Link: The Business of Software - What Are Developers Looking For in a Job?.
We are a great company to work for but we want te be even better, the top choice for top developers. We want to know: What are developers looking for in a job?
Before answering though, some ground rules please:
#1 - Do not say you need a top salary. We don't have the money and quite frankly you're not worth it any way because, well, you are a developer and that is menial labor.
#2 - Do not say you need a private office with a door that closes. We value TEAMWORK and MANAGEMENT here. If your immediate supervisor can't see you at all times, then how will he know if you are working?
#3 - Do not say you require a training or book budget. We are looking for PROFESSIONALS who know their field and not students and amateurs who require books and additional training just to do the job we hired for.
#4 - Do not say you want 9-5, weekends off, flex time, and/or more than 1 week vacation. This job requires DEDICATION and COMMITMENT, which lazy people who want short work hours don't seem to understand. It's time to pull togetehr to get the task done at crunch time and we have so many clients that crunch time is everyday, something a TRUE PROFFESSIONAL understands.
So tell me seriously so that we can get those top notch people we keep hearing about: What are developers looking for in a job?
And they wonder why good help is so hard to find...
I keep getting advice along the lines of fine a good company to work for and then go after them. Even though this post was in jest, the problem is that all the companies that I have investigated seem to have these underlying suppositions.
#1 You are a cog, easily replaced when you burn out, which we acknowledge you will, so we'll set up the job so you can be.
#2 You don't need to actually get things done, you just need to look like you are, but if you don't get done the things we didn't tell you to get done, you're fired.
#3 You are hired because you are omniscient and are fully qualified to do any job whatsoever, and are full versed in the most arcane and bleeding edge technologies that exist so when the Boss reads about it in the latest issue of his favorite money magazine we can change everything over to it right away without any lose of productivity.
#4 You don't have a life outside work, you are not even as valuable as a slave, since property can be depreciated on the books but we can just outsource you if you get too uppity.
I wonder if I might do better in a startup or small business that would care about things other then these?