A survey by TopResume found that 65 percent of professionals say that getting a new job is one of their top New Year’s resolutions. But that’s quite a bit easier said than done. Even for in-demand roles in technology, engineering and data science, you want to identify the perfect place for your skills, lifestyle, and personality.
Luckily, the numbers are in your favor: a recent survey on the U.S. tech hiring market shows that 63 percent of technology leaders surveyed plan to expand their teams in 2019. This is definitely not confined to Silicon Valley — the same question showed that 52 percent of tech leaders in Atlanta plan to hire, and Southeast cities like Nashville, Raleigh, Durham, Chattanooga and Charlotte are all experiencing a growth stage.
Now, where to look? Hype’s got you covered with some of the most exciting employers in the region who have plans for major hiring in the next year. All of these companies have received accolades as great places to work or top technology providers, and are sure to provide a challenging, stimulating environment to help you level up in 2019.
Pandora
The music streaming giant has intentions to grow its Atlanta office to 300 employees by 2021, becoming one of its largest offices worldwide. They recruit heavily from local schools like Georgia Tech, Georgia State, and SCAD and specifically love to hire employees with a side interest in music.
“Pandora has a saying we share with every candidate we talk to: we want you to bring your whole self to work,” said Gerald Stover, head of Pandora’s talent acquisition in Atlanta. “We have a number of employees that are artists. They play in garage bands or in bars and even at our own company events, and we give them a platform to showcase what they’re doing.”
Hiring for: The company has a slew of open positions across data, marketing, engineering, product and people operations. They look for employees that mirror their platform: “bright, eclectic, and innovative.”
Pendo
Pendo, a SaaS startup named a 2018 LinkedIn Top 50 Startup, announced this month that they would be investing over $30 million to create about 600 new jobs at their headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina. They plan to soon take over a brand new office building in downtown Raleigh.
Founder Todd Olson is proud of their designation as a Best Place to Work from the Triangle Business Journal, as well as a “startup for adults” culture that values transparency and honesty. “It’s all about empowering people to make sure that everyone is focused on what’s best for the company, rather then what is comfortable to say or polite to say,” he shared with Hypepotamus.
Hiring for: Pendo currently has several positions open in sales, engineering, customer success, and product.
BlackRock
The money management giant recently announced the placement of its unique “iHub” technology center in Atlanta, with plans to employ 1,000 by 2024. This is the first such tech center for the world’s largest asset manager, though this year they also opened an artificial intelligence lab in Palo Alto and an innovation hub in Budapest.
As one would expect from any large employer, BlackRock offers the full suite of health and financial planning benefits. But, somewhat unique in the financial world is BlackRock’s Flexible Time Off policy, which was just instituted this year.
Hiring for: Right now, the only roles posted for Atlanta are on the recruiting side — campus recruiters and a VP of Corporate Recruiting. BlackRock’s Careers website specifically hints at much more to come for Atlanta in 2019.
Honeywell
The manufacturing giant traveled south in 2016 to locate its innovative software center and Home and Business Technology headquarters in Atlanta. Last month, they also announced a relocation of their entire global corporate headquarters from New Jersey to Charlotte, North Carolina. A press release specifically cited the desire for proximity “close to several of Honeywell’s businesses in the Southeast United States.”
Honeywell plans to relocate some employees, but will also hire for about 500 new roles in North Carolina by the end of 2024. They also still have a ways to go in filling their Atlanta software center, projected to eventually hit 800 employees.
Hiring for: LOTS of engineers and developers in Atlanta; a wide range of corporate, managerial, administrative and technical roles in Charlotte.
Shipt
The grocery delivery startup made headlines last year for becoming the biggest technology acquisition in Alabama’s recent history, with a purchase by Target for $550 million just three years after its founding. At the time, they employed about 270, most in their Birmingham headquarters.
This year, Shipt (which operates independently as a Target subsidiary) announced a big investment in local operations: almost 900 new jobs, with an average salary of $50,000, including software developers, data scientists, and other tech roles. Alabama Department of Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield called it a “signpost project” for the state.
Hiring for: Roles across the spectrum, but especially in data science, engineering, product and marketing.
Opendoor
Since real estate unicorn Opendoor located its first non-California engineering hub in downtown Atlanta, the team has scaled quickly. Their new 35,000-square-foot office, which takes up several floors of the building once home to the Georgia Railway and Power Company, has already gone from 20 employees at the beginning of 2018 to now, over 120. That will double again next year, according to company representatives.
Opendoor uses traditional recruiting processes, but also makes an effort to get out into the tech community, says their head of engineering, Atlee Breland.
“Hiring in tech is often a personalized project. It goes beyond looking at resumes and seeing projects on GitHub,” she told Hypepotamus. “I think you have to get out there and talk to people, especially those that come from backgrounds that are not traditional computer science.”
Hiring for: Several roles in engineering and customer service, along with home operations — Atlanta is Opendoor’s largest home market on the East Coast.
Amazon
It’s not HQ2, but Amazon did include in its somewhat-anticlimactic announcement last month that it would be creating a 5,000-employee Operations Center of Excellence in downtown Nashville. The Center will focus on something the company values highly — its maniacal focus on supply chain and operational excellence.
Though Amazon has gotten flack for its intense culture and debatable workplace practices, these jobs come with high pay grades: the average salary at the Nashville office is reported to be above $150,000.
Amazon says they’ll both recruit locally, and relocate new employees currently living elsewhere.
Hiring for: Look for these jobs to open up in early 2019. Expect both management and technical roles, including software developers.
Ready to begin the job search? Check out specific roles in corporate and startup alike on our job board!
