A job at a startup – is it for you?

November 13th, 2017

There are few things as empowering as being an employee of a startup company and watching it grow from the ground up. From an expanding client list to seeing profits increase, the thrill itself attracts job seekers with diverse knowledge, skills and abilities. While there are many benefits of working for a startup, such as creative challenges, building strong relationships with co-workers, performing varied tasks and enjoying a deep feeling of pride, getting a job with a startup isn’t for everyone.

 

A startup may be right for you, if you’re:

 

Flexible

 

It’s essential to adopt a flexible work style, if you decide to search for positions with startup companies. Startups can be chaotic; with daily changes that may have an impact on where you work, the tasks you complete and even the startups’ overall goals and strategies. Those who need a lot of structure may not thrive in a startup environment.

 

A Team Player

 

Working for a startup requires the ability to take the lead on projects without a whole lot of direction. When you accept a position with a startup, you’re instantly thrown into a leadership role and expected to help guide the growth of the startup. Contributing to team discussions and brainstorming is integral, as well as helping out with tasks that may not be a part of your written job description.

 

Risk Tolerant

 

Face it – working for a startup company is a huge risk, as there’s no guarantee that the startup will flourish, gain clientele or profits. Without a crystal ball to predict the future, a startup employee must keep his eyes on the potential rewards, rather than dwelling on the many potential risks involved.

 

Financially Stable

 

Working for a startup may not offer the same financial perks and company benefits in the short term as a job with government or in a private industry. Before accepting an offer from a startup, proceed with caution if you’re thinking about buying a shiny, new car tomorrow. Consider that most startups rely on investors to finance their salaries, and if they can’t find investors or lose investors, it can affect your salary and job security. In the long run, the payoffs may be exponentially huge.

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5 Ways to Make Your Employees Productive

November 7th, 2017

Your employees want to work hard for the company and produce results that blow your mind, but they need your help to do it. As a business owner or manager, surely you recognize that your employees are one of your most valuable assets, and because of this, it’s important to focus on ways to help them stay productive.

 

1. Motivate, Recognize and Appreciate : When you give your employees tasks, let them know that their work is meaningful, and demonstrate how it contributes to the overall success of the business. Be a cheerleader for your employees by motivating them to accomplish their daily tasks and to complete big projects. Celebrate successes in the company newsletter or on the company blog. Bonuses and appreciation lunches are also a good way to say “thanks.”

 

2. Show Your Trust: The best way to show your employees that you trust them is to delegate a task and let them do it without standing over their shoulders. Avoid micromanaging and trust that your employees will come to you if they run into a problem or have questions. Remember, you hired them because you were impressed by their knowledge, skills and attitude.

 

3. Ask for Feedback and Ideas: Make constant communication a priority, whether you have two employees or two floors of employees. Encourage employees to share ideas freely without fear of being ridiculed. Create various ways to communicate such as through wikis, internal blogs, newsletters, meetings.

 

4. Make Growth a Priority: One of the best rewards you can give your employees is an opportunity to grow within the company. From mentoring to them to trusting them with larger tasks, groom employees so that they learn the ins and outs of the company. Promote those employees who show their dedication and ability to complete a task effectively and ahead of the deadline. Give employees a chance to explore different aspects of the company to help identify their strengths and weaknesses.

 

5. Smile and Say Good Morning: Start the day with a smile and “good morning” to get your employees ready for the work day. Your attitude can help shape the mood and attitude of the workplace. A positive, productive day starts with you.

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Saying ‘I do’ to a staffing agency

November 2nd, 2017

 

Job vacancies leave employers scrambling to secure skilled self-starters who can easily adapt to their work environments. From posting openings on job boards to asking current employees to refer potential candidates, trying to fulfill a role is time consuming, and let’s face it, the whole process can be a bit frustrating.

