How To Pick The Best Job Offer 1/2
Software Developers Considering Benefits And Compensation
Benefits and compensation are the first things head hunters throw at software developers in a bid to win them over. Signing the contract for their company or a client is the ultimate goal so no wonder talent acquisition teams play hard. They know that salary and benefits play a huge part in a decision to change jobs since they target our basic physiological needs Maslow described as fundamental. They know we need money to live and meet our and our family’s needs. With private health insurance covered it’s no wonder we are drawn to the highest bidder. And, there’s nothing wrong with that.
Compensation
The salary we get is more than just a figure. We need security and stability reliable payments bring, and instant access to money. Also, it’s only fair that the extra hours we offer to invest in a project are compensated for. We appreciate bonuses because they are material recognition for the superb quality of work we do. And then, we need to know there’s a transparent system of compensation we can plan with and look forward to a raise. On top of this, companies often provide incentives for their employees. In the IT industry, it’s often a referral upon which a new colleague decides to choose our company over the others.
Many companies reward the time and effort we put into developing technical and soft skills needed for business. In the IT industry, managerial positions carry more responsibility and require us to invest additional effort, so not many aspire to climb this particular ladder. Having such high demand for software engineers dictates this vertical movement is not mandatory but optional. Companies can only reward those willing to take on the roles of Team Leads, so the road is paved with carrots and incentives.
Benefits
Besides salary, companies often have a list of benefits they put together to make their job offers more attractive. Most of the time, the competition dictates what’s on the list. Still, the most common are private health insurance, retirement fund, educational budget, different free courses and packages for the employees on companies time and dime, and recognition. Wellness programmers, catered food, fresh fruit, and beverages daily have become the norm and are not even listed as benefits anymore. These all add value and can translate into thousands of dollars per year, on top of the salary we get monthly. Some are investments into our professional or personal growth we take with us once we decide to move on. For some, this exact list of benefits makes or breaks the deal.
Benefits In The Job Ads
When publishing a job ad many companies start with benefits while they list the responsibilities and requirements for the position second, once they have prospective employees’ attention. This only proves the ongoing war for software talent. The offers are quite competitive. Companies carry out thorough research before they try to exceed expectations and beat the competition. This goes as far as offering a 50 to 100% increase on developers’ current salaries, regardless of the figures. This serves no other purpose than to poll the talent and be able to pick the best of the best. Provided the talent meets the criteria the companies honor the job offer.
An existential threshold differs from person to person, but at some point salary and benefits slide down the priority list and people start paying attention to other things. Work happiness, career happiness, and the company culture start getting more important as we strive to satisfy our needs for having a steady job, a sense of belonging, respect, recognition, and purpose.
To read more about Work and Career happiness, and the Company Culture check out the second part of our How To Pick The Best Job Offer blog here.
Written by Jelena Umicevic Bogunovic
Originally published at https://bridgewaterlabs.com on January 13, 2022.
