Because I am fascinated with the world of domain names, I truly believe I have the coolest job in the world as the General Manager of the Tucows Domain Portfolio.

Now I have the pleasure of adding a new person to my existing team. That’s right, I’m looking to hire someone in the role of Associate Domainer. Maybe that someone is you or someone you know?

Here are some more details about this special role:

Associate Domainer at Tucows

Tucows is currently seeking a unique individual to join our Domain Portfolio team as an Associate Domainer. As a key member of this exciting and rapidly evolving business area, you will report directly to the General Manager, Domain Portfolio. (That would be me.)

Tucows has one of the largest domain name portfolios in the world, and these domain names are currently monetized through domain parking and domain sales.

In this full-time position, located in our office in Toronto’s Liberty Village, you will assist in reviewing and selecting domain names from daily lists for possible acquisition by Tucows. You will also grade and price domain names, manage, restore, renew and transfer names, and optimize the landing pages of parked domains. You will generate daily, weekly and monthly reports on data trends and patterns as well as respond to internal and external email and phone sales and support inquires about domain names in our portfolio. Your ability to work in a fast-paced environment will contribute to the growth of this evolving business area and the ongoing success of Tucows.

The ideal candidate will have kick-ass Internet research skills and excellent verbal and written communication skills. Proficiency in Word, Excel is a must, while database experience (MS Access/SQL) would be a nice bonus. Previous experience in and/or passion for the domain name industry, domaining, or PPC advertising would be very useful.

If you can multi-task, are detail-oriented and have the ability to manage your time effectively under minimal supervision, then this is the job for you.

Head over to the Careers site for more information and to apply.

I have to say that this is an amazing opportunity for someone who wants to break into the booming but still relatively unknown industry of domaining (domain name investing). Here’s a fascinating and seminal article on the topic of domaining that got a lot of people buzzing about domaining and domainers (those folks that practice domaining) when it was first published a year ago. It provides a rare ‘behind-the-scenes’ perspective on this fascinating industry and some of its key players. With any luck it will also inspire a few people to apply for the Associate Domainer position at Tucows.

The Tucows’ User Experience Design group is hiring!

User Experience Design Group?

What is the UED group all about? Our primary mandate is to ensure that all of our products and services work effectively, look great, and leave you with a fresh, minty taste that doesn’t fade for at least 12 hours.

Well, maybe not that last one, but we’re working on it. Here, have a breath mint in the meantime.

As a fairly new group within Tucows we’ve got a ton of work ahead of us. From a web perspective we’re working to improve every contact point between you and Tucows. This includes everything from broad improvements to the control panels you rely on every day to making our corporate web sites communicate more effectively.

In a nutshell, we’re here to make stuff (specifically Tucows stuff) look great, work great, and help you get stuff done.

Now Hiring: Web Developers! Visual Designer! Ponies!

I could start trotting out buzzwords and catchphrases here to describe all of the amazing, cool stuff we’re working on at Tucows, but I’d have to take myself out back and wash my mouth out with soap to atone afterwards. Needless to say, we’ve got a horn o’ plenty full of exciting work on the go here, and we need some smart, talented people to help us make it all happen.

We’re currently looking for a visual designer as well as one junior and one intermediate front end developer.

» Junior / Intermediate Front End Developer

You:

• are standards-driven with real-world experience
• are keenly aware of the benefits (and difficulties) of creating beautiful, usable, and accessible interfaces in the context of today’s technological realities
• keep up with current design and development best practices
• know that the term “progressive enhancement” is not a spam subject line
• can take mockups and turn them into fully functioning, hand-coded works of art.

The acronyms XHTML, CSS, DOM (scripting), and JS are like nerd comfort food for you and you’ve got the portfolio to prove it. Your PHP experience is a huge asset.

Does this sound like you? Apply for the junior front end developer position or the intermediate front end developer position now.

