

Red Gate is hiring, all interviewed will get an iPad - dawson
http://www.red-gate.com/careers/free_ipad.htm
We're looking for more Software Engineers and Test Engineers to help Red Gate grow into one of the greatest software companies in the world. We know there are lots of awesome people out there who may be bored or unhappy at work. We're going to make it easy for you to be happier - at Red Gate.&#60;p&#62;It's easy to apply. Just leave your details for either our Software Engineer or Test Engineer role.&#60;p&#62;We don't need your CV or a covering letter at this stage.
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cawhitworth
We went down to the pub this lunchtime and there were a bunch of them there
(they were doing a £5-towards-your-lunch-if-you-chat-to-us thing, too). We had
a bit of a chat, but none of our company are really .NET/SQL types and their
demographic also seems to be way young. That said, I know a few people at
RedGate and they're all very happy, and people who use their tools seem to
like them too.

Sure, it's a bit of a stunt but, as the guy we spoke to said, it's cheaper to
hand out free iPads to a bunch of people (who pass your screener) than it is
to pay a recruitment company, and it builds goodwill (amongst the kinds of
people who are swayed by a free iPad, anyway).

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dawson
We're looking for more Software Engineers and Test Engineers to help Red Gate
grow into one of the greatest software companies in the world. We know there
are lots of awesome people out there who may be bored or unhappy at work.
We're going to make it easy for you to be happier - at Red Gate. It's easy to
apply. Just leave your details for either our Software Engineer or Test
Engineer role. We don't need your CV or a covering letter at this stage. Thank
you

~~~
DrJokepu
I just wonder if you have anyone at Red Gate who commutes from London? While
I've heard a lot of good stuff about Red Gate and Cambridge is a very nice
place I would be hesitant to give up the awesomeness of living in London. (I
suppose I'm not alone with that).

~~~
eru
We (that is Citrix) have some people who commute from London. And our office
is just a few hundred metres away from Red Gate.

(We are also hiring. Drop me an email, if you are interested.)

~~~
watmough
Man, I'd love to rewrite the god-awful son-of-windows-3.1 UI on citrix.

Solid software, terrible UI.

Glad it's a good company though! "We're not the sort of company that tosses a
man out because he's over 40. How old are you Reggie?"

~~~
eru
You are right about the UI. (Of course the UI is not made at the Cambridge
office, where we only produce nice software. :o)

I have heard that Citrix is looking into making better UIs. All our top
managers have been converted into Apple fan boys for a start.

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vtail
Let's assume that person X applies because she heard about promotion, but
wouldn't otherwise. Isn't there an adverse selection here that you would like
to avoid?

~~~
pclark
You have to pass a 15 minute interview before being eligible for the iPad, by
the looks of it. So I guess that'll cancel out all the builders and their dogs
from walking away with an iPad.

I'm interested in if _free stuff_ devalues the employee or the employer. Or is
it just awesome?

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marklittlewood
We think Redgate are awesome too and we don't have office there but sneak in
whenever we can for lovely breakfast and lunch. Last time we were there we
took some pictures [http://thebln.com/2009/10/inspiring-workplaces-red-gate-
soft...](http://thebln.com/2009/10/inspiring-workplaces-red-gate-software/)

~~~
barrkel
stats.pluginseo.com is murdering the performance of that page, for me at
least. Took 21 seconds to load, as measured by FireBug; download of
<http://stats.pluginseo.com/132108.js> timed out:

<http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/stats.pluginseo.com>

Looks almost like DNS poisoning attack or something:

    
    
        $ nslookup
    
        Name:    pluginseo.com
        Address:  174.121.79.132
    
        Name:    stats.pluginseo.com.re.getclicky.com
        Address:  204.13.8.76
        Aliases:  stats.pluginseo.com

~~~
marklittlewood
Thanks for the tip. Totally forgot to remove it after I tested it out once
upon a time a long time ago.

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ErrantX
Incidentally Red Gate has really great jobs pages [1], clear, concise and
informative.

1\. Example: [http://jobs.red-
gate.com/templates/redgate/jobdetail_zip/183...](http://jobs.red-
gate.com/templates/redgate/jobdetail_zip/183.aspx/Jobs/Software%20Engineer)

~~~
barrkel
The quick application page, on the other hand (the link at the bottom of that
page) seems more interested in what degree you have and where you got it than
who you actually are and what you've done.

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icey
I'm a Red Gate customer and I have to say that their customer service is some
of the best I've ever gotten from a tech company.

Of course, that doesn't have anything to do with them hiring or iPads, but I
like to say it every time I see them come up because I've been really
impressed with every interaction I've ever had with them.

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IdeaHamster
From the offer description: "Salaries range from £30,000 to £45,000."

That seems a little low? Is this typical for Cambridge? I'm not familiar with
UK tax law, so what does this translate into in terms of take-home pay?

~~~
ErrantX
That's about £23,000 to £33,000 take home.

A bit above average for a graduate CS job. Less than you'd expect for a 30-35
year old with degree plus experience.

(roughly anyway)

~~~
IdeaHamster
Thanks! That explains my reaction, as I'm closer to being in the later group
than the former. This probably also explains the promotion. I imagine that the
fresh-outta-college type is more likely to be impressed by a free iPad offer
than a journeyman programmer would be.

~~~
ErrantX
Yep my thoughts entirely; this will be a swinger for graduates looking for a
job.

When you pop above 45K here tax starts to get excruciating (40%) so that is
probably why the upper limit is sat there (I get 8% year on year increase in
my current job and it's barely noticeable due to tax...)

~~~
adamt
It's a bit of misconception that tax increases that much - as national
insurance drops off.

E.g <http://www.thesalarycalculator.co.uk/salary.php>

(figures in GBP)

    
    
      30k -> 22.6k    (25% total employee tax burden)
    
      45k -> 32.8K    (27% total employee tax burden)
    
      90k -> 59.4K    (34% total employee tax burden)
    
     135k -> 86.0K    (36% total employee tax burden)

~~~
ErrantX
You missed a key figure though:

60K -> 41.7K (30% total employee tax burden)

There is a sudden big leap (of an extra 1%) in that particular range before it
settles back down again.

------
pclark
I think Red Gate is about as awesome as one can get without being a startup.
[we use their offices and are eternally thankful]

------
shovuk
If anyone is interested in working for a game company on the Cambridge Science
Park - Jagex Ltd is currently looking to recruit a Senior Software Tester.
Details on the website - <http://www.jagex.com/careers/>

We cant promise a free ipad for those who we interview, but we can promise an
uber cool place to work in the UK's biggest independent games dev studio :-)

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tomlin
Tacky.

~~~
pclark
What do you find tacky about this?

~~~
tomlin
Think about it. A FREE iPad?

~~~
pclark
free stuff - its as if they're trying to get people through the door... :)

~~~
tomlin
I doubt that capable programmers are going to be enticed by a FREE iPad. You
would hire a programmer that came for the FREE iPad?

~~~
hugh3
Ah, but the iPad made it a news story. Look, this story has 26 points and is
currently at the top of the front page. How many extra programmers are going
to hear about the opportunity that wouldn't have if it weren't attached to a
free iPad?

~~~
tomlin
Honestly, I don't know. But I know a lot ignored it because it said "FREE
iPad".

