Portland jobs, gigs, and skills for hire: Relaunching the Silicon Florist Job & Gig board

[HTML1]One of the signs that the economy is beginning to recover may, strangely enough, be my inbox. What started several months ago as a trickle of “Where would I find an iPhone app developer?” and “Know somebody who could help with this WordPress issue?” and “Do you know anyone who…?” has now become a regular stream of questions from companies looking to hire and contract for talent. More requests, truth be told, than I can manage.

That says two things to me. First, there are a bunch of job and contract opportunities awaiting talented individuals that aren’t being heard or are going unfulfilled. And second, those folks seeking employees or contractors see Silicon Florist as a spot that those candidates are likely to frequent. With those two things in mind, it only made sense to resurrect the Silicon Florist Job & Gig board.

How’s it work? Easy. You can post a job, gig, or job wanted ad right now.

Need a little more info? Well, there are two types of help wanted listings, jobs and gigs. Jobs are part-time or full-time employment. Gigs are contract work. There’s also a “help available” listing for folks who are interested in promoting their services to would be buyers.

Now, some folks are going to want to do everything they can to get above the noise. And that’s why, in addition to a general listing, there’s the option of buying a premium listing. A premium listing has the benefit of added promotion through Silicon Florist proper, Twitter, Friendfeed, Facebook, LinkedIn, and the Silicon Florist curated content newsletter. You also get you an extra day or two of traffic, just because.

Is it free? No. It’s not. If you want free, you have options like Craigslist and LinkedIn. If those are bringing in the types of candidates you need, I’d highly encourage you to keep using those resources. But if you’re not finding the types of folks you want and you didn’t really sign up to be a full-time resume reader, this board might be a worthwhile gamble. Or if you’re a candidate who is interested in finding companies that are serious about their pursuits, this gating factor should help. What’s more, every submission is moderated. So there’s not going to be a lot of fluff on here.

Long story short, the costs and moderation are designed to be a hurdle without being onerous. Job listings start at $21 for a two week listing. Premium job listings run $40. Gig listings start at $50 for a two week listing, with premium gig listings running $99. You can post a job or gig right now.

Sound interesting? Wait. There’s more.

One of the chief requests I got last time around was for a way to post “jobs or gigs wanted.” You know what I mean. You’re a talented developer. You’re looking for a little side work. Or maybe, you want to unload the day job completely. But you need some way to put yourself out there.

Well, the Job & Gig board seemed to be the perfect place to do this. So if you’re a developer or marketer or whatever looking to promote your skills, post a jobs wanted listing. For free. Who knows? Maybe a company looking to post a job won’t even have to do that when they see that you’re available. Again, that’s free. So you’ve got nothing to lose.

Now, I know what you’re saying. Why should I risk posting on here? I like the way you think. I mean, even though the “Portland startups are hiring” wound up landing those companies some exceptional talent, it’s still a bit risky. I hear you.

Okay. You drive a hard bargain my friend. But here’s what I’m going to do. I’ll give you 50% off as many listings as you like. At any level that you like. Just for trying out the board. Simply use the code “sflaunch” (without quotes) and you’ll only pay half of the listed price. But you better hurry. I’m only going to leave that offer open for a few days.

Don’t say I never gave you nothing.

In all seriousness, I’m sincerely hoping that this helps some awesome companies find some awesome people. And hoping that it helps some awesome people find some awesome work. Because that’s what it’s really all about.

So take a chance to review the open positions. And if you’re in need, consider posting a job, gig, or job wanted ad. But please, don’t forget the sflaunch code that gets you 50% off as many listings as you like.

(Image courtesy madebytess. Used under Creative Commons.)