» Visual Designer

You:

• are a visual, creative person who understands that a huge part of effective design is solving problems
• have a portfolio of work you’ve done (web & rich media — print experience is a plus)
• can create a design vision from the conceptual to the fully-formed
• are highly user-centric and strive to make technology easier and fun to use
• can boss around Photoshop, Illustrator, and Flash like nobody’s business.

Interested? Apply for this position now.

Wrapping up

This is the first of many posts on the UED group and what we’re up to, so keep your eyes peeled for more from my group as we kick it into high gear. Feel free to get in touch with us to ask questions, send us feedback, or even just drop us a line to let us know about a cool design-related link.

And, as promised, I leave you with: ponies!

Happy Friday faithful readers! Spring appears to have finally sprung here at Tucows HQ in Toronto (at least most of the snow has melted).

One of the most important parts of my job is finding and keeping talented people. Right now, I’m looking for a Marketing Manager to join the herd. This might just be one of the best digital marketing jobs in Canada.

Here’s the pitch:

As our Marketing Manager, you’ll get to come to work every day with a bunch of bright, passionate people who are really smart about the Internet and good at what they do. You’ll apply your creativity and innovative ideas to design, implement and manage our marketing programs. You’ll never hear, “but we’ve always done it THIS way” at Tucows. In fact, we want you to blaze a trail. It’ll be your job to deliver email marketing, promotions, retention/acquisition campaigns, search engine marketing & optimization and to manage media and analytics. We’re one of Canada’s oldest Internet companies. As a wholesale Internet services provider, we offer domain names, SSL certificates and email to our resellers (thousands of web hosting companies and ISPs around the world). At Tucows, we believe the Internet is the greatest agent for positive change world has ever seen. We know that people find the Internet complex and confusing, so our work is to make things simple and reliable. We’re big on innovation and creativity and believe it is found in every employee, customer and partner we have. And finally, we know that through teamwork we can achieve remarkable things.

If this sounds like your dream job, cruise on over to our Careers site to read all the details of the job and drop us your resume. If you’d like to learn more, drop me a note and we’ll connect for a chat.

On Saturday, March 29th, from 9:30 A.M. to 12:30 P.M., Tucows will be holding a Job Fair at our Toronto headquarters. We’re looking for Customer Service Representatives and Technical Support Analysts to join the team. More details on the specific positions, including job descriptions can be found at our careers site.

At the job fair, you’ll get to meet one-on-one with department managers. You’ll have a brief interview with them to give you a chance to talk about what you can bring to Tucows, and to find out more about us. Be sure to bring a couple copies of your resume, a pen and a notebook.

Make the most of your interview:

Last year we provided some tips for those looking to ace the job fair. If you are planning on coming down, be sure to give that a read — there’s some good stuff in there that will help you pull off a stellar interview and make the very most of your only chance to make a good first impression.

We also shot a short video interview with Sherry Azim, who handles recruiting. You might want to have a peek at that as well, if only to remember what summer looks like and to give you a familiar face to look for.

Learn more about us:

If you’re wondering what working at Tucows would be like, we’ve put together a list of the top 10 reasons to join the team. The atmosphere is light, the work is challenging and rewarding, and those around you are as passionate about the Internet as you are. If you want to be a part of making the Internet better and more useful, then Tucows is a great place to make that happen.

Getting here:

We’re at 96 Mowat Ave. in Toronto’s Liberty Village neighborhood. The closest intersection is King St. and Dufferin Ave. TTC riders should take either the 29 Dufferin bus or the 504 King streetcar. From the intersection of King and Dufferin, Tucows is a very short, one block walk east on King to Mowat Ave. We’re just south of King St. on the west side. Drivers will find parking in the area, but make sure you watch the signs and park legally. There’s street parking around, or a big Green P lot on Fraser Ave. (one block to the east).

We look forward to seeing you here on Saturday!

The University of Toronto held a series of Career Information Days this week here in Toronto. Tucows was on hand for the information technology day to meet some of the next generation of computer science students looking for fast-paced and exciting career opportunities.

