Tech Developers - what do you look for in an company?

sonyhamster · 28 November 2015 at 6:01PM

Hi all,

I was wondering whether I could get some thoughts from the developer / technology engineers here?

As we know, there's a huge war on talent for technology developers. Naturally, speak to a computing grad, and they would probably tell you they would love to work for Google or Facebook.

But aside from the brand name - I'm trying to figure out what actually makes people 'tick'. Is it the challenge? Freedom to take ownership? Working with smart people? Opportunity to change the world?

I'm planning on doing a study around this, but at this stage I'm trying to get some scope before designing it.

Assuming salary and skill requirements are all acceptable - when looking for a prospective employer for a developer job, which five aspects are most important to you? (i.e. what makes you tick!)

How would you like a prospective employer to engage with you?

What magazines or websites do read to find information on developing / technology?

How do find developer jobs? (Is it word of mouth, networking at hackathons, or is it quite old school?)
Any thoughts would be massively appreciated!

w00519772 · 28 November 2015 at 6:08PM

I am a Software Developer. When I started in the industry after graduating from university I applied for everything that was out there. I was not picky (beggers can't be choosers).

Since 2003 I have gained plenty of experience, so now I can be a bit picky. I look at:

1) Salary
2) Programming languages used. I am a .NET Developer so I can command a higher salary if the company uses .NET. If they used PHP for example then I would have to spend some time learning.
3) Training budget. Does the company offer training.
4) Software House v Company. There are pros and cons of each. I work for a company.

If you want to be a Software Developer, then go to university for three years full time and study Computer Science or Business Information Systems. Then you may have the skills to compete at the entry level.

An employer will look at your skills and experience. If you have the skills and experience they require then they may hire you. Either you or one of the other candidates.

directdebiter · 30 November 2015 at 2:39PM

Apart from salary ........

1.Technology used
2.Training opportunities
3.Team - Is there a team of other techies? Is it a techie environment?

Based on the above it would be a good learning environment.

There is increasingly jobs in start ups relative to all the big boys - so stock options are important. The start ups are trying to compete with bigger brands to attract developers and therefore will often offer an attractive package.

Employer brand is also important to attract candidates. How the company is potrayed online and how it promotes itself.

If you get a good computer science degree there is MASSIVE demand from the tech grad schemes and you should be sorted.

Websites depend on what niche skillset you are trained in - as it varies significantly. For IT news ... The Register.

Apart from networking, Jobsites are still by far the best way to source IT jobs.
Experienced people often use Linkedin or there are niche job sites such as Jobserve or even specialist sites e.g. webdeveloperjobs.co.uk
I have never got a job through social media channels.

HTH

LE3 · 30 November 2015 at 3:25PM

Nobody's mentioned location ... a job that is based somewhere affordable to live is more attractive to many people than central London!

[Deleted User] · 30 November 2015 at 3:44PM

LE3 wrote: »

Nobody's mentioned location ... a job that is based somewhere affordable to live is more attractive to many people than central London!

I'm an IT Consultant - I won't look at jobs anymore unless they're based from home, with travel to clients. You'd need to pay me a fortune to work in London.

But, i'm also not a coder. I'm a salesman, analyst, architect, developer, support desk...

To hire me, you need to offer me good money, interesting work and job progression potential. I don't normally look for jobs, I get contacted by recruiters and I don't job hop. The technology used is irrelevant; it's all about what the 'solution' is. I keep track of my field from it's specialist websites and news groups.

DKLS · 30 November 2015 at 6:42PM

If it was for a permie role the biggest thing would be culture of the organisation and interesting and meaningful work in a team, not a bunch of individuals thrown together and called a team.

For contract roles I am much less picky other than are the basics covered and does it fit with my strategic career plan, I wanted to attract a higher day rate and the way to do that was to get some more banking and finance experience on my CV.

Another 6 months of this and I fancy a strategic move back to big four consultancy, this time with added finance and banking experience so I can command a higher rate.

AndyBSG · 1 December 2015 at 10:38AM

My list in order is as follows

- Salary

- Working hours(i.e, if it's a 9 to 5 how many in the office actually work 9 to 5 or do they all end up coming in early/working late for free)

- Location/Ease of Commute

- Training. Learning new tech is key to surviving in IT but if a company takes you on as a VB.NET programmer and you have 10 years experience in the field are they really going to train you in C#? I find a lot of companies don't want to do this because they don't want to swap an experienced VB.NET programmer for an inexperienced C# programmer... Much easier and cheaper to keep you on VB.NET with your high salary and get a rookie in on a low salary to learn C#

For me the actual company is irrelevant because you soon learn they're pretty much all the same.

MataNui · 2 December 2015 at 11:37AM

All employers are the same. You get fed up with the same bureaucratic crap from all of them in the end so company ethos etc really doesn't matter.

So for me its different for perm or contract. For contract (assuming they are all roles i can do with technologies i am comfortable working with) its:
Day Rate
Location (although location might trump the rate. I like to be able to travel down on the monday morning, not the sunday night).
Facilities (its nice to have a good canteen on site for example).

For Perm its:
Location (work from home currently so thats hard to beat)
Salary (If location good but salary crap i would just go contracting again instead).

I dont particularly like the corporate crap that goes with being an employee (ALL companies are the same) but at the moment location is great, salary is pretty good so i am happy to put up with it.

makeyourdaddyproud · 2 December 2015 at 11:44AM

MataNui wrote: »

All employers are the same. You get fed up with the same bureaucratic crap from all of them in the end so company ethos etc really doesn't matter.

So for me its different for perm or contract. For contract (assuming they are all roles i can do with technologies i am comfortable working with) its:
Day Rate
Location (although location might trump the rate. I like to be able to travel down on the monday morning, not the sunday night).
Facilities (its nice to have a good canteen on site for example).

For Perm its:
Location (work from home currently so thats hard to beat)
Salary (If location good but salary crap i would just go contracting again instead).

I dont particularly like the corporate crap that goes with being an employee (ALL companies are the same) but at the moment location is great, salary is pretty good so i am happy to put up with it.

I totally agree. I would much prefer developing alone for the same money and not have to put up with any of the cliche ridden, corporate indoctrination that is guaranteed to be spewed forth at every directors' address to staff.

Tech Developers - what do you look for in an company?

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