Much of my 15 year software career, I've worked as a contractor, which allowed me to work at many different companies. I can tell you these things:
- take a position that you know you can last at least a year at; recruiters and executives tend to dismiss resumes with too many short term positions regardless of quality of the candidate.
- 120 miles each way on a commute vs a walk to work means you're losing up to 4 hours a day...that's an amazing amount of time, permanently and unproductively lost. You want to become an expert on a new technology? You just received 4 hours of "paid" training each day to do it.
- contrary to popular belief, being out of debt is a good thing.
- while having a broad spectrum of skills/technologies is useful on a theoretical level, hiring managers these days are usually seeking highly skilled and specialized workers that can fill specific needs. My highest rates have occurred when I moved from database generalist (dba) to db specialist (db developer, db architect). However, what happens is, as you move up the food chain, the overall number of positions decreases but the quality/pay of each position increases.
- quality of work environment IS a critical component of your decision AND is only valid (IMO) when the other factors of pay, project quality, commute, and work/life balance issues are in alignment. FYI, I just took a new position where I got it all - short commute (can even bike to work), exceptional work environment/small company, excellent work/life balance (no more friggin 24x7x365 ecommerce projects!), and an acceptable pay rate, and the technology and job description/responsibilities are right in my sweet spot. The pay slightly less than my prior job but still a very good salary.
- lastly, a very critical item: financial stability of a small company. You must do due diligence on a company you contemplate working for, and many will not divulge those numbers. Good, solid firms will divulge enough to give you a sense of where they're at, flaky firms will obscure and deflect such inquiries. It is your responsibility to ask those questions. How great is an opportunity if your paychecks bounce or the company shuts down a month after you start? I LOVE working at smaller companies and the risk is higher there, so the management must be excellent (you should be able to review their backgrounds online). Ask about indebtedness, cash flow, profitability, number of outstanding shares (if appl), etc.
You asked a great question, one that hits home for essentially every tech worker.
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Much of my 15 year software career, I've worked as a contractor, which allowed me to work at many different companies. I can tell you these things:
- take a position that you know you can last at least a year at; recruiters and executives tend to dismiss resumes with too many short term positions regardless of quality of the candidate.
- 120 miles each way on a commute vs a walk to work means you're losing up to 4 hours a day...that's an amazing amount of time, permanently and unproductively lost. You want to become an expert on a new technology? You just received 4 hours of "paid" training each day to do it.
- contrary to popular belief, being out of debt is a good thing.
- while having a broad spectrum of skills/technologies is useful on a theoretical level, hiring managers these days are usually seeking highly skilled and specialized workers that can fill specific needs. My highest rates have occurred when I moved from database generalist (dba) to db specialist (db developer, db architect). However, what happens is, as you move up the food chain, the overall number of positions decreases but the quality/pay of each position increases.
- quality of work environment IS a critical component of your decision AND is only valid (IMO) when the other factors of pay, project quality, commute, and work/life balance issues are in alignment. FYI, I just took a new position where I got it all - short commute (can even bike to work), exceptional work environment/small company, excellent work/life balance (no more friggin 24x7x365 ecommerce projects!), and an acceptable pay rate, and the technology and job description/responsibilities are right in my sweet spot. The pay slightly less than my prior job but still a very good salary.
- lastly, a very critical item: financial stability of a small company. You must do due diligence on a company you contemplate working for, and many will not divulge those numbers. Good, solid firms will divulge enough to give you a sense of where they're at, flaky firms will obscure and deflect such inquiries. It is your responsibility to ask those questions. How great is an opportunity if your paychecks bounce or the company shuts down a month after you start? I LOVE working at smaller companies and the risk is higher there, so the management must be excellent (you should be able to review their backgrounds online). Ask about indebtedness, cash flow, profitability, number of outstanding shares (if appl), etc.
You asked a great question, one that hits home for essentially every tech worker.