I sat out on the roof deck, video camera in hand, with Sherry Azim, our corporate recruiter, to talk about the event, and to provide a sense of the kind of people Tucows is looking for to add to our team. Have a look:

We've got another job opening here at Tucows: QA Analyst!

Wait…didn't you already announce this job opening?

You're probably thinking of this position: QA Analyst/Performance Testing. That's a position that calls for a little more experience and has a little more responsibility. This one is just plain old “QA Analyst”, minus the “Performance Testing” part. That position called for 2+ years experience with test panning, test development and web application test execution; this one calls for 1+ years. If you didn't have the experience for that job, you might want to consider this one!

The Job Description

Here it is, straight from HR's mouth:

Main Purpose

Tests software to ensure that developed products meet design specifications and are within total quality management limits and standards. Communicates with product developers. Operates under some supervision.

Key Responsibilities

• You will be required to do code development to support test automation and other testing tools
• Plan and perform required testing activities
• Develop testing documents to verify Tucows’ services and applications

Ideal Candidate Profile

Related experience / Unique skill set:

• Solid understanding of test methodology and testing lifecycle
• 1+ years Test Planning experience
• 1+ years Test Development experience
• 1+ years Web Application Test Execution experience
• Comfortable in testing application in Unix and/or Linux environment

3 or more of the following:

• Automated testing
• API testing
• GUI/Functional/Installation testing
• Performance testing
• Security testing

Special consideration for:

• QA or Test Certification
• Fluent in one of the web testing tools
• Courses in Oracle (asset)
• Participated in test tool evaluation and deployment process

Education:

• College or University degree in information technology or equivalent

Interpersonal skills:

• Strong organizational and analytical skills
• Comfortable working to tight deadlines; strong team player
• Sense of job commitment
• Good communication skills

Other things you should know about:

• Once a month Friday night/Saturday morning code promotion testing

So What's It Like at Tucows?

Since I wrote about it so recently, I'll simply point you to this entry; just scroll down to the section titled A Little Bit About Tucows. The short answer is: “It's pretty cool.”

Want to Apply for the Job?

Email your resume and cover letter to hrdept@tucows.com, making sure that you include QA Analyst in the subject.

Quality assurance and performance testers are the unsung heroes of the tech world. Without their nitpicking, we programmer types would be unleashing far more havoc upon the world, whether in the form of errors and crashing apps or software that runs like molasses. As much as they can sometimes annoy me as a programmer — after all, part of their job is to poke my creations until they break — I have to salute them for their work with a filet mignon on a flaming sword.

The Job Description

Here at Tucows, we've got a job opening for a QA/Performance Testing person. Here's the “Main purpose” from the official job description:

Develops and applies customized performance testing strategy that include load, stress and scalability testing. Involve in testing software to ensure that developed products meet design specifications and are within total quality management limits and standards. Communicates with product developers on product issues. Operates under general supervision.

Simply put: our services don't go out the door until you say they're ready to go out the door.

Here are the key responsibilities for the job:

• You are expected to apply your solid QA performance testing: load, stress and scalability
• You will be required to do code development to support test automation and other testing tools
• Plan and perform required testing activities, and develop testing documents to verify Tucows services and applications
• Provide technical guidance to other team members

Here's the ideal candidate profile:

• Solid understanding of test methodology and testing lifecycle
• 2+ years Test Planning experience
• 2+ years Test Development experience
• 2+ years Web Application Test Execution experience
• 2+ years in Java, JavaScript, Perl and/or PHP code development experience
• Familiar with Unix and/or Linux environment and commands
• Experienced in automated testing
• Experienced in API testing
• 2+ years Performance testing, familiar with Web performance testing tools
• Fluent in one of the web testing tools
• College or University degree in information technology or equivalent
• QA or Test Certification
• Courses in Oracle (asset)
• Courses in Java, JavaScript, Perl and/or PHP development languages
• Courses in Unix Admin (asset)
• Time management skills
• Quick learner, analytical and attention to details
• Comfortable working to tight deadlines
• Easy to work with, a true team player
• Sense of job commitment
• Good communication skills

QA analyst/performance testing people take part in a once-a-month Friday night or Saturday morning code testing session for code promotion.