 

Don’t overlook a highly beneficial way to get talent in your door – say, ‘I do’ to staffing agencies and fill your vacancies with new talent. Designed to help employers trek through recruitment and hiring with ease, hand your hiring woes over to a staffing agency if you want to:

 

1. Save Time
Staffing agencies save you time by working to promote your job vacancies using their well-developed resources and networks. You simply hand over your job description, information about your company and a description of the type of employee you desire to fill your role. Rather than posting endlessly on multiple job boards, you can get back to running your business.

 

2. Get Pre-Qualified Applicants
Imagine this scenario: You post a job opening and your inbox, mailbox and fax machine get bombarded with resumes, cover letters and references from potential hires. You get excited thinking your dream employee must be hiding in the stacks, only to find out (after hours of reviewing resumes) that none of the applicants fit your immediate needs. Staffing agencies pre-qualify applicants by matching their work experience, knowledge and skills with the information you give them about your job vacancy and your ideal employee. So they’ll only give you resumes and applications for employees who fit the mold. You reduce the amount of time you spend sifting through resumes and get right down to business – interviewing pre-qualified potential employees.

 

3. Benefit from Industry Specific Networks
It’s especially important to reach potential employees who have previous experience and education in the industry you serve, that’s why it’s increasingly important to recruit through industry specific networks. Today, there are many staffing agencies that focus on recruiting talent for specialized fields including marketing, IT and financial services. These staffing agencies understand the industry and know what it takes to staff positions within it, so they make employers’ jobs easier when they help with recruiting process.

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Effective Ways to Provide Feedback

October 27th, 2017

 

If you’re waiting for quarterly or annual reviews to provide your employees valuable feedback, you may be doing a disservice to your employees and your company. While you don’t have to take your employees for coffee every day to review their progress, it’s important to provide them with feedback on a regular basis. Providing feedback can keep employees focused, motivated and gives them a sense of truly belonging to the company. As a result, they may be more inclined to contribute to your company’s overall growth and success.

 

Check Your Attitude
Giving employees feedback isn’t always an exciting task for a manager. When an employee performs poorly on a task, or isn’t meeting his goals, you may not be in the best mood when you sit down to provide feedback. Check your attitude first to ensure that you’re ready to provide honest, constructive feedback. This way, you can avoid conflict and accomplish more.

 

Find a Way to Communicate
Feedback doesn’t always have to be a sit down conversation. Sometimes, a simple email to say “thanks” or to recognize contributions to a project are enough to show employees that you appreciate their efforts. Email is a great tool when providing good feedback, but if an employee’s performance is unfavorable, avoid sending an email, since it’s easy to misinterpret the tone of a message.

 

Emails, instant messages and handwritten letters don’t have the same effect as old fashioned, face-to-face communication. Schedule a coffee meeting, invite your employee out to lunch or schedule an in-office meeting when you want to provide feedback. If that feels too formal, stop by your employees desk to say, “great job in the meeting today” or “the report you gave me covered everything I needed” or just to say “thank you for your contributions”.

 

Be Direct and Specific
Give it to your employees straight and leave the fluff behind. Your employees will respect and appreciate your feedback more, if you’re direct and able to provide them with specific examples. General statements about performance won’t help employees make improvements.

 

Give Suggestions
Not only do your employees want to hear how you feel about their performance, they’d also like to know how they can make improvements. Offer recommendations that will help employees grow and advance within the company.

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Ruby on Rails developer – jobs

October 19th, 2011

Our client is a Louisville, KY and Washington, DC based services company focusing on the strategy, design, development, and management of web and mobile solutions. Since its inception, the company has been at the forefront of web technologies in support of the needs of small to medium businesses.

 

With a reputation for top-tier expertise and delivery, Client proudly provides custom services on a national basis to a broad range of businesses. The organizations served are primarily growing and innovative small and medium sized enterprises. However,Client consistently maintains strategic partnering relationships and provides services to several Fortune 1000 companies as well as startups.

