<p><strong>This is no longer an active post. I accepted a job offer and am no longer looking for work. I am leaving the post up for archival purposes after receiving requests to do so.</strong></p>
<p><em>Disclaimer: I am not interested in hearing from independent recruiters, recruiting firms, etc. This post is not for you. Everyone else, continue on! This post will self-destruct when I find a new job.</em></p>
<p>For a limited time only, I am on the market for a new job. A bunch of friends asked what I was looking for, so I decided to put it all in writing rather than repeat myself many times. Please take a look and get in touch if you think I would be a good fit for your organization and vice versa.</p>
<section>
  <h2 id="-when"><i class="far fa-calendar"></i> When<a aria-hidden tabindex="-1" class="anchor before" href="#-when"><i class="fas fa-link"></i></a></h2>
  <p>Soon! I'm taking a little time off to recharge. I am happy to start conversations now and will be ready to start a new job in the early summer.</p>
  <p>If you want me to relocate, it will likely take me a couple months to sort out the logistics of moving across the country with two disgruntled cats.</p>
</section>
<section>
  <h2 id="--where"> <i class="fas fa-globe-americas"></i> Where<a aria-hidden tabindex="-1" class="anchor before" href="#--where"><i class="fas fa-link"></i></a></h2>
  <p>I am currently based in Pittsburgh, PA. I want to move to Portland, OR in the relatively near future. I am looking for companies that fit either of the following:</p>
  <ul class="fa-ul">
    <li><i class="fa-li fas fa-map-marker-alt"></i> Based in Portland.</li>
    <li><i class="fa-li fas fa-map-marker-alt"></i> Based in the US and support remote employees.</li>
  </ul>
  <img src="/images/blog/2015-04-23-for-a-limited-time-only-looking-for-work/locations.png" alt="map of the US with pushpins in Pittsburgh and Portland and a dotted line between them" style="margin-top: 20px;">
</section>
<section>
  <h2 id="--about-me"> <i class="fas fa-user"></i> About Me<a aria-hidden tabindex="-1" class="anchor before" href="#--about-me"><i class="fas fa-link"></i></a></h2>
  <p>Check out <a href="/resume">my resume</a> for an overview of my work experience, education, and more.</p>
  <p>I am a software developer with 8+ years of experience. I like to focus on front-end web development because I am passionate about user experience, but I am comfortable developing throughout the stack. I enjoy learning new things and am quick to pick up new languages and skills.</p>
  <p>Front-end web development excites me because I get to consider a lot of different problems (design, accessibility, user experience, performance, support for multiple platforms and screen sizes, and so much more) while getting to write code and fight for a great experience for users. I am comfortable diving deeper into the stack as part of my job, but the front end is my happy place. A new job does not need to be 100% front-end web development, but I want it to be something I get to regularly work on.</p>
  <p>In addition to my strong technical skills, I have excellent communication and leadership skills. I am known for my writing and public speaking. I spearheaded mentoring and training in my workplaces and local tech community. I was the technical lead on large, successful projects where I was responsible for technical design and architecture, overseeing junior engineers, data analysis, managing project timelines and deliverables, collaboration with other teams, and software development.</p>
</section>
<section>
  <h2 id="-what-im-looking-for"><i class="fas fa-briefcase"></i> What I'm Looking For<a aria-hidden tabindex="-1" class="anchor before" href="#-what-im-looking-for"><i class="fas fa-link"></i></a></h2>
  <p>The three main things I am looking for are:</p>
  <ul class="fa-ul">
    <li><i class="fas fa-li fa-users"></i> Good people.</li>
    <li><i class="fas fa-li fa-puzzle-piece"></i> Interesting problems.</li>
    <li><i class="fas fa-li fa-money-bill"></i> Competitive pay.</li>
  </ul>
  <h3 id="-location"><i class="fas fa-globe-americas"></i> Location<a aria-hidden tabindex="-1" class="anchor before" href="#-location"><i class="fas fa-link"></i></a></h3>
  <p>I am looking for a company that is based in Portland or is based in the US and supports remote employees. I will also consider companies based in Canada if they have good support for remote employees based in the US (e.g. health insurance).</p>
  <h3 id="-size"><i class="fas fa-tachometer-alt"></i> Size<a aria-hidden tabindex="-1" class="anchor before" href="#-size"><i class="fas fa-link"></i></a></h3>
  <p>I am looking for a small to midsize company. I've worked for giant corporations (IBM, Google), and it wasn't the right fit for me. Tiny, early stage startups are also unlikely to be a good fit.</p>
  <h3 id="-culture"><i class="fas fa-heartbeat"></i> Culture<a aria-hidden tabindex="-1" class="anchor before" href="#-culture"><i class="fas fa-link"></i></a></h3>
  <p>The following are things that are important to me in the culture where I work.</p>
  <ul>
    <li><strong>Collaboration</strong> — People work together to solve problems. People share knowledge and collaborate with people from other roles (e.g. engineering, QA, design, UX, support).</li>
    <li><strong>Respect</strong> — People respect the people they work with regardless of their role. People respect users of the software they develop.</li>
    <li><strong>Empathy</strong> — People try to empathize with the people they work with and users. This is reflected in how people interact with and treat one another.</li>
    <li><strong>Work/life balance</strong> — People work about 40 hours a week or less. Working on weekends only happens in extreme situations. When people leave work at the end of the day, they disconnect from work. The work environment is sustainable, so burnout is rare.</li>
  </ul>
  <h3 id="-pros"><i class="fas fa-thumbs-up"></i> Pros<a aria-hidden tabindex="-1" class="anchor before" href="#-pros"><i class="fas fa-link"></i></a></h3>