A Little Bit About Tucows

What We Do

You know what ISPs and hosting services do — the fact that you're reading this online suggests that one way or another, you're making use of the services of an internet service provider or hosting company. We're next up on the supply chain: just as they provide services to get you online, we provide services that get them to get you online.

Take domain names, for instance. Not just anyone can become a registrar (that's a person or organization with the ability to register domain names). You need to fork out a hefty amount of cash, have a relationship with ICANN, participate in the governance of the domain name system and a perform a whole bunch of other administrivial tasks. As a wholesaler of domain name registrations, we do all that unpleasant work and give you, the service provider, access to our capability to register domain names, either through our APIs or our web-based management interface. The end result: service providers can register domain names for their customers without the hassles that registrars go through.

Same thing with email. You could provide your customers with email service by setting up a computer to be an email server, maintaining it and guarding it against attacks of all kinds. Our hosted email and email defense customers prefer to let us handle the task of providing email and anti-spam service so that they can concentrate on provisioning these services and providing support to their customers.

Other services we provide include managed DNS, digital certificates and web page building and blogging tools, all of which our partners then resell to their customers. By using our services, our partners can worry less about maintaining machinery and software and can concentrate on their true differentiator, which is customer service.

What Working Here is Like

We're located in Liberty Village, the warehouse district of Toronto that is south of King Street, bounded by Dufferin on the west, Strachan on the east, and the Canadian National Exhibition to the south. It's a great neighbourhood in which to work, as it's home to a lot of people doing high-tech and creative work, as well as a number of independent restaurants and cafes and a 24-hour grocery. We're also a short walk away from the new “it” part of Queen Street West, with its night spots such as the Gladstone Hotel, Drake Hotel, “The Social”, Cadillac Lounge and others. It's a far cry from a dreary office park in the suburbs!

You'll work with a lot of smart people in a converted warehouse with high ceilings, a decent-sized kitchen area, a rooftop deck with two gas barbecues (I'm known in the company as the guy who barbecues year-round, even in the dead of winter) and a stone's throw from public transit. The work atmosphere and dress code is casual, and the tendency here is to let people make their own decisions, do their own thinking and shine at their jobs.

I've been working here for the past three and a half years and would gladly recommend it. We're going through some changes to address the new world of “Web 2.0″ and have got some interesting projects that we're working on. If you're looking for challenging tech work at a company with a good reputation in a great location, you should check us out.

Interested?

If you're interested in this job, please email your resume and cover letter to hrdept@tucows.com, and make sure you include QA Analyst/Performance Testing in the subject line.

Last weekend, we had a job fair here at Tucows. We hold job fairs at our Toronto headquarters every three or four months.

I spoke to Crystal McPhee who leads our recruiting to get some insider tips about how to make sure you make the best of a Tucows Job Fair. Here's the scoop:

1. Keeners come early. Arriving early in the day shows you're interested in the job.

2. Dress for success. Once you land the job with us, you get to work in a casual environment. However, first impressions count. So consider wearing business casual clothes to the job fair and not your favourite torn AC/DC t-shirt.

3. Be prepared. Bring a copy of your resume, a pen and a notebook. Brainstorm a list of questions and take notes.

4. Do your homework. Spend some time on our website and blog to learn about what we do and how we do it.

5. Be ready to answer questions and tell us why you want to work at Tucows. We'd like to hear the story of your career so far. You need to be able to tell us who you are, what you've done at previous jobs, how you work and why you'd be an asset to our team.

And there you have five easy tips to help you get the most from our job fairs.

We're always on the look-out for talented folks to join the herd. Click here to see a list of current job openings.

Here's another job opportunity at Tucows: Network Engineer!

About Tucows

For more about Tucows and its work environment, go check out the What Does Tucows Do, Anyway? and The Sort of Person We're Lookng For sections of this blog entry.

