Looking for good software employers in the Boulder, CO region

November 5, 2016 7:32 AM

Middle of the road, broadly experienced software developer here. Does anyone have recommendations for a good employer in the Boulder, CO area?

My current job does work that is socially and technically interesting, but I was just assigned my fourth (simultaneous) boss, pay is low, Raises Are For Other People(TM), had vacation cut by half, and had benefit contributions double. In the mean time, housing costs have risen 30%, total cost of living around 10%.

And there's no coffee.

I think I've had enough.

I would really like a well run (... competent? At least not insane?) company for my next job, even if the pay isn't top of the scale. Socially important work (or at least, not making the world worse) would be fantastic. Diverse development teams would be amazing. Non-software focused companies that just need software are fine, too, if they understand the cost of software.

Suggestions for remote would be okay, though I've never done it before, and I like being around people.

I'm not really the entrepreneurial type. Tried it, it's just not for me.

Any suggestions of companies? Or just suggestions for ways to just identify good candidate companies?

posted by cowcowgrasstree to Work & Money (6 answers total)

I just moved to the area, so I dont exactly have my finger on the pulse on the tech scene here yet, but Boulder seems like a great place for what you're looking for. No specific suggestions (unless you have computer vision experience), but check out TechFriends to get a feel for what's out there. At its core it's just a Slack org for networking, but it's pretty active and the jobs channel actually has good stuff posted to it. It's targeted at the whole Front Range but it's probably most active in Boulder. It's fairly startup-focused; not sure if that's your thing.
posted by zsazsa at 7:49 AM on November 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

Probably obvious, but have you considered Google?
posted by potrzebie at 9:37 AM on November 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

I live in Northern Colorado - there are the big companies (off the top of my head, Boulder has Google, IBM, Oracle, Fort Collins has Intel, AMD, HP, Broadcom). Their coffee is free, but typically terrible.

Then Boulder and Denver are awash in startups. Head out to meetups and every one has at least somebody hiring.
posted by cschneid at 9:45 AM on November 5, 2016 [2 favorites]

Friend of mine works for and sings the praises of Solidfire. Can't speak to coffee, but if you want an "in" there, drop me an email. He'd appreciate the recruiting bonus...
posted by straw at 9:54 AM on November 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

I work for a web dev company. 2nding Meetups as a great way to network for employers, clients, or whatever. We're having more luck with a Meetup in a big city 90 minutes from our office than we have had flying all over the country to national trade shows.
posted by randomkeystrike at 10:09 AM on November 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Working on getting the Slack invite for TechFriends. Good idea!

I would love to consider Google. Getting them to consider me is, well, a little harder, given my rather mundane pedigree. Solidfire turned me down a few years ago at phone screen, but perhaps I'll poke at them a little bit to see if they've changed their mind.

I'll hit more meetups, and work on chatting with a broader cross-section of engineers.

Thanks all!
posted by cowcowgrasstree at 5:43 PM on November 6, 2016