Developer wanted! What do we expect from our new job?

The Polish labor market is wide and open. This means that finding a new job today should not be a problem for specialists. This judgment is supported by statistics on the unemployment rate in Poland. Data does not lie. Month after month, unemployment is falling. It stood at 5.1 percent, down a percentage point from a year earlier, according to the most recent data from the end of May 2022.

Why it’s taking so long

However, the reality is no longer so ideal. 

Recruiting processes in companies and their duration vary greatly and depend on many factors. The size of the company, employment conditions, and the type of position for which recruitment is conducted. 

Check out the latest DevOpsi jobs for developers: https://devopsi.traffit.com/career/

In large corporations, the process is usually lengthy. There are recruitment interviews with representatives of different departments, waiting for feedback from each of them. All this means that the hiring process often extends up to several months. It is different in smaller companies.

Here, recruitment often begins with the receipt of a CV, the appointment of a candidate for an interview with the person responsible for the process, and subsequent employment. Recruiting can often be closed in two weeks. However, hiring processes for IT positions, especially those related to programming, escape this regularity.

developer-new-job
Developer for many years has been the "profession of the future". There is no indication that this state of affairs will change anytime soon.

Work finds them

It’s widely known that specialists’ salaries in this field are among the highest in Poland. Developer for many years has been the „profession of the future”. There is no indication that this state of affairs will change anytime soon. Despite that, there are still fewer developers than projects on the labor market. This makes it extremely difficult to find the right person for the recruitment for a specific position. Especially since, as we know, programmers are unlikely to „sit” on job portals. New job finds them on its own. 

The wide range of offers, is usually ideally suited to the skills and experience they have. They can choose the one that is most appealing to them. And what has the best impact on the attractiveness of the offer?

Money, development, company size

We would say that in the first place higher salaries. Yes, but not always. I know from my observations that salary has a big impact on the decision to accept an offer of a new job, but not the key one. 

Programmers often care about growth opportunities within a given company. A good example of this is when an employer provides access to various training platforms or the chance to work with more experienced engineers. The other aspects are benefits, which are not strictly related to work. We mean cafeteria vouchers, paid vacations, or sports cards. 

Developer also pay a lot of attention to the business size when choosing a deal. Some prefer the atmosphere of a startup software house, while others will prefer the style of a highly hierarchical corporation. 

The possibility of going to the office

As practice shows, these preferences are very individual. On the other hand, the approach in which the candidate gets the opportunity to work remotely is becoming more and more common. This is already a standard, not an „attractive convenience”. 

However, I perversely approach this topic. I claim, and this is another statement arising from my observations, that much more interesting in the software industry is the opportunity to work in the office, in the headquarters. That is, of course, if the developer lives where the office is. Why? This is mainly due to overload with constant work from home. The possibility of going to the office, direct contact with other employees, and programmers can be important for our employee or candidate for an employee.

Developer Expectations: work-life balance

Honeypot, a job platform for software developers in Europe, published its „Developer Ambitions Report 2022”. It shows that when choosing a new job, work-life balance is the most important criterion for them. Work-life balance came ahead of factors such as team/organizational culture at the new workplace, salary, and the ability to perform tasks remotely. More than 1000 developers from all over Europe participated in the survey!

Transparent recruitment process

I believe that one of the most important parts of the hiring process is to communicate to the candidate exactly how and when the process will work. In conversations with me, developers repeatedly emphasized that the first thing they pay attention to during the recruitment process is the opportunity to learn about the required technology stack, a description of the project, and how the recruitment itself is conducted. 

It’s often impossible to outline the project and the client who wants it. However, there is no problem outlining the hiring process that awaits the candidate.  

I’ll use the process that works here at DevOpsi as an example:

  • Firstly, sending a CV;
  • Secondly, telephone or e-mail contact;
  • Thirdly, interview with our CEO and an experienced developer;
  • Fourthly, decision;
  • Fifthly, signing the contract. 

After that, we usually try to close these stages within one week. This is very important because the demand for programmers is tremendous. And it is hard to condemn them, to wait for a long time for the decision of a particular company. The candidate will ultimately choose the company that shows more effort to hire him, or her as soon as possible.

A person, not a „commodity”

These are just a few aspects affecting the company’s programmer recruitment processes. Processes are changing very fast nowadays. 

Companies are increasingly engaging in a kind of „fight” for people. They compete with each other with better benefits and salaries. In this race, I do not change my previous approach to the candidate as a human being and not a „scarce commodity”. This is a more challenging role, but the satisfaction of completing the recruitment process is much greater. Especially that it is always beneficial for both parties: the employee and the employer.  

Check out the latest DevOpsi jobs for developers: https://devopsi.traffit.com/career/