10 things to check when looking for a new job
As a follow-up to my previous post, I will try to explain how I try to find the right place to work.
In 14 years of working as an engineer and designer, I have switched jobs 9 times, not counting consulting. After all these different places and projects, I have found only 4 where I was really happy. This unbalanced ratio has occurred because of what I call a bad match between the company and employee.
When looking for the right match, it’s very tempting to emphasize compensation, but that has never worked out very well for me. I’ve quit jobs that paid relatively more than what I make today, and I’ve seen many friends do the same.
If money is not the best motivator, what is? It’s a combination of many things, depending on different stages in your career.
To improve my chances of finding a good match, I came up with a list of 10 things that I look for. It’s important to remember that a good match changes from person to person, but the goal is always the same: find a company that not only needs you but also where you are excited with what they are building and how they are building it.
The list
Each of these items deserves its own blog post, but for now I’ll keep things short. I’m also listing them in order of personal priority.
1st — Sector
Things get much easier when you are trying to solve a problem you care about. That gives a significant boost to motivation and help you endure the hard moments. For that reason, I always try to find companies in sectors I’m interested in.
2nd — Autonomy
Autonomy is next, and there are 5 forms of autonomy: how, where, when, with whom, and what I work on. Each of these varies in importance, depending on what I’m looking for at the moment.
3rd — Size
The size of a company is important for how everything works. Some people like stability, well-defined roles, and a clear process, but others prefer the opposite. I’m a generalist with experience in early to midstage start-ups, so most of the time I aim for companies with fewer than 50 people.
4th — Managers and leadership
I consider the experience of the founders and managers to be very important. When considering new jobs, I spend a significant amount of time digging through the leadership’s LinkedIn and Twitter accounts or blog posts. I look for experience in the area they are trying to solve problems and also managing teams of different sizes.
5th — Process
The process regarding how things are done is certainly important. I usually ask certain questions: Do you have daily stand-ups? How do engineering/product report to the rest of the company? What is the process to get a feature out? How do you do code reviews? Answers to these questions tell me whether or not I will like the day-to-day.
6th — The team I will be working with
I usually check everything online about the people I know I will be working with. That may sound creepy but is extremely helpful. For designers, I try to find their portfolios online, and for engineers I try to check their Github accounts, talks, and posts.
7th — Tech stack & code quality (if applying for engineering)
This one is particularly hard to have access to before interviewing, but the code says a lot about a project. Just by checking the code you can see how the software grew, the skills of the first engineers, how often people change jobs, dogmas vs. pragmatism, and many more.
If the code is really bad, I only accept the offer if I feel the team knows about it (especially the managers). That means things could improve over time.
8th — Workload & time off
I usually ask certain questions, for example, “How many days off have you already taken this year?” or “How often do you have to work on weekends?” It also helps to ask if people have a family or hobbies outside of work. If you get the sense that everyone is a workaholic, that may not be the place for you (depending on what you prefer).
I prefer places with flexible time off and a reasonable workload. If I decide to work during the weekend, that should be my personal option, not because the managers are pressing.
9th — Compensation
You could have the best job in the world, but if you can’t pay your rent, you’re not going to stay for very long. Compensation has to be at least close to what the market pays; if not, it has to give you something else, for example, flexible vacation, a remote culture, or a high-equity package.
Equity is a complex subject. I always prefer more money than equity unless the founders have a really good track record, but that still doesn’t mean much.
10th — Funding / Revenue
Finding out if the company is already profitable or if it at least has enough money in the bank to survive for a few years is important. When money starts to run low, things usually get pretty ugly. I could still consider a job in a place that’s not financially stable if I’m looking to be a partner or to help the company start.
Extra — a company’s future plans
Some places just want to stay small and create a profitable business, while others might be looking for an exit or IPO. Each of these places will have different challenges. It’s up to you to know what you like best.
Conclusion
Today, I’m quite happy with my work (we are hiring by the way), and having a well-defined list of things to look for definitely helped. I also use that same list as a way to evaluate how satisfied I am when I get on the job, but that’s another topic for the future.
The main challenge with job hunting is how hard and time consuming it is to find all the right information. The process also feels very one-sided, with companies asking the questions. Sometimes, you only have a chance to ask the right questions yourself once you get an offer. Unfortunately, all this work and time make the range of search pretty small, so be aware of that and pick places to apply to very carefully. Don’t apply to 100 different companies you never heard of because your chances of being happy can be quite slim.
I’m planning to cover each of these items on the list in more in-depth posts in the near future. So, please follow me on Twitter, and I’ll keep you posted.
