A Job that Matters
November 28, 2006 | By Joel Dehlin | 13 Comments
Why do you work? For prestige? For fun? For experience? For money? For scope of responsibility? For the people you work with? I have worked for all of those reasons. You wouldn’t believe the feeling of working for a cause you believe in deep down in your soul!
If you’re LDS and have a passion for technology then consider a job at the Church! We’re looking for people who are passionate about Java, .net, middleware, networking, database, and technology in general.
You’ll love the people you work with and relish the opportunity to work for a cause you love!
Check out our job site.
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Brian Sweeting said...
Don’t forget the interaction designers. We need more great designers who can create beautiful interfaces for these technologies.
December 5, 2006 7:43 pm #
Joel Dehlin said...
Great point. How could I forget? If you’re interested in what’s going on with designers at the Church, check out http://northtemple.com!
December 5, 2006 9:07 pm #
Peter said...
Would the church sponsor people from other countries. I would seriously consider a job at the church but I would need a visa and as far as I know so far you need to have a sponsor to get a job in the US.
December 20, 2006 4:36 pm #
Ben said...
Joel,
Are you doing much with Web Services (e.g., SOAP)? As a newer technology, just wondering if it has made it on the church’s radar.
Regards,
Ben
December 20, 2006 6:28 pm #
Andrew Curtis said...
Is networking too saturated? Do you have to be multi-faceted “now a days” to be considered for employment in this type of field?
December 21, 2006 1:24 am #
Dana Hudrlik said...
Joel,
What educational qualifications would you suggest for young men (priests/return missionaries considering a career in computer engineering/design) who would be entering the job force in 3-4 years? As this technology is continually changing, what needs do you see the Church IT having that these young men can prepare to meet?
Thanks for your thoughts,
Dana
December 21, 2006 9:52 am #
Michael W. Hardy said...
Does the Church use Technical Writer in any capacity? I am currently unemployed in Southern California with a Masters in Technology Management and 20 years of Technical Writing experience. Let me know and I can forward my resume’. Thanks!
December 21, 2006 12:23 pm #
Joel Dehlin said...
Brian - how could I forget you guys! You’re our bread and butter!
Peter - no, I’m sorry. We don’t typically do that.
Ben - yes, we’re looking very seriously at web services and how best to use them. We’re currently exploring very options for an enterprise service bus to help us manage the various web services.
Andrew - not sure I understand the question. If you’re asking if we need deep networking expertise, the answer is absolutely!
Dana - Write code, code and more code. It’s more important than anything, in my opinion. Install Linux. Play with Photoshop (or something cheaper). To me, being well-rounded and technical is the best thing for a long career path in technology. My advice is study something interesting in college (Biology, History, Art, Philosophy!!). And take coding classes and code like crazy on your own! But others would disagree, I’m sure.
Michael - yes. We have technical writer who write documentation for operations people. Also, we need writers to write documentation for our solutions. Check out our web site at http://lds.org/jobs.
Thanks all!
December 21, 2006 6:13 pm #
John Lynn said...
I think this is a really interesting post. I worked for BYU and BYU Hawaii for about 5 years. BYU-Hawaii’s mission is to spread peace internationally. I currently work at UNLV whose mission is to get strippers, bell boys, and valet an education. Or something like that. Working for a great mission is the thing I miss most about working for the church.
Now if you can just get some tech jobs outside Hawaii, Idaho and Utah.
January 1, 2007 12:18 am #
Pops said...
Beware of one thing — if you’re hoping to get hired as a programmer, you need to know your Java (or the current technology for whatever position). Like many employers, the LDS Church focuses not on innate abilities, but rather on specific knowledge. My personal experience was that having a track record of innovation and a solid technical reputation didn’t really mean much. I hope the Church is still able to hire good designers in spite of that, because good design is sorely needed.
January 2, 2007 10:11 am #
Joel Dehlin said...
Pops, let me set the record straight on that. I’d be interested to know when you applied. We have hired a new Director of Development. He is very focused on innate abilities and not on past experience. We formerly asked very focused Java questions, but my preference and David’s preference is to hire based on aptitude, intelligence and passion, and NOT on specific experience.
January 2, 2007 10:42 am #
Pops said...
I’m thrilled to hear that. It was well over a year ago when I applied.
January 2, 2007 1:43 pm #
Scot Lassle said...
Is there any way that you would do a internship remotely?
[Joel: Hello Scott. Probably not. Part of the point of an internship is to get a taste of what employment at the Church is like. A remote internship wouldn’t provide the employee with that type of experience. Thanks.]
January 9, 2007 10:27 am #