T11:02:00+00:00

My answer to What are the best strategies to get a tech job at YC-backed startups in the next 5 months? on Quora

Keep an eye on jobs | Hacker News - it's the official listing of almost all jobs advertised at YC companies.

Tags: jobs, startups, y-combinator, quora, careers, techstars, 500startups

What's the best way to reach out to alumni if you're interested in working at their company?

2013-11-23T09:13:00+00:00

My answer to What's the best way to reach out to alumni if you're interested in working at their company? on Quora

Yes, it's fine. Many tech companies have a referral bonus for employees that help them make a good hire, and any alumni you contact will be able to forward your details straight on to the recruiting department.

Just keep it short and to the point: "I found you in the XXX alumni directory, and I'm interested in finding out more about job openings at your company". Include your CV and see what happens.

Tags: email, jobs, networking, quora

What are ways to avoid getting discouraged while searching for a job as a software developer?

2013-11-19T12:50:00+00:00

My answer to What are ways to avoid getting discouraged while searching for a job as a software developer? on Quora

Do you have any programming side-projects? If not, I suggest starting one. You'll learn a bunch, it will impress interviewers (and help you pull ahead of other candidates) and it will help you build confidence in your own skills.

When I'm hiring, I don't want someone who's good at interview questions: I want someone who has proved they can build things.

Tags: jobs, software-engineering, quora, careers

Http://www.theacademyofbusinessstrategy.com? I've been contacted by this ABS to pursue some kind of degree leading to lots of money. It definitely looks like a scam, but is it? Has anyone actually done business with them? Are they legit?

2013-10-29T17:58:00+00:00

My answer to Http://www.theacademyofbusinessstrategy.com? I've been contacted by this ABS to pursue some kind of degree leading to lots of money. It definitely looks like a scam, but is it? Has anyone actually done business with them? Are they legit? on Quora

When this exact same question was asked on Yahoo Answers a couple of months ago http://answers.yahoo.com/questio... someone showed up the same day with a very positive testimonial. I wonder if the same thing will happen here on Quora.

Tags: jobs, startups, quora, careers

Where does one start in programming?

2012-02-02T10:08:00+00:00

My answer to Where does one start in programming? on Quora

Go to this site:

http://www.codecademy.com/

And follow the interactive tutorial.

(then spend the next 10 years honing your craft, but codecademy is an excellent first step)

Tags: jobs, programming, quora, careers

Would having a maths degree put you at that much of a disadvantage against a CS student when it comes to jobs?

2011-12-31T14:27:00+00:00

My answer to Would having a maths degree put you at that much of a disadvantage against a CS student when it comes to jobs? on Quora

No. Plenty of the great programmers I know have maths, physics or even literature degrees. Read a couple of classic computer science text books and get some programming projects under your belt and you'll be fine.

Tags: jobs, mathematics, programming, quora, careers

Back to full-time employment

2008-08-22T17:26:39+00:00

I've been freelance for a year and a half now, and it's been a great deal of fun. For me, being freelance meant having the freedom to pursue all sorts of different interests - technical writing, public speaking, Django, OpenID, JavaScript - and the opportunity to work with some really fantastic people.

It was going to take a very special opportunity to pull me back in to full-time employment, but I believe I've found that opportunity at the Guardian. I'll be joining them full time (well, four days a week) in mid-October as a software architect, collaborating with their development team on some ambitious API projects. The Guardian have access to a lot of interesting data and I can't wait to get stuck in to it. Since they're a newspaper, it shouldn't be a surprise that they scooped me to the story.

I'll be particularly sorry to say good-bye to the outstanding team I've been working with at GCap. I'm looking forward to talking about some of the things we've been working together over the next few weeks.

Tags: employment, gcap, guardian, jobs, personal-news

Quoting Andy Rutledge

2008-06-25T19:17:13+00:00

You may find that there are plenty of job listings where the job requirements are described as, “must be expert with Photoshop and Illustrator…” or something long those lines. Ignore those job listings; they’re placed by inept and sick companies looking for decorators, not designers.

— Andy Rutledge

Tags: andy-rutledge, design, illustrator, jobs, photoshop

How not to apply for a job

2008-06-17T08:22:44+00:00

How not to apply for a job

Quite reasonably, 37signals care if job applicants get their wordmark right. Having worked for Yahoo! I know how important that ! is. What really winds me up is companies that aren’t consistent with name capitalisation across their own sites—many startups are guilty of this.

Tags: 37signals, jobs, spelling, wordmark, yahoo

Django Developer Jobs

2008-01-18T15:51:36+00:00

Django Developer Jobs

Just an observation: the Django job market is booming at the moment, with 16 new job ads posted so far this year (that’s nearly one a day). If you want to be paid money to develop in Django there’s never been a better time.

Tags: django, jobs, python

Job: Django developer in London

2008-01-07T21:37:27+00:00

Job: Django developer in London

I’m consulting with GCap Media at the moment, who are looking to hire full-time Django developers in London for some really interesting projects. Please feel free to contact me directly with questions.

Tags: django, gcapmedia, jobs, python

Sweet Gig

2007-08-07T14:47:02+00:00

Sweet Gig

SitePen seek “R&D Associate” to have fun hacking on Open Source software and researching whatever they think is important.

Tags: alex-russell, jobs, open-source, sitepen

The YUI Team Is Hiring an Engineer To Work on Firebug

2007-05-07T22:40:20+00:00

The YUI Team Is Hiring an Engineer To Work on Firebug

“... we’re opening a search for a full-time developer to work with Joe on advancing the Firebug roadmap.”

Tags: firebug, jobs, yahoo, yui

Web Focus Leads Newspapers to Hire Programmers for Editorial Staff

2007-03-08T00:27:26+00:00

Web Focus Leads Newspapers to Hire Programmers for Editorial Staff

It’s great to see this trend taking off. A newsroom is an excellent place to work as a programmer.

Tags: adrian-holovaty, jacob-kaplan-moss, jobs, newspapers, programmers