{"id":398877,"date":"2022-01-24T17:23:05","date_gmt":"2022-01-24T14:23:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/13-tough-lessons-i-learned-switching-jobs-as-developer\/"},"modified":"2022-01-24T17:23:05","modified_gmt":"2022-01-24T14:23:05","slug":"13-tough-lessons-i-learned-switching-jobs-as-developer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/13-tough-lessons-i-learned-switching-jobs-as-developer\/","title":{"rendered":"#13 tough lessons I learned switching jobs as developer"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a256fb4ab1ce\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a256fb4ab1ce\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/13-tough-lessons-i-learned-switching-jobs-as-developer\/#1_Understand_that_the_system_is_overloaded\" >1. Understand that the system is overloaded<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/13-tough-lessons-i-learned-switching-jobs-as-developer\/#2_Network\" >2. Network<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/13-tough-lessons-i-learned-switching-jobs-as-developer\/#3_Learn_from_your_cover_letters\" >3. Learn from your cover letters<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/13-tough-lessons-i-learned-switching-jobs-as-developer\/#4_Take-homes\" >4. Take-homes<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/13-tough-lessons-i-learned-switching-jobs-as-developer\/#5_Pick_something_to_nerd_out_on\" >5. Pick something to nerd out on<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/13-tough-lessons-i-learned-switching-jobs-as-developer\/#6_Have_a_good_readme\" >6. Have a good readme<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/13-tough-lessons-i-learned-switching-jobs-as-developer\/#7_Use_diagrams\" >7. Use diagrams<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/13-tough-lessons-i-learned-switching-jobs-as-developer\/#8_Have_tests\" >8. Have tests<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/13-tough-lessons-i-learned-switching-jobs-as-developer\/#9_Validate_inputs\" >9. Validate inputs<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/13-tough-lessons-i-learned-switching-jobs-as-developer\/#10_Use_modern_tech\" >10. Use modern tech<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/13-tough-lessons-i-learned-switching-jobs-as-developer\/#11_Salary_negotiation\" >11. Salary negotiation<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/13-tough-lessons-i-learned-switching-jobs-as-developer\/#12_Lining_up_offer_timelines\" >12. Lining up offer timelines<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/13-tough-lessons-i-learned-switching-jobs-as-developer\/#13_Comparing_offers\" >13. Comparing offers<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-14\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/13-tough-lessons-i-learned-switching-jobs-as-developer\/#In_summary\" >In summary<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#13 tough lessons I learned switching jobs as developer<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n                            Toward the end of 2021, I was one of the countless tech workers who left one job and took another. The process surprised me in a number of ways. I needed to update my priors about a few things, and by writing this, maybe I\u2019ll update yours, too.<\/p>\n<p>First, I thought it would be easy. My reasoning was as follows:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I know how hard it is to hire great developers<\/li>\n<li>I know I\u2019m a good developer\u2026<\/li>\n<li>Everyone\u2019s desperate to fill roles\u2026<\/li>\n<li>So it should be a walk in the park.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It turns out it wasn\u2019t. It wasn\u2019t radically hard, but it required significant thought and energy. In the middle of the search, I got kind of pessimistic\u2026 And yet, in the end, it was successful both in terms of the total number of offers received and their dollar values.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-image post-mediaBleed aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-1378709 aligncenter js-lazy\" alt=\"developers\" width=\"620\" height=\"318\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/01\/timeline-796x408.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/01\/timeline-796x408.jpg 796w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/01\/timeline-280x144.jpg 280w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/01\/timeline-263x135.jpg 263w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/01\/timeline-527x270.jpg 527w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/01\/timeline-1536x788.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/01\/timeline-1592x816.jpg 1592w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/01\/timeline.jpg 1640w\"\/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-1378709 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/01\/timeline-796x408.jpg\" alt=\"developers\" width=\"620\" height=\"318\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/01\/timeline-796x408.jpg 796w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/01\/timeline-280x144.jpg 280w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/01\/timeline-263x135.jpg 263w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/01\/timeline-527x270.jpg 527w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/01\/timeline-1536x788.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/01\/timeline-1592x816.jpg 1592w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/01\/timeline.jpg 1640w\"\/><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<p>I\u2019ve tried to capture some of my learnings in a form that may be useful to you. Take everything I say with a grain of salt.