  <p>The following things will excite me about your organization. Think of them as bonus points!</p>
  <ul>
    <li>Flexible work schedule.</li>
    <li>20+ days of vacation leave.</li>
    <li>Unlimited sick leave.</li>
    <li>401k match.</li>
    <li>Located in Portland or within a four hour flight from Portland.</li>
    <li>Support for employees using company time for things like professional development, open source contributions, and community outreach.</li>
    <li>Support for employees attending conferences.</li>
    <li>Support for your local tech community.</li>
    <li>Sponsors <a href="http://www.alterconf.com/">AlterConf</a>.</li>
    <li>Has a subscription to <a href="https://modelviewculture.com/">Model View Culture</a>.</li>
  </ul>
  <h3 id="-cons"><i class="fas fa-thumbs-down"></i> Cons<a aria-hidden tabindex="-1" class="anchor before" href="#-cons"><i class="fas fa-link"></i></a></h3>
  <p>The following things will make me less excited about your organization. They're not dealbreakers, but I will probably ask to be paid more if some of these practices are present at your company.</p>
  <ul>
    <li>Pager duty or other on-call requirements. This cuts into work/life balance for me.</li>
    <li>Heavy travel. I don't mind traveling to the home base a few times a year if I am a remote employee, but don't enjoy traveling more frequently than that.</li>
    <li>A combined PTO policy. This punishes employees who get sick by giving them less vacation.</li>
    <li>An unlimited vacation policy. <a href="http://www.paperplanes.de/2014/12/10/from-open-to-minimum-vacation-policy.html">This post</a> pretty well explains my concerns.</li>
    <li>Policies that limit what employees can do with their free time (e.g. banning employees from contributing to open source).</li>
    <li>Support for IE7 and older. I can do it, but it makes me sad.</li>
  </ul>
  <h3 id="-dealbreakers"><i class="fas fa-trash"></i> Dealbreakers<a aria-hidden tabindex="-1" class="anchor before" href="#-dealbreakers"><i class="fas fa-link"></i></a></h3>
  <p>The following are dealbreakers. Your organization is not going to be a good fit.</p>
  <ul>
    <li>Heavy drinking culture.</li>
    <li>You don't have HR.</li>
    <li>You have zero women employees.</li>
  </ul>
</section>
<section>
  <h2 id="--contact-me"> <i class="fas fa-envelope"></i> Contact Me<a aria-hidden tabindex="-1" class="anchor before" href="#--contact-me"><i class="fas fa-link"></i></a></h2>
  <p>Does all of this sound interesting to you? Awesome! You should contact me if you meet all of the following criteria.</p>
  <ul>
    <li>You work for the organization you are contacting me about. Ideally you are a software engineer or someone who works closely with software engineers (e.g. designer, QA, PM).</li>
    <li>You read the post and think your organization would be a good fit for me and vice versa.</li>
    <li>Your organization is hiring now or in the near future.</li>
  </ul>
  <p>Please contact me via email at <a href="mailto:julie.pagano+jobs@gmail.com">julie.pagano+jobs@gmail.com</a> and include the following:</p>
  <ul>
    <li>The name of the organization you are contacting me about.</li>
    <li>Where the organization is based.</li>
    <li>What kind of organization it is (e.g. private/public company, non-profit, government).</li>
    <li>Does the organization allow remote work?</li>
    <li>A brief description of why the organization would be a good fit for me and vice versa.</li>
    <li>Information about the position(s) and/or a link to relevant job postings.</li>
    <li>Any other information you think is useful.</li>
  </ul>
</section>
<h2 id="-faqs"><i class="fa fa-question-circle"></i> FAQs<a aria-hidden tabindex="-1" class="anchor before" href="#-faqs"><i class="fas fa-link"></i></a></h2>
<p><em>Last updated 2015-04-23 at 6:30pm</em></p>
<h3 id="why-do-you-want-to-move-to-portland">Why do you want to move to Portland?<a aria-hidden tabindex="-1" class="anchor before" href="#why-do-you-want-to-move-to-portland"><i class="fas fa-link"></i></a></h3>
<p>I've been in Pittsburgh a long time (~12 years), and it's no longer a good fit for me. It's time for a change. I spent a bunch of time in Portland last summer for AdaCamp and OSBridge and fell in love with the city. My awesome friends in Portland are lobbying hard for me to move. The tech community there sounds welcoming. And a hundred other little reasons.</p>
<p>Bonus: I am told it will be socially acceptable to push my cat around in a stroller there.</p>
<img src="/images/blog/2015-04-23-for-a-limited-time-only-looking-for-work/cat-stroller.jpg" alt="photo of a Julie&#x27;s cat wearing a sweater and sitting inside a pet stroller">
<h3 id="why-are-you-leaving-google">Why are you leaving Google?<a aria-hidden tabindex="-1" class="anchor before" href="#why-are-you-leaving-google"><i class="fas fa-link"></i></a></h3>
<p>Working at Google for the last 2+ years has been really valuable for my growth as a software engineer. I learned a lot and expanded my skills. I am grateful for the kind and talented people I worked with during my tenure there. However, just like Pittsburgh, Google isn't the right fit for me any more. Below are some reasons why.</p>
<ul>
  <li>Google does not allow remote work and there aren't opportunities for me in Portland.</li>
  <li>Working for a huge megacorporation is not a good fit for me. It was a beneficial learning experience, but I am hoping to move somewhere smaller. Up side: most tech companies are smaller than Google.</li>
  <li>Google has a very bad case of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_invented_here">not invented here syndrome</a> (often for legitimate reasons). This makes it difficult for me to keep up with the latest and greatest in front-end web development, and I do not want to fall behind in my field.</li>
  <li>It was difficult for me to maintain good work/life balance at Google. I want something more sustainable.</li>
</ul>

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INACTIVE POST – For a Limited Time Only: Looking for Work