Cameron '13 hired two fellow Reedies through Switchboard.
Young alumni turn to Switchboard to find jobs and career help every day. They also use Switchboard to return the favor.
When Cameron '13 used Reed Switchboard to help his company hire two fellow alumni, one of the company's founders praised it as their best source of new employee prospects. Cameron's company has hired a total of four Reedies since then, and he hopes to help his company hire a few more.
We asked Cameron to share his story.
Why did you start using Reed Switchboard?
I believe I started using Switchboard primarily to both seek advice and to see opportunities/jobs that Alumni were posting.
I knew Switchboard would be a community that would have a lot of really high quality offers, genuine people, and better odds at both success and finding things in my fields of interest.
Once I secured a job post-graduation I switched from searching for opportunities to mostly posting jobs that I knew would be great for recent grads and upcoming graduates.
You've used Reed Switchboard to hire a number of other Reedies. Could you share your story?
I'm very happy to say Switchboard has got four Reedies jobs!
Two work directly on the team I work with and the other two work for a related team/pod. I think a big reason this was possible is because of my company's relatively young staff and it's really rapid growth. We're always seeking bright, hardworking new people that can fill our ranks as we bring on exponentially more business over the past two years. Our biggest struggle as a company is to find enough qualified people to do all the work that is flying onto our plates.
One of the co-founders specifically told me (after our success with the first two hires) to do the same thing I did to find those two because it was the #1 best source of new employee prospects out of all our different efforts (Craigslist, job boards, LinkedIn, word-of-mouth etc.). I think that the quality of candidates that applied was infectious and it got every Reed resume extra looks and consideration.
I've also posted a few asks related to the Portland high school debate community and found some incredibly knowledgeable people. I'm amazed at the breadth and depth of topics that people on Switchboard/part of the Reed community know. Like small grants for school activities—that is an actual topic someone had intimate knowledge with.
What do you tell other Reedies about Switchboard?
I just inform others that Switchboard has an incredible variety of offers and that the Reed community is full of people that want to see other Reedies succeed.
I know I have some ambitious goals to get three or four more Reedies working for my company in the next year or two, and Switchboard so far has been the way I've been accomplishing that.