We’re kicking off the inaugural Startup Job Crawl at Amici Espresso, a common place for entrepreneurs to meet. Photo by Geoff Wood.
We couldn’t be more excited for Des Moines’ first Startup Job Crawl tonight. We have more than 100 students registered representing 12 schools. On the other side, we have nearly 20 startups and related organizations participating.
Follow the Startup Job Crawl activity on Twitter, #SUJC
Here’s the information that you need to know for this evening:
Thanks to our sponsor
Schedule
We’re kicking off the event at 5 p.m at Amici Espresso (corner of 6th & Mulberry). Amici is a popular meeting point for entrepreneurs in Des Moines and their team is offering specials on coffee and other beverages through the night. You’re welcome to arrive early and take advantage of them.
When you arrive, you’ll grab a name tag and feel free to start networking with the other students and recent graduates in the room. We’ll make announcements of how the evening will run and then hear a few words from Adam Carroll of Succeed Faster (left, photo from succeedfaster.com) on tips for networking and how to make the most of your evening. Carroll regularly speaks to students and young professionals nationwide. To our benefit, he’s based here in the Des Moines area.
Rotation
We’ll divide the group into thirds with one each starting in the Midland Building, the Bank of America Building and the Liberty Building. The groups will move from one building to the next in between each session.
Session 1: 5:30 – 6:30 p.m.
Session 2: 6:45 – 7:45 p.m.
Session 3: 8:00 – 9:00 p.m.
What to bring and what to wear
Some students have asked what they should bring with them and how they should dress. In each case, this is completely up to the individual but we did discuss it on PrairieCast, the Silicon Prairie News podcast, yesterday.
Opinions differed but the closest thing to consensus was that you should be comfortable and that the leaders of this companies won’t necessarily be looking to collect resumes. You can certainly bring them but it might be more convenient if you bring cards. Also, you should try and collect the cards from people at the companies you’re interested in and follow up with them later. They’ll be seeing a lot of faces and startup companies tend to hire based on relationships over resumes.
Also, the teams at most of these startups wear T-shirts, jeans and tennis shoes day-to-day. Dress however you feel appropriate (whether that’s a suit or T-shirt) but you’ll want to be professional and make a good impression.
Parking
A public parking garage is available a block to the east at 5th & Walnut. Streets in this area of downtown are also an option but bring change for the meters until 6 p.m. Be aware that some metered parking isn’t available from 4 to 6 p.m. as it used for traffic flow out of downtown (look for signs).
Special Note for Iowa State Students
Judi Eyles at the Iowa State Pappajohn Center is providing transportation to any student in Ames who would like to take advantage of it. They still have seats available, to reserve one email Judi at eyles@iastate.edu.
Is every startup hiring?
No, not everyone. However, some are hiring right now. Others are looking at candidates for hires after the first of the year. Many are seeking interns for next semester. Regardless, they are all companies looking to grow and this is a great chance to meet them and see if they’re the type of group you’d like to be associated with. If you’re a budding entrepreneur, it’s also a chance to meet new and veteran entrepreneurs.
Participating Startups
Midland Building
Note: the outside doors of the building will lock, so enter through Amici
Dwolla, Torsion Mobile, Silicon Prairie News (that’s us), Eggcrat.es (that’s my side project) and Evolve. Guest company: Craftly (based in Urbandale).
Bank of America Building
Startup City Des Moines, Tikly, ShareWhere, Real Estate Fan Pages, Meidh, Pikuzone and Present.io. Guest companies: bHeroic (based in Ames) and T8 Webware (based in Cedar Falls).
Liberty Building
BitMethod, Pongr, God at Play, Foundry Coworking, Fresk. Guest companies: SmartyPig (based in West Des Moines) and Locusic (based in Ankeny).