<\/p>\n<p>Everyone\u2019s experience is their own, and this may not <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ly to you. Also the TTL on any post like this is probably pretty short.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1_Understand_that_the_system_is_overloaded\"><\/span>1. Understand that the system is overloaded<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>We said that 2020 was the year that broke every time-<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">series<\/a> chart and 2021 said \u201chold my beer.\u201d Everything\u2019s overloaded, and the job search infrastructure is no exception. In-house recruiters I spoke with had hoarse voices, were late to meetings, and occasionally confused me with other candidates. And I don\u2019t blame them. They are dealing with unprecedented pressure from their employers, while at the same time they have more applications than they can process.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s almost like a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/docs.microsoft.com\/en-us\/azure\/architecture\/antipatterns\/retry-storm\/\">Retry Storm<\/a>. Companies are overloaded with applicants, which ends up in a subpar experience. Employer latency causes applicants to freak out and put out more applications, recursively exacerbating the problem.<\/p>\n<p>My advice:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Take a deep breath. You\u2019ll feel compelled to draw conclusions based on incomplete information, choose not to. Silence from companies can be harder to deal with than rejection because it begs us to read into tea leaves. Just pause. Conclusions will come in time.<\/li>\n<li>Recruiters are tired, give them some grace. They\u2019re trying. Some of them are new on the job themselves. Others just had their coworkers quit. Try not to take it personally.<\/li>\n<li>It\u2019s ok to politely check in. As with all things, there\u2019s the right timing and dosage.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Be gracious in cases of rejection. It doesn\u2019t matter how great you are, you\u2019re not a good fit everywhere. And even when you are, misreads happen. Maybe they\u2019re making a mistake, or maybe they\u2019re saving you from one. There are more fish in the sea.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"2_Network\"><\/span>2. Network<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>I\u2019ve heard it said that most jobs are filled through networking\u2026 I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s been rigorously established, but it\u2019s the kind of statement that just feels true. When I started my search, I decided that I didn\u2019t want to rely solely on my existing contacts for introductions because I didn\u2019t want to limit myself to my known universe. I wanted to branch out. Broadly speaking this was a waste of my time. Most of the companies that I applied to without a contact never wrote me back, or wrote back too late for me to want to take the conversation further.<\/p>\n<p>I expected networking to be effective, but I was surprised by the degree. Given how overloaded the system is, networks allow you to punch through the noise and get in front of the right people. I wouldn\u2019t disregard conventional wisdom on this one. Use the networks you have.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3_Learn_from_your_cover_letters\"><\/span>3. Learn from your cover letters<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>I was surprised by how many cover letters I had to write, even with a warm introduction. I knew they wouldn\u2019t be read closely, but it required non-negligible attention from me. I didn\u2019t want my cover letters to stand out in a negative way.<\/p>\n<p>I observed a lot of variance in the effort required for me to write a cover letter. Sometimes an articulate and crisp cover letter just fell out of my mind. Other times it was like pulling teeth.<\/p>\n<p>I started recording the subjective effort required to write a cover letter. I realized that the ease with which I wrote a cover letter, indicated if the company would be a good fit. If I couldn\u2019t articulate in a cover letter why a company was right for me, maybe that\u2019s a sign that I\u2019d struggle during an interview. Maybe it\u2019s a sign that it\u2019d be hard to tell my friends and family about the company if I do get hired. Maybe it\u2019s a bad fit.<\/p>\n<p>Like with all metrics, it\u2019s imperfect! But it\u2019s something.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"4_Take-homes\"><\/span>4. Take-homes<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Take-home projects don\u2019t seem to be quite as ubiquitous as they were a few years ago, but I still had to do quite a few of them.<br \/>Often it only takes a couple of hours to meet the bare minimum requirements, but it requires significantly more effort to stand out. This presents some unfortunate systemic biases. For example, if you spend a lot of time taking care of a family member, and are doing a job search while working full-time, it\u2019s extremely difficult to find the time or energy to do take-home work well.<\/p>\n<p>A couple of companies paid me to do a take-home assessment, which I appreciated. I took it as a signal that they valued my time investment.<\/p>\n<p>Even though the system is pretty unfair and imperfect, I have some pointers for how you can stand out in take-homes that I think are worth sharing.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"5_Pick_something_to_nerd_out_on\"><\/span>5. Pick something to nerd out on<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Looking for a way to go above and beyond? Pick some aspect of the problem and take it to the next level.