“We are pleased to offer you the job”. When hearing this, one can only have two reactions: either you’re super happy and everything goes smoothly with your new job; either you’ve been offered a job by several companies and you have no idea which one is best for you.
No need to worry, we’re gonna go through this together.
ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS, BEFORE AND DURING THE INTERVIEW
First step, before the interview, is to ask yourself what is THE ideal job for you:
On a tech side: what function? What stack?
Regarding the company itself: what kind of company? What are your favorite fields and the ones you want to avoid? What kind of manager would you feel most comfortable working with?
Have a look at Clemence’s article on how to define your project: https://www.urbanlinker.com/le-webzine/developpeur-comment-definir-votre-projet-avant-l-entretien-17
During your interviews, you must try to get as much intel on the job, missions and outlook, but also on the company itself, its evolution and the challenges to come. If you forgot to do so during the interview, don’t hesitate to call and ask for missing information: to get the perfect job for you, no question you have must be left unanswered.
Now here’s the trick: sort the criteria you value the most in a table (see below), and compare each point for the different companies.
ANALYZE THE STACK, MISSIONS, CHALLENGES, SALARY & OUTLOOK OF THE JOB
When considering a company, several points must be compared to your dream job. First: does the tech aspect matches your expectations? If you’re offered a Java project when your heart beats for PHP, you risk drifting away from the languages you enjoy the most.
Regarding the missions and technical challenges: is it a project that you’ll have to build from scratch, or are you joining on an existing project? You may think that a project from scratch will be more challenging, but switching versions can also be a beautiful project: new languages, scalability, Big Data, machine learning… All the more reasons to ask the person in charge what will the technical roadmap aim for in the following months / years. Another key element: are best practices applied? (integration and continued deployment, unit testing, Agile methodology…)
Looking forward, what it the career outlook offered to you? Is it going to become a managing job, or will you focus on project management? Even if you’re not exactly sure what you want to do in the next 3 to 5 years, it’s important to join the companies who will allow you to follow different paths.
Last but not least, salary: when offered a certain salary, you should always ask whether it’s a fixed salary of if it’s a package (including basic salary and variables). Other perks may exist: profit-sharing (especially in big groups), BSPCE (in startups), company canteen or luncheon vouchers… According to French law, the employer must pay for 50% of your public transportation passes, and 50% of your mutual health insurance. Some companies choose to offer more, or to offer different perks: nursery, company car…
The executive status can also be discussed: it offers a better reimbursement when you retire, and you can be paid daily of hourly, depending.
COMPANY INSIGHT
There are many questions you should consider when trying to figure out where to work: startup or major group? Where is it located (would you be willing to move)?
Always check the financial stability of a company before applying: simply go to this website and check their revenue. Also read about it on Google News: this way, you will learn about any fundraising
What are the challenges to come: technical / business oriented? Where is the company going? How is it organized? How many people are currently working in the department you are applying to? Who will you be working with? What kind of management is used: close / horizontal / flat or hierarchical? Don’t hesitate to ask questions to your future manager during the interview on his/her management type.
Finally, one of the most important aspect is the work environment & atmosphere. You can obviously use your own impressions when coming in for the interview. But there are also helpful websites when trying to get information on the employees’ feedback: Glassdoor, Meilleures Entreprises, or even their Facebook / Instagram / Google account.
I can tell you’re a bit confused, so I prepared your sorting table for you. Once you have given an order of priority to each line, you can start filling the cases, until one of the jobs stands out from the crowd. Congratulations, you made it! Now you know who you’ll be saying “yes” to!
