Stay or quit? Advice for beginners on how to make a career
Salary
Of course, many people think about money. Your income is an indicator of your value in the job market. If you are satisfied with your current job, but want a higher salary, do not rush to quit. First, find out what salary is considered the norm in your field. To do this, you can look through vacancies on career sites. Alas, specific salaries are not always indicated there. You may have to use plan B:
Find and apply to jobs that are similar to your (desired) position and level. Preferably with a covering letter.
Once you start communicating with a recruiter, ask them what salary is appropriate for their position. Surely you will be asked in response, how much do you expect? Name more than you currently receive:
if you overestimate it too much, they may say goodbye to you;
and if you guess close to the maximum that they are willing to offer, then the recruiter may name the real amount.
Please take note of this information.
Now is the time to talk to your manager. Discuss with him the amount of work you do and what salary you want to receive. The information collected in conversations with recruiters will help with this. Don't be afraid of being shown the door. Many companies are ready to reconsider working conditions in order to retain a valuable employee.
However, be honest in your negotiations. If you lie that you were invited to another company and were offered a cart of money, then you may be caught. The IT world is not very big, information spreads very quickly. You can ruin your reputation not just in the company, but in the market.
If now the most important thing for you is money and you decide to change jobs, then I advise you to look for vacancies with a salary that is at least 25% higher than the current one. I also highly recommend taking into account the interestingness of future tasks and opportunities for professional growth in a new company.
Boring tasks
If work is boring, it is not fulfilling. Do you feel that everything has become monotonous and monotonous? Discuss with your supervisor. Perhaps the company will find an interesting project for you that will awaken your enthusiasm. I have seen similar cases at work, and more often than not there was some kind of successful solution for everyone. For example, one of the employees has reached a high level in his profession. I wanted to become a lead, but there were no available positions in the company. And he got bored. Then we made him a mentor in the internship program. This is also a kind of team leader, and the colleague was happy to join in the new work.
Or here's another case. One of the employees was involved in commercial analytics, but he preferred product analytics. And since analysts always have an abundance of work, I began to delegate to him related tasks, in which it was necessary to dig deeper into the product funnel and study the results of experiments.
Another example: a colleague was solving routine, specific tasks, but wanted to explore more and influence business decisions. After talking with the manager, he began to solve larger problems. His involvement in work has increased significantly.
That is, you can come to an agreement with management and take on more interesting tasks.
Change of direction
The desire to explore new horizons and develop in other areas is a natural desire for many professionals. Do you feel like it's time for a radical career change? Try moving to another department first. And if it doesn’t work out, then you can try your luck in a new company. For example, one colleague moved from an advertising service to processing geo-data and analyzing supply and demand in a delivery service. Another switched to analytics at GameDev because he was attracted to the gaming industry. And the third even decided from an IT specialist to become a designer.
How to present yourself when applying for a job
So, for some reason you couldn’t or didn’t want to stay with the company and decided to find a new job? Then let's talk about how to avoid common mistakes.
Your response to a job vacancy is the first thing recruiters learn about you. And the better the impression, the more likely it is that they will answer you and be interested in you. How can you make your response as effective as possible?
Cover letter
A good cover letter should accurately match the key tasks of the vacancy. Emphasize your experience in it, preferably with some numbers that are not on your resume. Tell us why this position is right for you and how your experience and skills will help the team and the company. If you are truly interested in this job, approach this issue carefully.
And indicate your contacts in the letter. All this will greatly increase the chances of a response.
Resume
This is your business card. Make sure your resume is well-written, logically structured, highlights your key accomplishments and skills, and provides a clear picture of your career path. A good resume should have the following sections: “What I did,” “What results I achieved,” “What tools I used.”
Interview
Initial communication with the recruiter
At this stage, the candidate and his suitability for the vacancy are roughly assessed. Prepare for the conversation:
Review the vacancy again and formulate your most relevant experience for it. If anything is unclear, check with the recruiter in advance.
Ask what stages await you and roughly what you will talk about.
Make a list of questions for introductions and future interviews.
Try to find out who will be at the meeting, look for information about this person.
During the interview, ask about future tasks, work characteristics and company culture, and prepare questions that will help you decide whether to continue communicating with this company. Your questions will show your interest in successful interaction with future colleagues. And remember: any interview is not only about testing your skills, but also your opportunity to get to know the company and understand how you fit together.
The recruiter, for his part, will try to find out about your professional path and motivation. You will definitely be asked two main questions:
“Tell me about yourself and your last place of work”
Clearly describe your experience, area of responsibility and key achievements. Show how your contributions contributed to the success of projects or the company as a whole. When talking about accomplishments and initiatives, highlight not only your role and responsibilities, but also specific results. For example, if you perform tasks from a project management system (such as Jira), then prepare examples where you were able to go beyond the usual solutions and make a meaningful contribution to the project.
“Why are you considering this vacancy and what doesn’t suit you in your current position?”
Let me remind you again: be frank in your answers. Don't be afraid to be honest about your reasons for changing jobs. This will allow the recruiter to better understand your motives and offer the most suitable vacancies.
If you are leaving due to unresolvable differences with your manager, this can be mentioned. However, if at work they don’t yet know about your search, then emphasize this. Recruiters will understand this position and maintain confidentiality.
Communication with the future leader
At this stage, personal qualities are assessed: how sociable you are, whether you can join a team and company. In addition, technical interviews may be conducted here to assess your professional skills, but this is a topic for a separate article.
Effective preparation and active participation in the dialogue can greatly improve your chances of success. How to prepare for these conversations:
Think about how you see your future work and professional goals, your expectations.
Ask your manager questions to better understand the company culture, management style, and future projects. After all, interviews are when both parties evaluate each other.
Offer
If you have completed all the stages, you will be sent a job offer. But before you jump for joy, carefully study all the conditions described in it. Make sure they meet your expectations and dreams. If you have any doubts or questions, do not hesitate to contact the recruiter, otherwise it will be too late to fuss.
Once you accept an offer, wait until the official start date for your new job before leaving your current one. Does it take too long for you to receive a confirmation? Ask if everything is going according to plan, if there are any changes, if you are welcome in the new company. If you are very worried, you can write to the recruiter at least every day. He is no less interested in seeing that everything ends successfully.
When your current job finds out you're leaving, they may try to keep you. Especially if you are a valued employee and have not discussed your departure in advance. Therefore, formulate in advance what changes might convince you to stay: a desired salary increase, a change in responsibilities, or the specifics of the tasks? That is, even before negotiations, think through different scenarios: your priorities and possible compromises. Then you will feel more confident and make decisions more thoughtfully.
Conclusion
Finding a job isn't just about finding a new company. This is also an opportunity for self-realization, professional and personal growth. Good luck on this exciting journey to new professional heights!
If I haven’t talked about something important or you have questions about how to act in a particular situation, write a comment and I will be happy to answer.
