As an HR professional working in Ann Arbor, Rachel Hammond has an insider’s perspective on the regional job market. When she decided it was time to start the next chapter of her career, she knew exactly where to focus her search.
“While I grew up on the west side of Michigan, Ann Arbor has quickly become my home. There is so much to experience here and I didn’t want to add a long commute time to my day. A major factor for my next job was it had to be in this area.”
To do that, Rachel turned to a resource she used when recruiting talent — the Ann Arbor SPARK Job Portal.
“In my last job, I always posted open positions to the SPARK Job Portal. It’s an excellent tool, and free which is especially nice. While many early stage companies don’t have budget for an applicant tracking system, the SPARK job portal comes equipped with one. I think that’s what differentiates it from other recruitment sites.”
Because the SPARK Job Portal only posts jobs in Washtenaw and Livingston counties, Rachel could geographically concentrate her job search in this region. Her efforts paid off when she started at Quantum Signal AI, a tech company building solutions for autonomous vehicles and a new subsidiary of Ford Autonomous Vehicles, LLC.
Quantum Signal AI is located in Saline, Michigan — just south of Ann Arbor — in the historic Union School. “It’s an interesting dichotomy because we’re creating really innovative solutions in a building that’s 100 years old. It still has a lot of the old school amenities, like hallways lined with lockers, chalkboards, and a gym. Our CEO Mitch Rohde collects classic arcade games and he has brought a lot of them into the building. And if there’s a day when the schools are unexpectedly closed, employees bring their kids in and they hang out in the gym.”
These culture-defining perks are sure to attract candidates as the company aims to nearly double the size of the team by 2021. “In my new role at Quantum Signal AI, I’ll continue to post our job openings on the SPARK Job Portal. Even when I’m not searching for a job, I like perusing the job portal because it’s a great digest of the Ann Arbor-based tech companies.”
Visit the Ann Arbor SPARK Job Portal to discover your next career in the Ann Arbor region.
