27th
What is it going to be like when you look for a new tech job in NYC?
Thinking about looking for a new development or engineering related position in New York City right now? I have highlighted a few brief topics below that you’ll need to consider, each topic itself can be a lengthy discussion.
It’s a great time to look for a new technology related job, specifically if you’re a developer. Whether your applied skills are with an open source language, Java, Python, Ruby, PHP or a commercial language like .Net MVC your skills are in demand. If you’re thinking about the next step in your career and you’re good at what you do, it is likely you are gainfully employed. There are an abundance of companies looking to new developers and once you open up a search there are a few things you should know.
1) Assuming you know what you’re qualified for and apply to appropriate positions a well written resume will get you an interview with most of the companies you reach out to. I won’t cover the details of writing a good resume here but a resume is like writing a use case; sometimes it’s a simple description of what you worked other times it is worthwhile to detail larger and more complex processes you have worked on. What was the business need? What did you build? What technology and tools did you use? These are the three simplest questions to use when writing your tech resume. It is important to remember that anything you write on your resume regarding technology is fair game for conversation so stick to the technology you can explain in detail. It is futile to list every technology you have ever touched if you can’t discuss them in a fluid and convincing manner.
2) It is important to differentiate yourself when given the opportunity to interview with companies that are interesting to you. Despite there NOT being an abundance of talented developers on the market most companies are still in the mindset that they need to hire the top 5% of talent. To be considered you will be asked to convey your technical prowess through conversations, coding exercises and/or white boarding sessions. Computer science fundamentals are expected to be strong for any developer regardless of your language of expertise. You should be able to explain simple concepts like methods and objects and arrays as well as getting into more philosophical conversations like coupling and its impact on performance or technical questions like how a compiler works. If you cannot answer the CS fundamentals, do not bother with your resume just yet because you will not get very far in the interviews. Crack open your CS 101 books and start to Google interview questions relating to your specialty.
Once you get past the CS fundamentals you will dive in to language specific conversation relating to your specialty. These questions will be of course vary based on the type of development you are working on ORM Frameworks, Application Servers specifics or writing functions or passing values will be tackled. Make sure you know your stuff; this is where you are expected to be a subject matter expert.
3) If you get through the technical interviews. You are in good shape but cannot dismiss the importance of cultural fit. You can be one of the best developers in NYC but lack of team fit will be a show stopper. I recently heard from one of my hiring managers “He’s a really smart programmer, I could see him working at Google…. but no one on my team could imagine working with him for every day so we have to pass”. Make sure you build rapport in your interviews, this is critical.
Cultural fit does not only mean you are a nice person, it extends in to how you tackle problems solving questions you are going to face during the interviews. You will be assessed on characteristics like how work through the problem set, are you open to feedback and can you communicate and collaborate effectively while working things out. Some of my clients will even overlook a wrong answer if the way you got there aligns with the team culture.
4) You are not done yet; if you can get through all of the above you will not be in a position to negotiate an offer from a company whose technical direction, team structure and challenges are appealing to you. This is where the market and most companies are still defying supply and demand economic models and not aggressively paying for top talent. There are a number of variables that determine what your salary will be when heading into a new company but first and foremost the internal structure of compensation will dictate your offer. No one is going to bring you in and pay you more than your new boss or more than other developers who are known to them to be stronger than you based on a few technical conversations.
Ideally your job search will be about more than money and you will have the right technical challenges, culture and opportunities in front of you. There are companies out there who have to pay more to attract you to boring technology environments where the culture makes you drag yourself out of bed to go to work every day. Your evaluation of the next step in your career needs to be about what you get out of the next step you take. It is rare that the most attractive job offer you get will also be paying the most competitive salary. Accepting 10K or even 20K more today may result in diminished returns for your career satisfaction, career growth opportunities or even your personal happiness.
The good news, is that everyone is hiring there are a plethora of startups, media giants and finance companies offering great environments with interesting technical challenges. New York is at the center of a hot technology market and you can be selective as you explore the job market. You need to know, the companies you are speaking with will be as selective.
