Help finding an IT job at a non-IT company?

April 23, 2011 12:57 PM

Recently I've been looking for a new job. I think I want to work at an interactive agency, but I can't really finding any listings, and I feel like I'm missing something. Can you help point me in the right direction for finding tech jobs that are at places other than pure IT companies?

I'm a programmer in a major metropolitan area in the US that works almost exclusively in web. I've been hitting the usual websites for tech jobs (Indeed, Dice, etc) but the majority of what I find are listings for recruiters that do placements in tech companies. That's all well and good, but I'd like to branch out and explore interactive agencies and jobs like that.

For some reason, though, I'm having a hard time finding anything as to what I'm looking for. Do these companies not list their jobs online? If they do, what sites do they list on? And if they don't, do they go through recruiters - and if so, how do I find those recruiters? I just feel like I'm missing something obvious here.

(PS, Sorry if this post is a little scatterbrained.)

posted by gchucky to Work & Money (8 answers total)

Make a list of the agencies whose work you like and consult their websites directly. I've found that most of the digital agencies I've ever worked at/with don't typically list job postings anywhere but on their own sites. They rely on that for the descriptor and word of mouth/their network to get the word out that they're hiring.

If you're not sure where you want to work, you might check out the SODA site to help give you some ideas.
posted by hapax_legomenon at 1:04 PM on April 23, 2011

Check out their websites directly, and yes, many also work through recruiters for contract personnel.

That being said, make very sure that you're up for the typical work culture at interactive agencies - it tends to be light on process, heavy on crazy hours around crunch time, particularly for the developers who are often the last in the chain - assets are promised by creative, delivered late or incomplete, but deadlines have to be met, and it's always the people on the end of the chain that end up on the hook unless you're part of a department that is managed by someone who knows how to protect their team from unreasonable expectations and goes to bat for them.

I can only report on my experience and those of people I've known, but it tends to be a younger person's game - played by those willing to put in the time above and beyond what would be considered reasonable in almost any other industry.
posted by canine epigram at 1:05 PM on April 23, 2011

Response by poster: hapax: I guess part of the problem is that I don't really have a specific company in mind, hence why I was trying to use aggregation sites and the like. But that SODA site looks helpful. Are there other sites like that?

canine: That's true, which is why I at least wanted to explore the possibility. I did some contract work for an agency awhile back, and while that one isn't hiring right now, I liked the work there, being involved in the creative process and whatnot. Maybe I'm being optimistic...

Oh, I guess that's another thing I should state: while interactive agencies are my focus with this question, I'm also looking more at non-IT companies that have a team of web developers or something like that.
posted by gchucky at 1:19 PM on April 23, 2011

Look for graphic designers, web developers, industrial designers, etc. on LinkedIn or whatever is popular in your city and make a list of the companies they've worked for, people they've worked with, and repeat, until you start finding examples of the sort of company you're looking for.
posted by RobotHero at 1:27 PM on April 23, 2011

From your other questions it looks like you are in NYC. There are tons of interactive agencies in NYC that are in need of programmers, but you need to look on the type of sites where they post jobs, which tend not to be big job boards, but more creative or ad-industry focused job boards, such as Krop, Creative Hotlist, 37Signals, or Behance. I've done web development for interactive agencies in NYC for a long time, so feel free to contact me directly if you have more questions.
posted by lsemel at 1:54 PM on April 23, 2011

Are there other sites like that?

I don't know of other organizations like SODA but another way you could find out more about companies is by going to all the various award sites, checking out the work and finding stuff you like/who created it. There's plenty of good work out there that's not part of the award scene but this might help you broaden your scope a bit.

Partial, arbitrary list:

One Show Interactive
The Webby Awards
Communication Arts
Interactive Media Awards
W3 Awards


And I'm sure there are more.
posted by hapax_legomenon at 2:09 PM on April 23, 2011

You didn't mention what city which would really help. If it happens to be Chicago, I've been working at digital agencies for several years and could help you out (several openings at my agency as well). Shoot me a PM if interested.
posted by Elminster24 at 8:04 PM on April 23, 2011

I think the sites you list tend to be geared toward large corporations. You want to be looking at more of the smaller, boutique sites:

- Stackoverflow careers
- Authentic jobs
- 37 signal's job board
- Hackernews has a monthly "Who's hiring" thread (though not every month)
- Github jobs

The other thing is to find what the good tech/design meetups are in your area, and start going to those. They'll usually have a part of the meeting where people will say they're hiring. You'll also find out which agencies the smart people are working at, and then you can target that agency specifically.

If you're in a major tech city, there are probably mailing lists you can get on for jobs. Here's one: http://nextdigest.com/jobs/ (it's not entirely Bay Area stuff.)
posted by The Eponymous Pseudonymous Rex at 3:59 PM on April 24, 2011