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Tech Staffing

Danielle L.
In Tech Staffing

What Makes Software Engineers Stay in a New Job?

Hopping Off the Job-Hopping Train: Help Software Engineers Stay in a New Job Why do software engineers stay in a new job when so many of their colleagues move on so quickly? Compared to workers in other sectors of the economy, software engineers tend to have much shorter tenures at the companies they work for. One survey of large tech companies in the San Francisco Bay Area found that almost half of software engineers left their employers within two years compared to other professions in which workers stayed with their companies for approximately 4.2 years. While many tech employers have accepted high turnover in their software engineering corps as a fact of life, they would still prefer to keep high-performing folks on the team as long as they can. Keeping good employees longer is beneficial because recruiting, onboarding, and training new hires proves a costly and time-consuming process. As such, companies need to understand what makes software engineers stay in a new job once they arrive. Here are four reasons why these talented individuals will stay with an employer rather than looking ahead to their next gig. Competitive Salaries Can Make Software Engineers Stay in a New Job Software engineers have been, are, and are likely to remain in high demand. The best among them will catch the eye of the best tech recruiters and other employers who will make affirmative overtures to lure them away from their current jobs even if they weren’t necessarily looking for new opportunities. Everything else being equal, the simplest way to get someone to leave their present position is to offer them more money. Even without an offer, software engineers are aware of what the market will pay for their skills and talents. Employees are more likely to stay put if they know there aren’t necessarily greener pastures awaiting them. Recognition and Acknowledgement Money is a great motivator for software engineers, but it’s not the only one. People don’t like being taken for granted or feeling like their hard work goes unnoticed. Given the high turnover in the industry, shiny new hires can frequently become the focus of attention, leaving longer-tenured engineers to toil in obscurity. Engineers who feel valued, who receive positive reinforcement, accolades, or acknowledgment for their efforts and accomplishments, will feel much more satisfied in their roles. That satisfaction will not only make them more likely to stick around, it will likely increase performance and productivity as well. Growth and Challenges Boredom and stagnation are insidious enemies for individuals like software engineers. People who are intellectually curious and crave new challenges can quickly lose their enthusiasm in a position that does not provide them with enough stimulation and opportunities for growth. Software engineers who come into work knowing they may face something different, have a new problem to solve, or engage in tasks that expand their skillset will continue to look forward to coming into work the next day, and the day after that. Similarly, companies that provide software engineers with policies and programs focused on their continued professional growth will feel a sense of loyalty and gratitude to an employer clearly invested in their employees’ success. Teamwork and Values Nobody wants to work with or for jerks. Nobody wants to attend meetings or collaborate on projects with people who are unpleasant to be around. And nobody wants to be at a company that has or allows a toxic work environment. All the money in the world may not be enough for individuals who dread their colleagues, bosses, and their workplace in general. Conversely, companies that create a sense of camaraderie and shared purpose and that take affirmative steps to build a positive company culture will find that they develop a workforce that is happy, motivated, and committed. It can be much harder for a software engineer to pick up and leave a place for which they have a legitimate fondness. GTN Technical Staffing: Connecting The Right Tech Talent With The Right Tech Companies Whether you are looking for temporary, contract-based work or a permanent position in the tech industry, GTN Technical Staffing can help connect you to the job you want. As the leader in technical staffing, we are sure to find the right fit for you. Contact us today to learn how we can help you navigate an ever-changing tech employment landscape. Read More on Tech Job Recruiting Information Technology Virtual Interviewing in a Post-Pandemic World 6 Tips for Acing a Video Technical Job Interview How to Get What You Want: Salary Negotiations 101  

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steadfastdev
In Tech Careers, Tech Staffing

