How to go about getting a job at an Agile shop?

Question

Thank You All for YOur Help :) I Have Been Offered a Position at a Fully Agile, Extreme Programming Shop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How best to go about getting a job at an Agile shop? Jobs listed online never say: "We're an Agile shop" Does this mean that they aren't or does it mean they generally don't list that on their job listings?

How can I find the jobs that use, for example, Extreme Programming?

Answer 1

Apply for jobs. In your coverletter indicate your desire to work with an Agile Software Development team.

Or, wait till you get an interview, and ask them during the interview.

Answer 2

The best bet is to get to know people who are connected in the industry in the area, but I think you can just search in Dice or other job sites with keywords like agile and scrum and find some opportunities. Also you could try using some buzz words like "frontend developer" or "rails" and you could increase your probability on hitting an agile shop compared to Cobol or C++. Sorry C++. Then just ask in the interview if they write unit test etc.

For example, here's a link to agile jobs around San Francisco.

Answer 3

Invite the Directors of small web-shops out for coffee or a drink. Just an informal chat saying you'd like to learn a bit about their company.

I've gotten a job this way a couple of times. Not immediately, but you'll be first in line when they're hiring if you make a good impression.

That said, I've never gone and worked FOR an Agile firm. I've got and worked for traditional waterfall development firms and introduced Agile methods from within. Works well that way too.

Answer 4

A good way to connect with agile companies is to go to Agile conferences and network with session presenters or even visitors. I see a lot of people changing job this way to join agile oriented organisations. Hope this help.

Answer 5

If you care to use recruiters, this may be another way to find those contracts/positions within Agile shops as you could tell the recruiter that you want to be at an Agile shop. You may have to explain what parts of Agile you would be expecting with a position, e.g. Scrum or Extreme Programming.

Answer 6

Me, I answered a Craigslist ad (in 2002, IIRC) that said it was an Extreme Programming project. It seems like that should still work; I get 27 hits at the moment for "extreme" in the SF Bay Area. You could probably also search for terms like "pair programming", "test-driven", "agile", or "Scrum".

Most big cities in the US also have agile-development or extreme-programming user groups. And of course there's the extremeprogramming mailing list. And there are social outlets like SuperHappyDevHouse, Perl Mongers, Python user groups, and the like, where you're likely to be able to meet people who are working on many different projects — and these groups, like XP projects, skew strongly toward highly social programmers who take programming seriously and program in dynamic languages.

Answer 7

Here are some things I learned:

• Learn test-driven development in your language of choice. (It's easier to learn from other people who already know it than from a book - maybe at a workshop.)
• Attend agile conferences or events. It's a relatively inexpensive way of learning from workshops and meeting people who have real, hands-on technical experience that can answer your questions.
• Understand that most of the places that advertise themselves as agile aren't. They're just ticking the boxes on a minimal scrum implementation checklist. These places aren't worth your time.
• Ask the employer/recruiter if you can see the dev workplace and ask questions of the developers there. Get an idea of whether it sounds agile to you - don't trust buzzwords on a job spec.
• Be prepared to relocate across your region, or even to a different country if getting a start in agile is that important to you - I did.