 

The team of over 25 staff members has significant experience and strength in current and emerging design and development technologies, methods, and approaches. The team is frequently recognized for its work by peers and industry groups and consistently shares within their respective communities on the Web and at industry conferences. Clients professionals are also afforded time to gain skill, explore possibilities and create new services and products as part of the company’s own research and development investments.

 

We’re looking for developers who:

 

- Have proven software development experience using Web and mobile development and database technologies including – Ruby/Rails, Objective C, PHP, Javascript, HTML5, CSS3, MySQL
- Will be responsible for building high-quality web software with the Ruby on Rails framework, maintaining existing web properties, and participating in the planning/creative phase for new projects
- Bring practical experience and innovative ideas to successfully deliver Web and/or mobile solutions into the public domain
- Readily learn and apply new development technologies
- Understand and value Web standards with a strong focus on considering user experience
- Can work on multiple projects simultaneously and meet key deadlines
- Are able to work independently and collaborate with colleagues and clients who may be located in other geographies
- Comfortably work with UI/UX professionals in creatively solving problems and implementing solutions
- Speak and write well and are comfortable working directly with clients and business partners
- Are comfortable in performing systems administration tasks as part of bringing a solution online
- Actively participate in the developer and technology community

 

Candidates can live anywhere in the continental United States although applicants should understand that there will be some travel to Louisville, Washington, DC and at times to our client locations.

 

Client will offer contract or direct hire positions.

 

Submit your resume to careers at willnable dot com.

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iPhone development jobs

October 19th, 2011

iPhone / iPad developer jobs available with our clients (product and service companies). Will allow you to telecommute. Contract or full time. Clients compensate well with salary, bonus, benefits and equity.

Connect via Twitter @wnajobs or email careers at willnable dot com for more info.

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Startup Hiring – What It Takes To Hire Great Candidates

October 28th, 2010

There’s no debate over the fact that not all job seekers are startup material. With high demands, hectic, unpredictable work schedules, ever-changing job responsibilities and in many cases minimal resources, it’s important to recruit talent that’s dedicated to growing the business and cultivating relationships with their co-workers.

 

Talk to Your Team

 

Before you add talent to your team, identify your startup’s work culture. You may need to sit with your current partners and employees to identify the company’s core values, priorities and communication styles. Make a clear plan for the tasks and responsibilities new team members will have (although other responsibilities are sure to fall on his plate).

 

Ask for Experience

 

Ask candidates about their work history, including volunteer and freelance work. Did they head up any projects? If so, find out how they lead their teams. The most successful startup hires typically have the most unconventional relevant experience and are self-starters who can also work well in a team. Pay close attention to candidates who have worked with startup companies in the past, as job seekers who have worked for startups are familiar with the culture and may be able to adapt better to the work environment. Don’t forget to ask candidates why they left their previous roles. Make sure you hire talent that’s not in search of the next big opportunity. Focus on creating a startup team that’s loyal and dedicated to seeing the startup grow.

 

Look for Passion

 

Experience isn’t everything. A great candidate has passion and she’s not afraid to show it. Candidates who have researched your startup and industry before the interview, and who come to the interview ready to share ideas and ask questions may be a good fit for your startup.

 

Pay Attention to Attitude

 

Startup employees work closely with fellow employees, founders and investors to help grow the startup. Since startup success largely depends on team work, a “can do” attitude is a must. Great candidates don’t mind getting their hands dirty doing tasks that fall outside of their formal job descriptions.

 

Take a Test Drive

 

Bring your final round of candidates into the office to participate in a meeting with team members and founders. See how they gel with the group and the environment. Have members of the startup spend some time talking to them and getting to know them. Another good option is to have the candidate start working as a contractor before you make your final hiring decision

 

What are some key characteristics you look for when recruiting talent?

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Entry Level Jobs – Apply Now!

October 1st, 2010

Entry level jobs with a two-year old, venture-funded startup with recurring revenue.

