Company Offers Beer, $10,000 Cash and More for New Employees

By Lisa Johnson Mandell

From http://jobs.aol.com/

This has to be one of the most unusual and generous recruiting ploys we've ever seen. Hipster, a marketing/social networking start-up in San Francisco, is not only offering $10,000 to new employees or those who refer them, but all the accoutrement you'll need to fit right in. This includes a striped bow-tie, worn brown boots and, we kid you not, a year's supply of Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR), which is apparently the drink of choice for true hipsters these days.

Mustaches and bicycles seem to be "in" now, as well, since the incentive package also includes 'stache grooming services and a florescent, fixed gear bike. But wait -- there's more! They'll also throw in a pair of skinny jeans, and some big, black, horn-rimmed Buddy Holly glasses.

Of course, they also have more traditional employee incentives. According to their website, "We're offering a competitive salary with fantastic stock options, as well as great medical and dental benefits. We're in a prime location in the heart of SOMA, right across from the Caltrain station."

So what is Hipster and what exactly does it do? Unless you're into this type of thing, it's a little difficult to figure out. "Hipster is building a fun way to uncover the vast amount of information about real-world locations that isn't yet available online," says the website. "Based in SOMA, San Francisco, and founded in 2010 by Doug Ludlow, Ethan Czahor and Steffen Hoffman, Hipster is tackling a really large problem in a really large market in a really unique way."

Jenna Wortham, a blogger for The New York Times describes their business this way: Hipster "lets people post queries and answers to others in their geographic area using the Web and a mobile phone."
If that sounds a little squishy, know they're backed by some major powerhouses, including Google Ventures, Lightbank, Kapor Capitol, Ludlow Ventures and many more. That's how they're funding all the new employee perks.

What kinds of positions are they trying to fill? "We want entrepreneurs, not employees" their website states. "We're looking for individuals who are self-motivated and eager to learn; the type that would rather start their own business than work for someone else. This is an opportunity to be autonomous, important, and have substantial decision-making power."

Their ideal employees, however, are highly skilled and specialized. To be specific, they're seeking:

Mobile Engineers

• with extensive experience creating fun and useful mobile applications for the iPhone, Android and Blackberry platforms
• with expertise in Objective C, Java and appropriate mobile APIs/SDKs
• a BS, MS or PhD in Computer Science, or equivalent work experience

• Find more jobs in mobile application development.

Ruby Engineers

• with extensive experience building awesome Ruby-based web applications
• with expertise in several areas of a typical Rails stack, from the data layer (MongoDB, PostgreSQL) all way on up (Varnish, Memcached, and more)
• a BS, MS or PhD in Computer Science, or equivalent work experience

• Find more Ruby on Rails jobs.

And you don't even have to submit a resume to apply to Hipster! All you have to do is fill out a very short online application, provide a link to your LinkedIn profile, and write a few sentences about why you would be the right candidate. It's as simple as that.

Hey, if you know any good Ruby or mobile-app engineers, you could go ahead and submit their names yourself. If they're hired on your recommendation, the cash and the hipster kit are yours. What have you got to lose, besides that seriously unhip reputation?

Next: Companies Hiring

I.T. always fun always challenging!!!

Boy, 8, becomes youngest IT professional

An eight-year-old boy has become the world's youngest IT professional after passing an exam with Microsoft.

Marko Calasan, from Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, has become the world's youngest certified computer system administrator.

"I'd like to be a computer scientist when I grow up and create a new operational system," he said.

Marko, whose favourite subject at school is mathematics, learnt to read and write at the age of two, which was when his interest in computers began.

The news of his achievement has turned him into a celebrity in Macedonia.

His mother Radica, 37, said that her son displayed "exceptional learning abilities at a very early age" and that she and her husband, who run a computer school, call on Marko to help solve technical problems when they crop up.

"He is obviously extraordinary gifted, but children above the age of six could learn much more about computers than generally assumed," she said.

Marko is also fascinated by physics and astronomy and struggled to sleep the night before the launch of the Big Bang experiment at the underground facility of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research in Switzerland.

Marko said: "The media said it could cause the end of the world, but there was never any danger of that."

The 2009 IT career survival guide

Economic uncertainty, offshoring, and increased pressure on IT require tech workers to take control of their destinies

By Galen Gruman

The economy is in trouble -- everywhere. Even outsourced providers are nervous. Already under stress, IT staffers see their jobs getting more and more difficult as they must do more with less, all while wondering if they'll even keep their jobs.

Weather.com handles whatever nature serves up - read this white paper.

» Back to special report: 2009 IT career survival guide

The worst thing you can do is give up or panic. Although tech jobs are under increasing pressure, the reality is that the technology jobs market overall is still doing better than the market for other types of jobs. That doesn't mean you're immune from layoffs, stagnant salaries, or increasing workloads, but it does mean you have more options than many other workers -- if you're willing to be flexible.

[ InfoWorld has put together a special package of stories to help tech workers through the current tough times. Among the highlights:
* Slide show: Where IT jobs are headed
* Special report: 2009 IT career survival guide
* Special report: Where the tech jobs are overseas (and how to get one)
* Special report: Tech workers under fire
* Special report: IT and the financial crisis
* Get sage advice on IT careers and management from Bob Lewis in InfoWorld's Advice Line blog and newsletter. ]

First, the bad news on tech jobs
There's plenty of data to support the fears that many tech workers have about their job security and ability to make ends meet. For example, more than 50,000 tech workers lost their jobs before the financial meltdown hit, and more jobs are in danger.

That trend translates to income pain for even the survivors. According to the 2008 salary survey by our sister publication Computerworld, bonuses for IT workers rose only 0.2 percent from 2007 levels. At a time when 3 to 4 percent salary raises are failing to keep up with inflation rates that are rising above 5 percent, those dwindling bonuses are making tough times even more challenging for IT professionals.

And stress levels are up. That same Computerworld survey shows that only 14 percent of respondents did not feel more stressed than a year earlier. Shrinking budgets are one reason. "Companies are in the mind-set of not spending in the next 3 months and increasing only 1 or 2 percent in the next 12 months. That's quite a change from last year when it was between 7 and 8 percent," notes Steve Minton, vice president of worldwide IT markets at IDC.

Are you ready for event-driven business? - watch this webcast.

Having desirable tech skills is key
The U.S. and Europe appear to be especially hard hit, though the downturn is being felt worldwide. Still, tech workers might consider moving to China, Canada, or other stronger markets where the demand for IT skills -- and the opportunities to develop new ones -- remains good. A move abroad may also give you more than technical skills: It can make you more appealing to companies that have global teams, an increasing reality everywhere.

To remain competitive, IT workers need a combination of the 30 essential basic skills -- including, according to one survey, strong ethics and morals -- and abilities in emerging recession-proof areas where demand remains high, such as security, VoIP, and wireless. And don't forget about not-so-hot areas that are critical to companies' abilities to keep running: Cobol skills can be great job insurance, for example. And don't forget about skills that have been hot for a while and thus tend to be neglected, such as open source, .Net, and Java.

Certifications also can help, especially management ones. But beware: Not all certifications are that valuable. Some are simply expected -- and may be necessary to even be considered for a job -- while others are superfluous. That's especially true for technical certifications; outside of security and networking, they're not proving that valuable. Those that do tend to give you an edge involve management and business-specific training -- skills that business managers more easily understand than technical ones.

Galen Gruman is executive editor of InfoWorld.