Vistas & Go
A Word from Martin Gallagher
The past 7 years have been an enjoyable, challenging and rewarding time, getting to know so many Gophers, building a network of talented engineers across Europe and beyond, and helping build some great companies.
In 2015 I was, as far as I know, the only specialist Go recruiter around. I recall that the number of Go roles in Europe was sparse, however my conversations at dotGo in Paris and the London GoMeetup in November 2015, with many friendly and passionate Gophers, made me confident that Go’s footprint would grow.
From then I set about carving my niche deeper and endeavouring to become a recruiter of value for the Go community.
To be recruiter of value one must be a specialist, delivering results in a niche where demand for skills outstrips supply, while behaving in a manner that reflects the values of the niche you serve.
To be a specialist you must understand the niche deeper than simply knowing a few buzzwords. My background in software engineeering helps me understand the context in which I am working.
You can’t be a specialist without being part of the community, getting to know the members on a personal level and contributing where you can.
“To be recruiter of value one must be a specialist, delivering results in a niche where demand for skills outstrips supply, while behaving in a manner that reflects the values of the niche you serve.”
Since Vistas’ foundation, I have tried to do this by attending as many conferences and meet-ups within the Go community as possible. To date I have attended dotGO in Paris every year since 2015, Golab in Italy, every year since 2017, GopherCon in Denver, USA and of course GopherConUk in London, UK every year since 2016. And you can always find me at the London Gophers monthly meet-up.
We have tried to contribute to the community by sponsoring conferences and meetups where we can. We have been a regular sponsor of GopherConUK since 2016, as well as being a recurring sponsor of the monthly London Gophers meetup. We also have sponsored Golab in Italy, the Sheffield Go Meetup, Belfast Go Meetup, WomanWhoGo London and Remote GoFest 2020.
Also, in conjunction with GolangProjects, I have been helping Gophers in whatever way I can, by giving advice on preparing CV/resumes, tips on how to secure your first commercial role as a Gopher etc or introducing them to interesting companies to work for.
During 2022 I set up a mentoring scheme to help individuals, who are trying to learn Go, get some real world help. Many of these would-be Gophers are in parts of the world where Go is not widely used by local companies, so the help of a mentor can be invaluable to them on their journey to becoming a Go developer. I’ve been blown away by the generosity of experienced Gophers in the Go community in volunteering their time to become a mentor.
All my experiences have led me to understand how special the Go community is. Everyone I've met has been friendly, welcoming and passionate about Go; committed to finding simple solutions to complex problems and communicating in a straightforward, transparent and honest way.
“When I was looking to move on, Martin was instrumental in helping me to find a new place to work that I loved and entirely fitted the kinds of things I wanted to do. I felt he listened carefully to what I had to say and I never felt any pressure to accept any particular suggestion - it genuinely felt like he was helping me for my sake. Strong recommend.”
These are the traits I believe a recruiter in the Go community should portray. I hope they can be attributed to me as I am dedicated to being a recruiter fit for the Go community.
Martin Gallagher
London, 2022
ps - if you’d like someone to mentor you or would like to volunteer as a mentor, feel free to get in touch on email - martin at vistasrecruitment.com or use this link to set up an initial chat with me - Schedule Mentoring Chat
Looking for a Go Role?
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