Now Hiring: Groupon

Groupon, the online daily deal site, is so desperate for employees that the company is staging a big billboard campaign in Northern California. They're looking to hire at least 100 developers and technologists at its Palo Alto location, but they're still hiring at their home base in Chicago as well.

A Google PR representative told CrunchGear.com that the talent base is much deeper in the Silicon Valley area, where they're trying to establish a tech hub. Their needs are specific: data, analytics, networking, mathematics and Ruby on Rails, but support personnel can find jobs there as well.

The billboards, the majority of which are in the vicinity of US 101, feature a giant 'G' and the tagline, "Do Something Massive: Tech Jobs in Palo Alto - Groupon.com/techjobs." At about $30,000 a crack, it appears the billboards are just as much about bringing attention to the company as they are about finding qualified employees.

Still, once you're on Groupon's employment site, you see that it's been numbered among the Top Work Places of 2010, and that it's one of the fastest growing start-ups in history. It says, "Exceptional engineers, designers and leaders are encouraged to apply. We are seeking top-notch candidates who want to make a big impact. Ideal candidates are entrepreneurial, collaborative, wickedly productive, with great foundational knowledge, and eager for adventures to tell the grandkids one day." That's not a bad way to attract employees.

Currently, Groupon has about 2,000 employees in its Chicago offices, and close to 3,000 more in its affiliate offices around the world. It certainly has the resources to hire new workers: it was recently valued at $25 billion, and in January received $950 million in venture capital funding.

Next: Top 10 Companies Hiring This Week

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