Main purpose

As a member of the Networking team, the Network Engineer is responsible for keeping all of Tucows' networks running smoothly so that their regularly scheduled operational, maintenance and support functions are carried out effectively and efficiently. It's a vital jobs — if our networks are out of business, so are we!

Position reports to: Operations Manager

Salary range: Commensurate with experience

Key responsibilities

• Support, update and troubleshoot network hardware and software
• Provide support on NOC and Service Desk issues
• Perform network administration services, day-to-day operations
• First line support of the network for Operations and Engineering implementations
• Perform daily maintenance of the internal and production network, by checking all logs and ensuring no new issues are occurring
• Monitor and resolve service desk tickets quickly
• Perform emergency and planned maintenances in order to fix or prevent network outages
• Work on infrastructure / network related projects such as:
  • Software and hardware upgrades
  • Network expansion
  • Deployment of network applications
  The products include, but are not limited to:
  • Core Switches
  • Distribution Switches
  • Firewalls
  • VPN Appliances
  • Content Switches
  • IPS / IDS's and Sniffers

Ideal Candidate Profile

Related experience / Unique skill set

• At least 2 years work experience as Network Administrator in a medium size network.
• Demonstrated abilities with, and a good working knowledge of:
  • General networking
  • Ethernet
  • TCP/IP
  • DNS
  • DHCP
  • Switching
  • Routing
  • IP Addressing / sub-netting
  • Windows networking
• Excellent communication (written and verbal) and interpersonal skills
• Experience configuring, upgrading and maintaining Cisco switches and routers; hands on required on Catalyst 6500
• Experience configuring, upgrading and maintaining:
  • Cisco PIX
  • Cisco VPN3000
  • Cisco CSS11500
  • Cisco FWSW
  • Cisco IDS/IPS
  • Netscreen firewalls
• Basic Unix administration skills, knowledge of open source network tools an asset
• Experience or exposure in configuring and troubleshooting routing protocols OSPF, BGP

Education

• Bachelor Degree in Computer Science
• CCNA / CCNP

Interpersonal skills

• Excellent organization and time management skills to meet demanding timelines
• Strong interpersonal and customer service skills
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Highly adaptable with ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast paced, demanding environment
• Must be highly adaptable and able to learn new applications quickly
• Self-motivated, with strong sense of ownership and urgency to deliver projects / tasks in a timely fashion
• Attention to detail required, must be methodical and thorough in problem solving

Other

• Position requires to carry a pager on alternate basis
• Overtime may be required during project implementation

Interested in this job?

If this job sounds like the sort of thing you'd be interested in doing, send your resume and cover letter to hrdept@tucows.com, and make sure you put Network Engineer in the subject line!

Job Fair!

Tomorrow, Saturday, February 10th, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Tucows is having a job fair! We've got openings for the following positions:

• Customer Service Representatives
• Technical Support Analysts
• NOC Analysts

“Tucows? You Mean the Shareware Company?”

If you're thinking “Tucows? You mean the shareware company?”, make sure you read about the sort of business we're in. There's a good summary in this article; make a note of the What Does Tucows Do, Anyway? and the The Sort of Person We're Lookng For sections.

What Happens at the Job Fair

At tomorrow's job fair, you'll get to meet one-on-one with actual managers. The managers are people with hiring authority for the open positions; you'll have a brief interview with them where you can talk about your skills and experience and ask questions about Tucows. Successful candidates from tomorrow's interviews will be invited to come back for a more in-depth interview on the week of February 12th.

What to Bring and Where to Go

If you'd like to attend tomorrow's job fair, bring your resume and your “'A' game” to the Tucows offices, located at 96 Mowat Avenue, Toronto (Mowat is a block east of King and Dufferin — you can get here via the Dufferin 29 bus or the King 504 Streetcar; there's plenty of nearby parking too). Each interview is expected to last about 15 minutes, but you should be prepared to spend an hour here to allow for some administrivia and waiting for your interview to come up.