In addition to the senior developer position, my company is trying to fill an opening for a mid-level ASP.NET developer to take over and extend our public-facing web site. We’re looking for someone with two or more years of solid C#/ASP.NET experience developing standard web application components like content management, shopping cart, user management, etc. Certs like MCSD.NET or MCAD are a plus. Experience integrating ASP.NET sites with back-ends like SalesForce.com is strongly preferred. Page layout and graphic design skills are not required but will be utilized if present.

If this sounds like you, then we’d love for you to get in touch with us. We offer very competitive compensation; a casual work environment; the freedom and agility of a fast-growing young company; and the chance to work on a number of challenging tasks.

A while back I was looking for a senior-level developer to join our team at AppAssure Software. I’m still looking. I’ve rewritten the job description a bit in the hopes that will help me find the right candidates.

My company, AppAssure Software, is looking for another senior level developer to join our development team. AppAssure is a rapidly growing software company with consistent revenue growth building cutting-edge Windows software products used by organizations of all sizes to protect their most mission-critical IT assets. The Reston-based development team is lean and results-oriented. We’re looking to add another senior level, well-rounded developer with impeccable software engineering skills.

We’re trying to find an experienced software engineer with soup-to-nuts product lifecycle experience and strong C# and C++ skills.

My company, AppAssure Software, are looking for another senior level developer to join our development team. AppAssure is a funded startup with consistent revenue growth building cutting-edge Windows software products used by organizations of all sizes to protect their most mission-critical IT assets. The development team is lean and results-oriented. We’re looking to add another senior level, well-rounded generalist with impeccable software engineering skills.

Our development team is laid back, professional, easy to work with, and gets things done.

I’ve previously mentioned that my company is trying to staff a QA lead position. It’s been posted on craigslist and the Joel on Software Jobs board. At least I knew enough not to waste money on Monster ($550 for a month of worthless resumes matched by keyword? I can do that with Google for free!) and CareerBuilder, but I wasn’t prepared for the sheer deluge of unqualified applicants.

My last day with BearingPoint is a week from day, on Thursday 27 July. As I go through my last days here, I’m taking stock of the things I won’t miss:

• The circuitous parking deck
• The funny smell in the corridors outside the elevators on the parking deck levels
• The depressing, silent elevator ride every morning
• Overhearing painfully cliche Dilbert-esque elevator banter
• Waiting in line for the damn microwave
• The 12 square feet of billboard space dedicated to CYA regulatory compliance posters explaining my rights to decline a polygraph and earn minimum wage
• The immensely annoying ringtone on my Cisco IP phone (yes, I could change it, but it’s easier to curse the darkness than light a candle)

Effective Thursday 27 July, I have resigned from BearingPoint, and am moving on to AppAssure, a very small, early-stage startup building some next generation technology that [NDA filter].

I was soured on BE after the unceremonious end of my Iraq tour, but even before then I was growing restless and looking for something with a more deeply technical component. AppAssure gives me that in spades, with everything from a kernel-mode driver component through high-performance user-mode C++ server work and C#/.NET GUI tools. It’s also small and early stage, which means low bullshit and high upside.

The job search continues. I don’t suffer from a lack of options, but I’ve made a few surprising (to me) observations:

• ISV work is hard to come by in this town
• I’m paid very well at my current position, if the pushback I’m getting on my salary requirements is any indication
• Recruiters seem to favor the phone over email, much to my chagrin
• Recruiters seem to regard the details of their various opportunities as classified information until they’re on the phone with you. A few recruiters have emailed me with a message to the effect of “I’ve got an opportunity doing [something] with [something] using [something] at [somewhere] that I think you’d be great for”, but most of them hit me with “I’ve got some .NET/C# work. Call me.”

As I’ve noted previously, I’m back on the job market, looking to trade up my position at BearingPoint for one with a more tech-focused company doing more deeply technical work with the best people and lavish institutional support.

Though it may surprise you, in my 9+ years as a professional programmer, I’ve actually searched for a job only once before, and that was what led me to work as a contractor at BearingPoint, which later became a full-time employee position. Every other job I’ve had has come to me through me network as a target of opportunity. Thus, despite being a grizzled old veteran of the trade, the job search experience is still a bit novel to me, and I suspect rather strange to anyone who’s looked for a job in some other field.

This whole Iraq business has left a very bad taste in my mouth where my employer is concerned. I was already growing restless and planning to leave when I returned from my tour in Iraq; recent events have only accelerated my timetable.

As I’ve noted before, I’m weary of the consulting business, of office work, of working for tech-stupid companies, and dealing with government contracting. To that end, here’s what I’m looking for:

• Serious technology project, innovating with cutting-edge tools
• Tech elite co-workers; people smarter than me, yet down to earth and easy to work with
• High-level institutional buy-in, with cutting edge tech as a core competency