Wanted: Virtuosos to Join Palantir Team

by Tiffany Farriss

I've always found the rock star fantasy alluring, but, alas, that's not my path (karaoke accomplishments aside). Maybe that's why I like Drupal so much: it's a community where even a card-carrying geek can achieve rock stardom.

I've watched enough "Behind the Music" to know that assembling a bunch of rock stars in one place can be perilous and stressful. When you get a bunch of Drupal rock stars together though, it's not like an awkward charity benefit concert or a band that just can't stand the sight of each other. At Palantir, we're more like an orchestra made up of virtuosos who sound kick-ass playing together in perfect harmony.

And it just so happens that this particular orchestra is hiring.

For us, it's all about the team and what we can accomplish --as designers, front-end developers, engineers, project managers, strategists, and clients-- collaboratively. It's been no easy feat to figure out how to get here, but we're pretty excited about the results so far. Palantiri Steve Fisher and Colleen Carroll will be talking about our team-based approach in "The Magic of Teams: Communication and Collaboration" at Drupalcon San Francisco.

While a rock n' roll lifestyle might seem glamorous at first, the long hours soon begin to take their toll, causing many performers to burn out before their time, never to be heard from again. We work regular 40-hour work weeks, mostly in our office, for clients who are as passionate about what they do as we are about what we do. We do a damn good job. Then, we go home and do other things (well, not Crell, but he could if he wanted to). Yeah, there are times that things are a little crazy, but we work hard to keep those to a minimum. We recognize that it's what we do outside of work that inspires, motivates, and enables us to focus and be awesome while we're here.

It's all part of the commitment to sustainability at Palantir. We're thoughtful about the impact our decisions have on our projects, our team, and the environment. The point is that we're not in this to be a flash in the pan or one-hit wonder. We've been doing this a long time (1996 is almost prehistoric in Web terms!) and we intend to keep doing this for a long time to come.

Palantir has an amazing team that I'm proud to be a small part of. And now it's time to expand. Palantir is looking for new project managers, engineers, and front-end developers. We've got a great office in Chicago so we'd love to find some folks who are in the Chicago area or willing to relocate for a full-time position. That said, we're open to contract (or even possibly contract-to-hire positions outside of Illinois) if you're just that awesome.

There are few things you'll need to have to be successful with Palantir, regardless of which position you're interested in:

  • BA/BS from an accredited four-year college or university.
  • Ability to estimate, prioritize, and coordinate multiple projects in deadline-driven environment.
  • Ability to engage in problem solving.
  • Ability to establish and maintain positive working relationships with other employees, vendors, clients, and the public.
  • Strong written and verbal communication abilities; proficiency with word processing and spreadsheet computer applications.
  • 2+ years of experience collaborating with others on the development of Web sites and Web-based applications. (For front end developers and engineer candidates, work specifically with Drupal is strongly preferred.)

Still interested? Please use the contact form to send an Employment Inquiry. Be sure to include what position you're looking at and a bit about yourself. Resumes will be requested of promising candidates by e-mail. If you're going to be at DrupalCon SF, please get your inquiry in by next Friday, April 16 -- we're looking to conduct interviews in person at DrupalCon, when possible.

Let's make some beautiful music together!

Tiffany Farriss

Tiffany is the President of Palantir.net. She has over 13 years of Internet consulting and development experience and extensive experience providing information architecture and usability consulting for a wide variety of clients. Tiffany has a BA in Mathematics from Northwestern University, where she focused on mathematical modeling and human computer interaction, and is a member of the Drupal Association board.

More articles by Tiffany >

Comments

You forgot the most important part of the office!

All Palantiri get standard-issue Nerf guns, and are overseen by Kiki, our office manager, who checks in on everyone several times a day. When she's not running around the office killing stuffed animals or napping in Tiffany's office, anyway.

Larry Garfield —

BA/BS from an accredited four-year college or university.

This effectively excludes people like me. I guess it's rather meant as proposition.

sun —

I used to question the value of a college degree, too. After all, excluding things I learned in that half an accounting class which I do use pretty much every day, I've never needed to use anything I'm "degreed" in at Palantir. To date, no partial derivatives or Ovid translations required.

However, we've come to realize that from our perspective a college degree suggests something else: ability to prioritize multiple projects in a deadline driven environment, problem solving and critical reasoning skills, ability to establish and maintain positive working relationships with others, and strong written and verbal communication -- all important skills that working at Palantir requires. To us, a degree (any degree) is shorthand for a bunch of experience that would take more time to build up in a working environment.

It is not a litmus test. We've hired folks without a degree before and I have no doubt we'll do it again. Anyone who has the experience and confidence to succeed here, apply.

So, no, someone with a track record like sun wouldn't be disqualified. That would be crazy talk.

Tiffany Farriss —

Computer degrees are completely out of the question financially for a large number of very smart people. Times are changing. Any company that values people who go into debt to study outdated theories, rather than people who gather real-world experience, is a company that will fall behind.

Anonymous —

We are not limiting our search to individuals with computer science or related degrees; as Tiffany mentioned in her comment above, a college degree in any field is acceptable.

We are not looking for people who have taken a specific set of courses; we are looking for highly competent individuals who can demonstrate that they have the experience and skills needed to succeed at Palantir.

We of course recognize that there are many talented individuals who do not possess college degrees, and will consider any qualified applicant who can demonstrate a high level of experience and expertise.

George DeMet —

Since you have us filling out the contact us form on the web site, there is no way of knowing you have received the cover letter or any way to send a resume.

Will there be a formal notification of applicants so they know their resume was received?

Kinda nervous that my not being at DrupalCon in San Fran is also a kind of negative.

Josh

joshmiller —

I note your "chat with folks personally" comment above, and am a bit surprised at reading it.

I've been reading your site as a prospective client. I would hope that you consider video teleconference, telepresence, and various other visual systems to be as useful as traveling about the world to make an annual conference.

Enjoy the conference.

Prospective client —

Of course phone calls, videoconferencing, etc., are great for initial interviews, and we've already made arrangements to have those with several folks who will not be attending DrupalCon. We do believe that before hiring someone for any full-time position, particularly ones that are on-site, in-person meetings are a great way to allow applicants to get to know our team, as well as our work environment and process.

George DeMet —