ColdFusion Muse

Expanding again! Looking for Advance ColdFusion Developers

CF Webtools is expanding (again) and looking for high quality ColdFusion developers. If you have some mobile skills you might end up at the front of the line.

Here are the soft skills we are looking for.

• Ownership - Your focus is not on your job description or shifting responsibility but on outcomes that satisfy the client.
• Eclectic Tech - You think about things up and down the technology stack and are not just focused on your skills or favorite tech.
• Community - You love to share with others as well as engage and learn. Love is an intentional word! We don't use it casually - we mean it.
• Autodidact - You have evolving skills and you are constantly picking up new ones.
• Overcommunicator - You explain technical concepts to non-technical folks without condescension. You thrive on copious detail. This is a core competency for us. You have to be relational with our customers.
• Sense of Humor and Fun - You like to laugh and hang around with a funny people - without the need to put anyone down. No kidding this is a requirement! No Eyors!

And here are the Tech Skills:

• Advanced ColdFusion - we will test you. We are looking for folks who know more than syntax on a web page. Everything you do with regard to the test is being evaluated. That means not just the skills you portray but getting connected to the VPN, using the IDE, the kind of questions you ask and how you respond to feedback.
• Environment Setup - You should be used to setting up sites in a local environment (i.e. on your workstation) using CF, IIS and/or Apache. We can help of course and sites can be idiosyncratic and require some effort. But you should not be scratching your head over how to organize code, SVN, Eclipse, IIS setting etc. That needs to be a part of your core skills.
• Advanced Database Skills - I don't mean you need to know how to build, manage and restore DBs. But you should know how to write a complex query and/or a stored procedure for one or more of the "big three" DB platforms.
• Some diverse technology skills - At the moment we are looking for mobile skills (responsive design, bootstrap, jQuery mobile, angular etc.).

For more info on what it takes to be a CFWT consultant check out my post on You Might be a Muse All-Star.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Do you allow telecommuting? Yes all our development positions are full-time remote positions.
• What sort of dev environment can I expect? We are an eclipse shop and rely on SVN, Jenkins, and an agile like approach to development. Having said that, as an outsource development company we frequently integrate with external teams. Yes, Windows and IIS will no doubt be in play for you.
• What Industries are you working in? We have sites we develop and maintain in the Financial sector (stocks, options, commodities, retirement planning and management etc.), Tax planning, Civil Government, Insurance, Medical, Pharmaceutical, retail sales, real estate, etc. We have a very broad client list.
• Will I get to meet the Muse? Of course, but it's probably not all it's cracked up to be.
• Do you use frameworks? Yes - all of them all the way back to Fusebox 2. We work on new projects in common frameworks like Coldbox, FW/1 or DI/1, but we also support a host of legacy applications done on custom frameworks or with no framework at all. So get ready for multiple challenges.

We pay a competitive salary and benefits. CF Webtools maintains sites on virtually all ColdFusion and Database platforms with dev and QA servers and full SDLC. Our work is challenging, invigorating, sometimes frustrating, but rarely boring. Our development group is full of witty, interesting, overcommunicating and extremely talented developers. It's a true mentoring community. If that sounds like a place you would like to work (and you meet our high skill-set standards) send your resume to jobs@cfwebtools.com - or contact the Muse directly if you like. Tweet me @cfwebtools or use the "Ask a Muse" link on this blog (I'm easy to find). You can also call 402 408 3733 and ask for Mark or Jason - we'll be thrilled to speak with you about our opportunity. The official job posting may be found on our corporate site at the Job Openings page.

Rant

Not everyone is a good interviewee. That doesn't mean we discard you out of hand. We don't have a checklist of items that immediately cause us to strike you off the list. We expect you to be human. However... you should be an "advanced" developer capable of working with our team in a way that adds value. That means there are certain things that leave a bad taste in our mouth. Because the muse wants everyone to do well, I'm going to give you the keys to the kingdom in the following advice :

What does "Advanced" remote CF developer mean to the Muse and his team at CF Webtools? It means we won't have to hold your hand to:

• Deal with hardware - We know that things happen, but we expect you to be able to maintain a dev environment and be able to solve your individual hardware issues. That's the price of being able to work from home and not have to spend an hour a day in traffic. :)
• Deal with VPN and networking - We can help, but if you don't understand networking, you should get up to speed quickly. Remote development means you need a fast, reliable network and very good technical understanding of networks and VPN.
• Deal with web servers and your local environment - This is an area where we are increasingly less flexible than we used to be. We expect developers to be well versed at setting up sites and dealing with the nuances of a CF application in a local environment.
• Deal with your IDE issues - You are expected to know, use and learn CF Builder integrated with SVN or Git. We like integrated team environments. If you have another favorite IDE (sublime or whatever) that's great. You can even use it. But when we work with you we will expect to see CF Builder and we will expect you to be expert at it.
• Deal with your soapbox - You will likely be required to work within a windows environment at some point. The Muse, who has 9 or 10 computers including Apple's latest and greatest, likes and uses Windows. You don't get points from me when you elbow me with your inside anti-MS, Pro-Apple jokes, or when you put a dollar sign in Micro$oft. Indeed you will find that you don't get points from me for needling any technology. We expect enough maturity from you to realize that your opinion about technology is a tiny part of an overall business effort. In fact, as some helpful Muse advice for life in general: Be "UP" on many things and "DOWN" on very few. Your success will never be dictated by how effectively your criticize someone or something. But it may indeed be dictated by your conscious choice to encourage and uplift someone else. If you are one of those folks who loves the inside joke that lets you be snarky and superior let me paraphrase John the Baptist and say, "Repent for the kingdom of the Muse is at hand!" Actually I heard a rumor he was a Presbyterian.

We have 2 legs of inquiry - technical and cultural. Technical interview dwells on your hard skills and cultural on your soft skills. Hard skills are "Pay to Play" - without them you don't get past the test. But soft skills are where we gain separation. We spend a great deal of time in our "cultural interview" trying to tease out attitudes that can help or hurt our staff. We have a very definite "type" of person we are looking for - helpful, highly communicative, work/life balanced and eclectic. So be forewarned - we want positive people who like others, like technology and understand the big picture. You now know everything you need to succeed should you choose to apply. Good luck!