Hot Coffee Here: A Look At Contract Java Developer Opportunities

contract java developer

Why Java?  As a source for companies and job seekers around the world, it doesn’t take much for us to keep tabs on the jobs that we see in the highest demand. One of the most consistently demanded jobs is contracted Java developers. It’s for this reason that we wanted to give you an inside look at why we believe this job is so highly sought after.  Stick with Java Coffee Java and computing Java actually do have something in common. Have you ever heard the old saying: if it ain’t broke, dont fix it?   In a world of fancy energy drinks, coffee is the classic that works for everyone. Java as a programming platform in many ways is universal. It may not be the fanciest, but it gets the job done. The greatest component for Java’s survival in the marketplace is its compatibility. It has been around so long due to its relative uniformity across all systems. While it may not be the most efficient type of programming, the coding language provides flexibility. Whether the code was written 25 years ago when the computing platform was first used or 25 min ago, it runs the same. In a world of rapidly changing technology, that kind of reliability is hard to find and hard to beat.  The Java Job Market Much of the opportunity we see for this skill is contract work, each job requiring something a little different. Most contract jobs span anywhere from 4-8 months in length. We find that the longer a programmer works with a client the greater the chance of rehire and follow up in the future. Being skilled in this department provides ample opportunity now and later down the road.  Being the Best Barista While Java often gets written off as the older language, updates are being made often so that it can do all the same things that other programming languages do. Staying up to date with each update is crucial. While many of the updates seem to be incremental, being fluent in each update can be a differentiator in contract work, as the people you are appealing to often are not as versed as you in the language.  Java Spring 5.0 Framework supports a wide variety of applications and could be helpful in solving several client scenarios. Spring focuses on the “plumbing” of enterprise applications so that teams can focus on application-level business logic, without unnecessary ties to specific deployment environments. The innovation was brought about nearly 17  years ago, but recent changes have made it more user friendly and more helpful across a variety of platforms.  It would also be helpful to master the art of creating Android apps with Java. With mobile app downloads reaching nearly 20 billion a quarter, providing a piece of this market share to your clients would pose as a benefit. For more opportunities and other industry advice, visit us to discuss your future career today. Also, keep tabs on our job list, we are constantly updating it with your next project.   

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steadfastdev
In Tech Careers, Tech Staffing

You Don’t Need a Recruiter

With today’s technology there are online job boards that allow you to search all day and night for a job that interests you. Many of them will even notify you when they think they have one you would be interested in. Sounds perfect, right? And in the technology world, no one needs to tell you how well a computer can think like a human. It’s okay to laugh at that last statement because you know better than anyone that even the smartest technology boils down to a series of numbers. While technology has taken over many aspects of our world, and continues to improve everyday, there are some things that just require human contact.  Computers need someone at the helm telling them what to do–it’s simply the way the world works. Relationships A recruiter will take time to understand what you want out of a career. Often recruiters know the right questions to ask to make you think through what you truly want.  You may think you want to shift gears completely and take on an entirely new occupation.  However, maybe your desire to change jobs has less to do with what you are doing and more to do with the company and culture you are doing it for.  The impact your work community has on your daily satisfaction can not be understated.  Disliking your boss or coworkers can easily translate into disliking everything about work, including your duties and responsibilities.  Consider finding a job at an organization that is more aligned with your values and character traits. This may be achievable by changing the size of the company you work for. While there is not a blanketing list of characteristics that every big company has, nor a list for smaller ones, there’s no doubt that the culture does change with size.  A recruiter, especially one who has been in the area and field for some time,  knows and understands the reputation of the companies around them.  Many companies do exit interviews. For many recruiters, the initial interview with you will cover a multitude of the same topics as the company exit interview.  For example, you may be asked why you left, what you liked about your position, compared to what you didn’t particularly enjoy. All of these, and many more, paint a picture of a company, providing the recruiter insider information on what working for that particular company looks like. What may not have worked out for one person, may be perfect for another. What a Recruiter Needs A great recruiter wants to understand what a candidate wants and needs for career satisfaction, compensation and what is needed to maintain balance within the candidate’s family. However, he can only understand what you allow him to. There is no possible way that being 100% transparent with your recruiter could hurt you. He wants both you and the client to be successful together, and the more he knows the better.  Even if you are just exploring your options and haven’t quite decided to jump ship yet tell him that. It may change the tone of the meeting to more of a pros and cons discussion. While if you are dead set on leaving, the recruiter won’t waste your time convincing you to stay or negotiate pay.  Recruiters are in the business of efficiency. The goal is to save you the time, energy, and hassle of the exhaustive process of job hunting as well as to have a sounding board for what your next career step could be. At the end of the day transparency helps them help you.  Reputation If you think of recruiting from a business perspective, a recruiter has done a job well done when they have a satisfied customer, the same as you.  The finished product is your satisfying career.  A word from our recruiters: “A great recruiter wants the candidate to achieve long-term success in the role he/she is placed, because that is how clients judge the recruiter. We want our clients to be happy. Happy employees do amazing work.” So you may think that you don’t need a recruiter or that you can explore your options all alone. And that may be true. But when something comes up at work that you don’t know how to handle, you go down the hall to the guy who is an expert because he knows how to handle it. When working on a project, everyone on the team has a task and a job. No one tries to handle the whole thing by themselves (or maybe they do and that’s why you want to leave).  Recruiters are in the business of you. They are on your team and they want to help you. So rely on your team. You could do it yourself, but you will likely have a better finished product, or in this case, career,  if you use your team.   

