Our software crafters and designers are self-driven, creative problem solvers who embrace every opportunity to learn and grow as professionals. Our software crafters and designers have graduated from 8th Light's modern apprenticeship program, which trains everyone to be disciplined polyglots who are comfortable applying the principles and practices of software craftsmanship in any language or framework. We are trained to answer the questions that clients don't ask. We are passionate about sharing our knowledge with others, and are excited about the opportunity to build a long career in software around continual learning and self-growth.
8th Light strongly believes in well-constructed teams. The members of our project teams are a diverse group of individuals who have graduated from our apprenticeship program, and possess a range of experience, skill levels, and specialties. We rotate team members to ensure our software crafters and designers are constantly teaching and learning on every project, every day.
8th Light’s clients range from one-person startups to Fortune 500 companies, and everything in between. Our software crafters spend anywhere from 6 - 12 months as consultants on a single project, working closely with our clients to discover and solve their most challenging problems. Some clients require our software crafters to work on-site, while others allow us to work out of 8th Light’s office, or a combination of the two.
8th Light believes that the highest quality software is built locally. In order to better serve our clients, we have offices in Chicago, London, Los Angeles, and New York; and our Design Studio is based out of our Chicago office. 8th Light is hiring for all locations.
Guiding and teaching others is one of the most gratifying components of software craftsmanship. A software crafter's experience as an apprentice and as a software crafter qualify us to co-mentor and mentor apprentices who are beginning their own long careers at 8th Light. The mentor-apprentice relationship is strong, and persists long after an apprentice graduates. Read more about our apprenticeship program.
We reserve 10 percent of our work week for non-billable self-learning. Our software crafters and designers use this time to contribute to open source projects, write blogs, prepare talks and workshops, or volunteer as tutors in the community.
Each quarter, software crafters spend a day receiving hands-on instruction from industry leaders in a workshop setting. 8th Light's cohort leaders are master software crafters who travel to our offices to lead challenging and stimulating lessons for their cohorts throughout the day, and give keynote presentations for the entire company during lunch.
We want our software crafters and designers to keep their claws sharp. 8th Light encourages crafters and designers to expand our ever-growing library by reimbursing for books and learning materials as needed.
We host MeetUps with keynote presentations from influential figures inside and outside of our company. Check out our MeetUp page to learn more!
We have a generous conference stipend that covers tickets and travel to conferences all over the world, including Belgium, Germany, and more!
If you are selected to host a workshop or speak at a conference, we will cover travel expenses.
We are employee-owned, and we empower our employees to seek out and create the change they want to see in their workplace. We aspire to remain in constant motion.
Our apprenticeship program fosters a culture defined by continual learning. Everyone is eager to share their knowledge and learn from one another. We challenge each other to continually learn and grow on our teams and during our 10 percent time.
Our business and administrative teams are dedicated to supporting our software crafters and designers and providing the ideal work environment for them to continually learn and grow.
The following benefits are available to all software crafters and designers in 8th Light's U.S. offices, and are similar to the benefits offered by 8th Light's London office.