How to find niche companies to work for

Question

I'm a programmer specialized in a couple of non-mainstream fields. Think signal processing, DSP, assembler coding, low level graphics, embeddeed systems and so on.

I'm currently looking out for a new employer, and from my experience it's easy to get a job if you manage to find a company that is working in the fields. They're always happy to invite you as specialists don't show up that often...

Sounds good, doesn't it? But there is a big problem: All these companies are small. The large ones are around 30 engineering guys. Also you never hear of any of them because they don't do consumer stuff directly. They don't do press-releases that often, so they remain unknown.

I would think that there are at least 10 companies of that style in my vicinity. However, I don't know them, and they don't know me, so we can't come together.

I've tried the obvious: Social networking. Unfortunately my fields are so specialized that you hardly ever meet someone who can help you (the good old: "I have a friend who works at ...." didn't worked this time).

Any idea how to tackle this problem?

Answer 1

Sounds odd, but I have found "specialist" jobs using the right google query.

Most companies have their vacancies on their site and google sees (almost) everything.

Answer 2

I'm guessing this is a common problem the world over!

Look for a headhunter who knows something about what you are talking (an ex-programmer, maybe)? (Rarest of the rare breeds!)

Answer 3

If you've done a few of these jobs, check where your former colleagues and their colleagues are working now. Networks like LinkedIn help a lot here. I know from experience (in the Netherlands) that the number of companies is small enough, and your network likely large enough that at every company you'll at least have a friend-of-a-friend.

Answer 4

I would say your best bet is:

• Look at trade specific journals, magazines and related publications.
• Look at forums specific to your speciality, and see if you can email certain people, who you've dealt with in the past.
• Use www.linkedin.com, and the groups functionality (Possibly creating your own.)
• Go to user groups, and demos relating to your field in your area.

To be honest, I'd be amazed if you can't find references to these companies, if you spend afew hours doing some digging on google.

Answer 5

This may sound like a shameless plug, but I think it can help. Well, the voters will be the judge I suppose.

My company's site www.zoominfo.com enables you to search for companies by keyword and location among other things. We cover just about any company that has a website, so you can find lots of small software companies. They may not all necessarily be hiring, but as we all know any tech company doing reasonably well is always looking for good people who specialize in their field (well we are anyway). Our keywords are pretty specialized - we don't just look for words on a page, but we use NLP to tell if a company "makes", "does", or "sells" something.

One caveat is this is mostly limited to companies in English speaking countries. We don't have the resources to do NLP in other languages yet :)

Answer 6

embedded.com hosts a forum which might help you make some connections.

Answer 7

Embedded systems are more prevalent than you'd think. If you want a medium-sized company but not necessarily a small company, look into medical device manufacturers or automotive equipment manufacturers (perhaps risky in this economy but not as much as auto makers themselves) or "meta-manufacturers" (companies that make equipment for use on a manufacturing line) or the like.

Answer 8

Try physics today? http://www.physicstoday.org/jobs/

Answer 9

Check out companies that work in the audio world - they have been using DSP's in digital audio for decades now.

Also check out your automotive sector for embedded work.

There are embedded controllers in almost everything now - autos, home appliances, industrial controllers, etc.

Cheers,

-R