 

Our client in the Washington DC Metro area has an innovative mobile product for the iPhone, Blackberry and Android markets. The company is in an explosive growth phase, and is seeking to hire for the following positions:

 

Entry Level Quality Assurance Analyst
Client is seeking a QA Analyst to help test applications and support users. He/she will report to the Associate Director of QA.

 

This is a fantastic opportunity for an entry level QA Analyst to help deliver quality products for an exciting startup!

 

Responsibilities
• Execute test scripts and report results
• Respond to user support tickets
• Build FAQs and How-Tos for self service

 

In light of the critically important role QA Analyst, they seek outstanding talent who will bring academic depth and personal qualities well suited for the challenge. The candidate should have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in a technology related field with strong written and oral communication skills. Ideally, the candidate should have at least one year of professional experience (e.g., including internships, etc.); however, they will consider candidates who have less but show great potential.

 

Entry Level Java Mobile Engineer
Client is seeking an entry-level Java Mobile Engineer to develop Mobile Applications. He/she will report to one of their technical leads.

 

This is a fantastic opportunity for an engineer to grow their skills and help build mobile products for an exciting startup!

 

Responsibilities
• Develop and unit test Java mobile apps (e.g., Android)

 

In light of the critically important role the Mobile Software Engineer, they seek outstanding talent who will bring the depth of academic and technical experience along with the personal qualities well suited for the challenge. Ideally, the candidate should have at least one year of professional experience (e.g., including internships, etc.); however, they will consider candidates who have less but show great potential.

 

Specifically, the successful candidate should possess:

 

Academic Experience
The candidate should have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in business, computer science or related field; a masters degree in computer science is a plus.

 

Technical Experience
• Experience developing software using object-oriented programming languages (e.g., Java, C++, C#, ObjectiveC, etc.)
• Experience in memory and processor constrained environments (e.g., embedded systems, high performance server systems) is a plus

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Want to work for one of the Hottest DC Area companies with a great mobile product?

July 28th, 2010

Our Client is a DC area VC funded startup with an award winning, innovative, cool mobile product. They are in an explosive growth stage and have 13 open positions. They value top performers and compensate them well with salary, bonus and equity.

 

What are you waiting for? Connect with us now! Email us at careers@willnable.com if you’re interested, or know someone who is. Here are their open positions:

 

• Director of Product Engineer
• Technical Project Manager
• Senior AJAX/Web Engineer
• Java Mobile Engineer
• Senior QA Engineer
• Product Manager
• Senior Business Analyst
• Marketing Manager
• Senior .Net Engineer
• Senior Systems Engineer
• iPhone Engineer
• Junior UI/UX Engineer
• Software Engineer

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Our Clients are hiring!

July 2nd, 2010

Our Clients are hiring! And they’re willing to pay for good people.

 

We’re seeing a new energy, especially among our Startup Clients…..demand for top talent is increasing!  Now here’s the caveat:  They’re being choosier, not because the can be since so many people are looking, but because they’re seeking hires who bring value to the firm.

 

So, identify what you’re good at and focus on those strengths.  And if you’re ready to pull off a WOW with any of these opportunities, please connect with us.

 

Opportunities:

 

Well funded startup with an innovative mobile product in Vienna, VA seeking:

 

  • QA Engineer
  • Mobile Developer (with experience in Blackberry/ Android/ iPhone development)
  • Sr. Business Analyst
  • User Experience (UX) Designer

 

Venture backed Deloitte Fast 50 Company and # 1 SAAS vendor in key markets seeking (in San Francisco, CA):

 

  • Director of Channel Sales
  • Director of Sales
  • Sales Engineer

 

Fortune 100 Client in San Jose, CA seeking a Senior Software Engineer who has architected media applications integrating media with video portals using Mpeg 7, Mpeg 21, RDF and Ontology (OWL)

 

You may connect with us on Twitter @wnajobs or email careers at willnable dot com for additional info on any of these jobs.

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