We are not hiring at the moment, but do not let that stop you from sending us an email if you feel like this is your kind of work environment. We do not post openings on job boards, cragislist or with recruiters, we only go from word of mouth and email submissions from people who were on our website. When something does become available we send an email out to everyone on our ‘list’ and it’s first come first considered at that point. If you happen to see a punctuation or grammatical error on this website, feel free to include that in your message as well (along with your preferred language(s)/skillset(s)). Our website is kind of like the mechanics car: always the last thing to get worked on.
WORKING AT BELAY – Belay supports and creates software that people use on a daily basis. Help us make it better and reach more people.
At Belay, everybody contributes. Whether you are pushing pixels, modding view controllers, or balancing accounts, there is always a way we have not thought of. We are looking for people with common sense, a sense of humor and a tad of intestinal fortitude, because eventually, we do need to ship that 1.0.
Depending on the project or job you will work with a small (or solo if you are an industrious type of person) select crew of somewhat talented people (or at least people who try hard). Whether you have decades of experience or are just starting out, your opinion matters. We don’t like meetings, but we sure do talk a lot.
ATMOSPHERE – We focus on making efficient, useful software. Everybody at Belay shares this ideal.
Belay is big enough to have an impact, and small enough to get things done, without office politics. We believe that the best ideas surface at the most unexpected moments, so we work hard to maintain an environment where they won’t pass by unnoticed.
Telecommuting is a way of life at Belay and not all of our staff members/contractors reside in Minnesota, but if you do live here and when you come into our workspace, it’s on the fourth floor of a classic warehouse building in the lowertown district of Saint Paul. Our ‘office’ is in an open space, where other companies work that we can scale up or down depending on our needs. There are 3 separate rooms for meetings, a lounge area, kitchen and other areas for a relaxing moment or two. We will provide you with good equipment, excellent coffee and (sometimes) sun-tea or lemonade, the occasional BBQ, and plenty of interesting work. Fridays are casual, just like the rest of the week.
We care deeply about the quality of literally everything we do, and we do not think much of formalities or convention. Belay is a healthy, debt-free startup with real revenues and no outside investors. All decisions are made by the people you work with every day.
INSIGHT – A company somewhat different than the traditional IT environment in corporate America
It is true that all companies want to hire great people and have them do great things. Unfortunately what happens is that these companies have turned their individual departments into ‘systems’. These systems become inflexible, do not create a sense of innovation or creativity and leave the employee stuck in a sea of mediocrity with the end result of stagnation at the work place.
Ironically what happens most times when you are hired to work in this type of system:
1> You find out there is not a lot of room for making any type of change or new idea implementation
2> You are expected to follow a cookie cutter process or contrarily you have to ‘wing it’ on a daily basis
3> Personal growth and opportunity are not judged by your accomplishments and determination
4> Everyone avoids responsibility or never admits fault for fear of ‘blame-storming’ or possibly termination
There are also dozens of keywords in job-postings in today’s market that give these types of systems away. You may have already come across some of these in your career search. While at one time these phrases used to mean something, they have been over used and are so cliched that they don’t stand for anything anymore. Here are a few examples and what they really mean:
Slogan: work in a “FAST-PACED ENVIRONMENT” Reality: we lack organization at our company and don’t have time to train you
Slogan: looking for “SOMEONE WHO IS SELF-MOTIVATED” Reality: nobody in the company will (or has time to) answer your questions
Slogan: “SOME OVERTIME REQUIRED” Reality: you are EXPECTED to work a minimum of 45 hours a week
Slogan: “YOU’LL MAKE A LOT MORE THAN JUST A PAYCHECK” Reality: no explanation necessary…
Slogan: we use “CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY” Reality: we have some new, unproven software integrated into our old systems that break frequently
and so on…
You can also bet the farm that if they use the Taleo or any other canned and automated hiring online application engine they are not worth your time. So what happened? Do they not want someone to come in and be innovative with some fresh ideas? Do they not want someone who can offer a non-conventional solution?
Everyone has become so risk-averse that fear has caused them to make what they think are ‘safe’ or ‘cost-effective’ decisions which ultimately are only solving their problems temporarily. All of us at Belay have been in the industry working for large and small organizations and understand what it’s like to work for someone else or in a counter-productive environment. We want you to succeed. We know that when your hands are tied, your motivation and level of interest falls through the floor. We want you to ask challenging questions. We want you to say ‘I have a better idea’ to a process or solution. We want you to say ‘What if…’. We’ll give you a shot at whatever you feel your up too, and not punish your for failing. At Belay if you don’t mess up once in a while, you weren’t trying hard enough.
Sometimes we use words in our office that we don’t really know the definition of and put them in the wrong context. Some people in our office use words that don’t even exist (quippery and irregardless to name a few). Once in a while we ask each other if they even know what the word they used really means which starts a dictionary look-up for proper usage contest. We often tell each other not to use words they can’t spell. So if your interested, we are ALWAYS on the lookout for employees who are looking for a little more. If you don’t see a position listed that you feel your qualifications cover, feel free to send us a resume or a just a simple letter/email of interest. We might even make/create a position for you, if you feel like you have something to offer. We get it and we hope to hear from you soon!
REQUIREMENTS – Belay needs people with an itch to change their work/life balance and support our clients endeavors.
You get it, just in general… You are observant and pick up on the subtleties that happen every day in life. You’re aware and awake in any given situation.
You want a shot (maybe at the title, whichever one floats your boat). Perhaps you’ll just like working here and stay in your initial position forever, we don’t have a problem with that. Maybe you feel you could out grow your position and might want to do a little more or something else, fine with us.
WE HOPE TO HEAR FROM YOU SOON… – i.e. send an email now