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe you\u2019re being asked to write a program that reads \u2018<strong>stdin\u2019<\/strong>, does some processing, and writes to \u2018<strong>stdou<\/strong>t\u2019. It\u2019d be trivial to do the work in memory, but you could decide that you want to stream the input and output so that your program supports arbitrarily large input sizes.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe you decide you want to go a step further and load test it. Perhaps you can cover an edge case in an interesting way?<\/p>\n<p>I found that take-homes often fell into one of a few buckets:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Data processing script<\/li>\n<li>UI<\/li>\n<li>Fullstack app<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When you do one, you can start to borrow little flourishes from one and use them on others. The problems are different enough that you can\u2019t copy meaningful code, but you can absolutely borrow structure, testing techniques, and sparkles from one project to another.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"6_Have_a_good_readme\"><\/span>6. Have a good readme<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Spend more time than you think on a readme. It may seem ridiculous to document a silly sample project, but it will show that you care about the job you\u2019re applying to and demonstrate an ability to write for humans.<\/p>\n<p>Talk about what you did, how to run it, and what went into your design decisions. If you\u2019re being asked to build a UI, include screenshots\u2013many of the people reviewing your code won\u2019t have the time to fire it up. For non-UI <span style=\"background-color: rgba(46, 146, 255, 0.2);\">take-homes<\/span>, include sample output. The point is that you want someone who only sees the readme to understand that you did a good, careful job.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"7_Use_diagrams\"><\/span>7. Use diagrams<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Take-homes offer an opportunity to show how you think and communicate visually.<\/p>\n<p>I used <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/monodraw.helftone.com\/\">Monodraw<\/a> to create ascii art diagrams in my code and my readme. I got a lot of comments about it from interviewers.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Absolutely love using <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Monodraw?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Monodraw<\/a> to document my code <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/kj2pImmW3b\">pic.twitter.com\/kj2pImmW3b<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Zeke Nierenberg (@_off_by_one) <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/_off_by_one\/status\/1423342594604601345?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 5, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Other nice diagramming tools could be <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/mermaid-js.github.io\/mermaid\/#\/\">Mermaid<\/a> or <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/excalidraw.com\/\">Excalidraw<\/a> (I <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/offbyone.us\/posts\/why-is-excalidraw-so-good\/\">love Excalidraw<\/a>).<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"8_Have_tests\"><\/span>8. Have tests<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Write automated tests. I believe that most companies will feel that a lack of tests reflects poorly on a candidate. Focus on tests that are readable and help them understand how you think about the problem space. Great tests read like documentation.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"9_Validate_inputs\"><\/span>9. Validate inputs<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Good software validates inputs at its perimeter. Sometimes companies will throw test data at your code that they didn\u2019t share with you. If there are errors, that\u2019s not always a bad thing, but they should be semantic and sensible. You should codify the assumptions you\u2019re making not just with tests, but with input validation.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"10_Use_modern_tech\"><\/span>10. Use modern tech<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Don\u2019t pull out old libraries and tools. Use the new stuff. That may seem intimidating if you aren\u2019t familiar with the latest tooling. Just pick tools that are modern and minimalist, of which there are many. These tools are also easier to read and understand if the interviewer also doesn\u2019t know them. It\u2019s worth the small time investment to find a cool new library rather than pulling out the same one you used on your last job search.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"11_Salary_negotiation\"><\/span>11. Salary negotiation<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>I\u2019m not an expert in salary negotiation. I\u2019ll still share the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a> framework I used.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat are your expectations for salary?\u201d<br \/>Many companies asked me about my salary expectations. I said something like this:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Look, this is an unusual time. I\u2019m actually not sure what a fair market rate is for me. I\u2019ve heard of people with similar experience being offered between X and Y, and so I expect I\u2019ll get offers in that range.