What Student Developers Want in a Job (techrepublic.com)

Organizations desperate for software engineering talent tend to follow similar plays when it comes to attracting student developers about the enter the workforce, including offering perks like free food, beer, and ping pong. However, student developers have a much stronger appetite for other workplace elements when making employment decisions, according to a Tuesday report from HackerRank. From a news writeup: The three most important criteria students look for in job opportunities are professional growth and learning (58%), work/life balance (52%), and having interesting problems to solve (46%), according to a survey of 10,350 student developers worldwide. These far outpaced compensation (18%) and perks (11%), which they view as "nice to haves" rather than deal breakers, the survey found.

For many student developers, a computer science degree is not enough to teach them the skills they will need in the workforce, the report found. Nearly two-thirds (65%) said they rely partially on self-teaching to learn to code, and 27% say they are totally self-taught. Only 32% said they were entirely taught at school, the survey found.

Comments

When surveyed, people lie!

[petes_PoV]

The three most important criteria students look for in job opportunities are

I think you will find that this is "interview bullshit". It is the sort of answer that people think the ask-er wants to hear.

The reality is that is you offer a candidate a lower than expected "nice to have" salary, say: 50% less, they'll walk to the next employer who is offering more.

Re:When surveyed, people lie!

[khchung]

But salary is a hygiene factor: if it's lower than expected it leads to dissatisfaction, but paying above expectation does not yield a lot of extra satisfaction.

It's a LIE spread by HR departments to suppress salary increases. If it were true, all C-level executives would only be paid similar to, or maybe 2-3x, the average wage of the company, not 100-200x of it. And they won't asking for, and get, even more millions in bonus and stock options every year, plus a golden parachute, even if they drove the company to the ground.

Speak for yourself. Pay ME above expectation will certainly give ME a lot of extra satisfaction.

In fact, everyone I know at work PREFER to get a bigger bonus/higher pay as appreciating for job well done, instead of stupid appreciate cards or such cheap gimmicks.

Where is MONEY on this list?

[cayenne8]

I hear about the millennials not having enough money to move out of parents' homes, and large student loan bills......and yet, perks and "work/life" balance is at the top of the list of where they want to work??!?!

Or, are they just assuming that they deserve a high starting salary, and therefore, the "perks" are what the deciding factors are?

Geez....you work for MONEY, and if you are bitching about not having any, then that should make your first priority coming out of school.

Get out, make as much $$ as you can, gain experience, make connections...and then, start making your moves up the line where you have time to consider perks, etc.

Jobs aren't meant to be fun....otherwise it wouldn't be called work...