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steadfastdev
In Tech Staffing

Benefits of a Self-Insured Insurance Plan

Insurance: A Love/Hate Relationship Insurance. We all love it and we all hate it. It’s a necessary evil that is a pain to deal with until it saves the day at the doctor’s offices. At times, it may feel like you have very few choices but GTN has found a unique way to expand its employees options. These days, the benefits a company offers could be a selling point to get the best people for your company.  Every family and household is unique so finding a plan that optimizes flexibility is the best way to make the benefits you offer a key part of your hiring operation.    What makes it different  At GTN, we offer our employees insurance through a Self-insured medical plan. You may be thinking that this is just a glorified way of saying we offer no insurance benefits, and our employees are on their own. Quite on the contrary, in fact, self-insured medical plans are a way for companies to provide flexible coverage to its employees. GTN utilizes the Cigna PPO, or Preferred Provider Organization and a third party administrator helps facilitate the insurance proceedings with Cigna.    We are part owner of a captive Insurance company, which allows us to help our employees find the best care for the most cost effective price, without all the red tape that traditional insurance companies put into place.    Why it works GTN was looking for ways to make insurance more flexible for each of our employees. We understood that each individual and family has unique needs and by including this in our incentive packages we are more competitive in hiring.     Benefits Something that is a hassle for everyone in insurance is communicating a common knowledge of which doctors are in network. While there is a group of in-network providers, our employees are allowed to see who ever they want. Providers not within the Cigna PPO network won’t be covered the same and may include additional costs to the patient.  But this flexibility is something that we as a company and as individuals value.   While it may take some time to get things sorted out with the office, Co-pays are often lower than most. In one example from one of our employees, an x-ray and doctors visit went from $284 to $58 dollars. That’s an impressive savings that proves how your own employees may benefit from this. Because this plan is not as conventional as other insurances, it may take a little more work on the patients end to ensure the coverage is used to its fullest potential. In the example used earlier, the doctor’s office had to call BPA in order to work out the Proper co-pay. If this little bit of extra work, doesn’t scare your employees or office administrator the savings and flexibility will be worth it.    Pros Cons Provides coverage flexibility Premiums/Coverage  Co-Pays are lower Some Doctors offices are confused by the third party administration No deductibles for specific services Not all services, such as acupuncture or weight loss programs, are covered Prescriptions are covered The patient is responsible for covering the difference if brand name prescriptions is prefered You don’t need a referral to see a specialist The service may not be covered   Your Options Above is a list of some things your office should consider before making a switch. Of course it’s not comprehensive, but if it seems intriguing, you should give self-insured plans a closer look. As part of the Cigna family, the items above are only examples of what your company could benefit from they are not universal offerings.    Why It Matters With all that being said, it is important to remember the benefits you offer can be an important component of attracting and retaining top talent. When your compensation packages make the employees feel truly valued, it is easier to keep them away from poaching competitors     

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