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Some companies just took that information. Others expressed concern because they knew they could not make offers in the high end of my range. In response, I told them that I wasn\u2019t sure I\u2019d be getting offers that high, and that my range was intentionally large. I also told them that base salary was not the only thing that I cared about and that I would be making a nuanced decision based on many factors.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"12_Lining_up_offer_timelines\"><\/span>12. Lining up offer timelines<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>At the beginning of the hiring process, I picked a date at which point I was hoping to conclude it. Whenever I had initial conversations with companies I told them this date. Because companies got back to me at different times, sometimes this added a little bit too much pressure, and I ended up withdrawing from the process with some.<\/p>\n<p>After each stage of interview, I tried to refine my understanding of when I might be receiving an offer. Once I knew might be getting an offer from a company, I told other companies about it. I said something like:<\/p>\n<p><em>Hey [first-name]!<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I wanted to let you know that I\u2019m expecting (\ud83e\udd1e) to get an offer from another company in the middle of next week. I\u2019ve really enjoyed the process with [your-company] so far, and if it doesn\u2019t work out, I would hate for interview logistics to be the reason why. I know I said I was looking to make a final decision by x, but do you think it would be possible to move that up a little bit? Maybe we could conclude the process by y? If this just isn\u2019t logistically possible, I totally get it, and I\u2019ll do what I can to make things line up. I\u2019d really appreciate it!<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This approach worked every time and was 100% truthful. I would not recommend doing something like this if you\u2019re not expecting an offer just to create FOMO.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"13_Comparing_offers\"><\/span>13. Comparing offers<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>This is genuinely hard because predicting the future is hard. All the companies I got offers from seemed compelling in one way or another.<\/p>\n<p>I tried to assign a monetary value to everything in a spreadsheet. I quantified uncertainty (bonus, stock performance, etc) as best I could. It was abundantly clear which offer had the highest dollar value.<\/p>\n<p>I then asked myself, \u201cdo I like any of the other companies enough to pay $[amount] to work there instead of [company]?\u201d I framed it this way to myself because a dollar not earned is the same as a dollar spent.<\/p>\n<p>After telling the other companies about the highest offer, and them not being able to meet it, I took the highest offer I got. That isn\u2019t the right choice for everyone in every situation, but it was for me this time.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m a few months in, and so far I\u2019m pretty happy! I didn\u2019t feel like taking the highest offer was a sacrifice in any way. I wasn\u2019t selling my soul. I felt good enough about all the companies and that gave me permission to make it mostly about money.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"In_summary\"><\/span>In summary<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>This is a great time to switch jobs if you\u2019re feeling the itch. Companies are hungry for talent and you can absolutely do really well in a search. But, if your results will vary I think you\u2019ll find that the outcome will mirror the effort you put in. In my case, it required some real heavy lifting.<\/p>\n<p>Figure out where your effort can yield the best results and lean into it.<\/p>\n<p>Try to learn about yourself in the process. You may end up with several offers, and there could be subtle cues from your application process that could come in handy. Journal, make spreadsheets, talk to friends.<\/p>\n<p>Communicate openly and respectfully with the companies as the process progresses. Sometimes the truth is the best negotiation technique. Do what you can to make the truth work for you.<\/p>\n<p>When it\u2019s all said and done, take care of yourself. This process is exhausting. If you can, take a few weeks off.<\/p>\n<p><em>This article from<span>\u00a0<\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/offbyone.us\/\">Off-by-one<\/a><span>\u00a0<\/span>is a stream of thought about computers. The author, Zeke Nierenberg, writes about programming, education, tech-enabled thinking tools, and product development. Find the original article<span>\u00a0<\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/offbyone.us\/posts\/lessons-learned-from-a-recent-job-search\/\">here<\/a>.<\/em>\n                        <\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/lessons-learned-switching-jobs-as-developer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#13 tough lessons I learned switching jobs as developer&#8221; Toward the end of 2021, I was one of the countless tech workers who left one job and took another. The process surprised me in a number of ways. I needed to update my priors about a few things, and by writing this, maybe I\u2019ll update&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":398878,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/tnw?filter_last=1&fit=1280,640&url=https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/01\/developers-1.jpg&signature=183f9e224d5d76e738a226fb54f32ab1","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-398877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/398878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}