At Red Door, we pride ourselves in having an open and collaborative culture between departments, yet we would be nothing if it were not for the talent on each of our teams. From Creative to Client Services, SEO to Social Media, each individual is uniquely different in what they do and who they are. When applying for a job, it is not only important to have the skills necessary to complete your tasks, but to also be able to collaborate and grow with your team. To paint a better picture of what it’s like to work with us, we’d like to introduce you to part of our Red Door team—starting with Jamie Schiesel, Marketing Technology Engineer.
How did you come to apply for a job at Red Door?
Jamie: I started at Red Door in January of 2017, so I have been here a little over seven months. Before, I was working as a Software Engineer at a company based in Minnesota. I was feeling secluded in my role there, and started looking for jobs with companies that had a more collaborative culture. I found Red Door through a LinkedIn job post, and the rest is history.
What does a typical day on the Tech Team look like for you?
Jamie: My responsibilities include determining the requirements and developing functionalities for projects. Typically, most of my day is spent working on a specific project, but I also get to spend some of my time researching and trying to develop new and creative solutions for our clients.
What is your favorite aspect of working at Red Door?
Jamie: The culture and the work we do. Red Door sets itself apart in the innovative thinking environment we foster. I am someone who enjoys and constantly seeks out challenges, and I feel like that drive is fulfilled by the projects I work on here. Before coming to Red Door, I worked primarily at web agencies, so this is the first place where I have been able to collaborate with a range of different departments. It’s been cool to see how my role as a developer impacts, and is impacted, by these other departments.
What has been your favorite project that you have worked on for Red Door?
Jamie: One project that stands out to me was when our client wanted to improve the user experience of their website as well as revamp the ambassador registration process. I really enjoyed this project because the website was built on ASP.NET MVC, which is a code I really enjoy working with, and the client was responsive and open to our feedback so we could work together to come up with some creative solutions. We ended up utilizing Foundation as a Frontend Framework and incorporated knockout.js features, such as declarative binding and dependency tracking, to create a seamless registration flow. To improve the ambassador registration process, we were able to implement an easy and secure access to the 360i Portal by using Single Sign On (SSO).
Going forward, what other projects would you like to work on?
Jamie: Something that involves figuring out how tech is going to evolve in the marketing industry (wearables, apps, etc.) and how we, as a tech department, can build something cool to help our clients better solve their problems.
What has helped you be most successful in your role?
Jamie: The mentorship I have received at Red Door has helped me the most. I sit down with a superior or mentor at least once a month and talk about the work I am doing and how I can improve. There is a big emphasis on goal setting within the company, so it is nice to have a solid plan of where I want to go. I know I have the support for client work, costs covered for educational classes, and just overall encouragement from upper management to help me reach my personal goals and enhance my career.
What is one piece of advice for someone entering a Technology role like yours?
Jamie: Ask a lot of questions and don’t get discouraged.
Inspired by Jamie’s story? We are always looking for talent to join our RDI team, check out our current job openings on our careers page or tweet us any questions at @RedDoor.