Marsh Sutherland of Walden Recruiting
As a part of an ongoing recruiter interview series, I spoke with Marsh Sutherland, President of Walden Recruiting, who focuses on recruiting for technology startup companies in the Boston and Silicon Valley areas. Marsh was previously a management consultant and project manager for KPMG and a multitude of prestigious technology startup companies, affording him a unique insight into the hiring needs of management.
He offers industry experience in Technology, Financial Services and Law. Marsh is a Co-Founder of the Web Executives Group on LinkedIn, Chair for the Boston Chapter of the Technology Executives Networking Group, and President/Co-Founder of SocialGrow. Here he provides us with some inside information on what employers are looking for in today’s job market.
What are the most common job titles that you’ve been recruiting for this year?
Marsh: I’ve been recruiting mostly for software engineers and product managers and product marketing managers. Software engineers have been both Java and .Net, but I’ve seen a huge increase in job openings requiring LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, Perl/PHP) skills combined with JavaScript. B2C websites have been growing and recruiting more than ever to take advantage of the technical talent in currently available due to enterprise B2B software company layoffs. Product Managers and Product Marketing Managers are in hot demand.
What are the most in-demand skills employers are asking for right now?
Marsh: LAMP development experience (Linux, Apache, MySQL, Perl/PHP) skills combined with JavaScript. Our Boston JavaScript Meetup group that I run has increased from 45 members to 347 members in less than 6 months! Python and Ruby experience is becoming an added plus in job descriptions, but not required. People who are committers or have contributed to an Open Source codebase are in high demand and demonstrate a higher level of technical competency and passion.
What are the personal attributes employers are requesting frequently?
Marsh: One of Walden Recruiting’s clients has implemented a “No Jerks” policy. If a candidate shows an ego or air of superiority, they are escorted to the door. This has resulted in a very cohesive development team that is meeting its release schedule with an incredible software product.
What are a couple of the biggest mistakes you’re seeing with candidates right now?
Marsh: Candidates who get the name of a company hiring from a recruiting agency and apply through the recruiter and then also apply directly will not be hired. This creates a conflict with the employer as the recruiter will expect a fee and this leads to a perception of the candidate lacking integrity. Companies will not hire candidates lacking integrity. The web technology industry where I specialize is a very close community and everyone knows each other or will run into each other at some point. Reputations spread around.
What makes a candidate stand out or able to be placed quickly?
Marsh:
1.) Strong references on a candidate’s LinkedIn profile from their peers and prior managers.
2.) Sample of prior work product. For a software engineer, some sample code that they are proud of in the employer’s technical environment. If marketing, samples of prior marketing plans or other work they are proud of. For User Interface Designers or other online designers, an online portfolio of their prior work. Their website itself should make the user go “Wow!”
3.) For software engineers, contributing to the codebase significantly on an Open Source project makes them stand out tremendously.
4.) Either publishing an article in an industry periodical or contributing to a book demonstrates subject matter expertise
What should candidates in your field be doing to improve their chances of being hired?
Marsh: Optimize their LinkedIn profile with keywords so they are found. Join as many Meetup groups and LinkedIn group as are relevant to their job search.
If you think you would be a great match for Marsh’s clients please feel free to email him your resume at jobs@waldenrecruiting.com and check out Walden Recruiting online at www.waldenrecruiting.com.
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