Re:Ask HN: How to attract perm Snr Engs when the contract ma...
by jjav on Thursday May 06, 2021 @03:44PM
(#27068202)
> 5. Raises that matter. Not some 1 or 2 pct insult.
IMO, pay or raises don't matter much (as long as it's enough to live without worries).
If the company culture is bad then yes, it's all about money. Pay me top of the market or I'm looking to move. But if the job is a pleasure and I'm respected, I don't much care for the pay.
What does it take to make job a pleasure? In a summary: respect expertise.
I wouldn't dream of telling our legal or accounting departments how to do their job, they're the experts in their fields. But for some reason engineering no longer commands any respect (pay != respect) so has lost all autonomy. (I say no longer because it wasn't always that way, in the 90s engineering expertise was highly valued.)
Here are three sure fire ways to make me leave ASAP:
"Agile". If you treat everyone as a replaceable cog kept under the daily whip of constant status reports then don't expect me to stay very long.
Lack of autonomy. If engineering decisions are being made by a product manager with a BA in Arts instead of principal engineers, you can bet I'm interviewing behind your back. (Sadly this is most silicon valley companies these days.)
"Unlimited vacation", aka might get 2-3 days per year. Instead, align compay interests with mine, accumulate vacation days and I can take everything I've accumulated. No less than 20 days per year + holidays.
IMO, pay or raises don't matter much (as long as it's enough to live without worries).
If the company culture is bad then yes, it's all about money. Pay me top of the market or I'm looking to move. But if the job is a pleasure and I'm respected, I don't much care for the pay.
What does it take to make job a pleasure? In a summary: respect expertise.
I wouldn't dream of telling our legal or accounting departments how to do their job, they're the experts in their fields. But for some reason engineering no longer commands any respect (pay != respect) so has lost all autonomy. (I say no longer because it wasn't always that way, in the 90s engineering expertise was highly valued.)
Here are three sure fire ways to make me leave ASAP:
"Agile". If you treat everyone as a replaceable cog kept under the daily whip of constant status reports then don't expect me to stay very long.
Lack of autonomy. If engineering decisions are being made by a product manager with a BA in Arts instead of principal engineers, you can bet I'm interviewing behind your back. (Sadly this is most silicon valley companies these days.)
"Unlimited vacation", aka might get 2-3 days per year. Instead, align compay interests with mine, accumulate vacation days and I can take everything I've accumulated. No less than 20 days per year + holidays.