Month Four of life at Thinking Big. Here are my top five favorite moments at Thinking Big so far:

1. Watching Julia start a site design with her paintbrush and watercolors. I loved it for so many reasons: breaking free from the confines of what constitutes a “normal” site, the technology that will take it from colored water on a piece of paper to a living, breathing website, and also the sheer old-school artistry of it.
2. When Matthew and Jordan brought a 1 kilogram chocolate bar into the office. We finished it that day. It’s tougher than it sounds. There was heckling. Some people didn’t last the afternoon. But we’re not quitters. We got the job done.
3. That one time the office was warm.
4. The initial wonder and amusement I experienced when reading the line “Gherkin is the language that Cucumber understands” and then realizing no, this is not a joke. This is not a discarded line from a Lewis Carroll poem, this is serious. These people call things by vegetable names and make them talk. Where am I?
5. The Off Topic room in Campfire. Campfire is part of the 37signals Suite we use to manage clients and projects. The Off Topic room is where you’ll find: Bill admitting to only eating live wasps, cute pug gifs, and pics of David Hasselhoff from the 80’s. Yup. Awesome in all respects.

At a high level you need to be a developer at some stage in your professional career. You will have responsibilities that fall in line with being a member of a strong development team (build systems, ensure quality, improve yourself every day). The primary requirement is you want to be able to apply for jobs such as http://thinkingbig.net/think/174/seeking-a-talented-developer-that-is-passionate-about-building-solutions/ at some future date.

As part of your application please include a potential solution to the following problem:

When we do a job posting we receive many resumes. In pseudo code, or another logical form, outline an automated system you would propose to help us filter out the list to the candidates whom we should contact for an interview.

A valid response (with a more thoughtful approach) could be in the form:

Please forward your resume or link(s) to your CV to hello@thinkingbig.net

We thank you in advance for taking the time to read this and look forward to getting to know you.

Thinking Big is seeking a bright and energetic Senior Software Developer to fill a full-time position with our team. We offer a competitive wage and benefits package that will correspond with your experience.

Responsibilities:

• Reviewing current systems
• Presenting ideas for system improvements
• Working and communicating closely with designers, clients and staff
• Producing detailed specifications and writing the associated code
• Testing in controlled and real situations both during development and in live environments
• Maintaining and supporting systems once they are up and running

Requirements:

• Drive to better yourself and your team
• Comprehensive computer science fundamentals
• Passion for all things software development
• Minimum 5 years of experience with software development preferably in 1 or more of the following languages: C#, Java, C/C++, and/or Javascript
• Strong understanding of Web Technologies – HTTP, REST, XML, JSON etc
• Ability to take a leadership role and guide a project team
• Experience with version control
• Experience in environments where data storage must be efficient, effective and secure but also cost effective
• Ability to work independently, and within a team, to solve problems, manage time, and be self-motivated
• Experience, and level of comfort, with participating in code reviews
• Interest in, knowledge of, and enthusiasm for, the internet and web-related technologies

Pluses:

• Expert knowledge developing on several platforms and environments
• C#, C and/or JavaScript are your preferred languages
• Expert in HTML, CSS and Javascript
• Interested in leading Junior Software Developers
• Experience with short development cycles, and test based development environment
• TeamCity is one of your best friends
• Familiarity with development and deployment of large scale production web applications
• Strong knowledge of computer and web security
• Excited by the thought of spending 10% of your time working on projects of your own choosing
• Experience with mobile application development

Bonuses:

• Open source involvement and contribution
• Level 70 Resharper expert
• Worked in detail with ASP.net MVC
• Active StackOverflow, Bitbucket, CodePlex, Google Code or GitHub accounts

Please forward your resume or link(s) to your CV to the email address below:

hello@thinkingbig.net

Only those chosen for an interview will be contacted.

We thank you in advance for taking the time to read this and look forward to getting to know you.

So….I may have lied when I said I’d be posting regularly …but I have a good excuse: I was spending way too much time nurturing the growth of my moustache and raising money for research and support of Mens Health Issues!

At Thinking Big, we had 7 brave men join together November 1st in an effort to become walking billboards and create awareness about prostate cancer and other health issues affecting men that aren’t often talked about. While some of these guys were unable to complete a full month of moustache growth, citing “the weight of manhood is too much for me to handle”, we still respect their attempts and gladly accept their guilt-ridden donations.

Our small group was able add $800+ to the pot of more than $30 MILLION raised by Canadians as part of Movember—a feat that any man who experienced the heckling, whispering laughs, and confused stares that I did for 30 difficult days would be proud of.

I would like to reiterate that Movember is not a contest for which a “Best Moustache” winner is declared. We’re all winners in my book……who am I kidding? Stuarts moustache was clearly the most dignified of the bunch and therefore he is crowned the 2011 Movember at Thinking Big Champion. This  only strengthens my resolve and determination to train harder for next year!

Here are a few pics of our team: