Behind every single move towards a new role lies slightly different motivations and reasonings. Before committing and signing your contract for the next opportunity, it is essential you look back at those original motivations which drove you to search for a new role in the first place. From our conversations with our candidates, we have identified the below as the key motivations and reasons people consider when looking for a new tech job:
- Developing with new tech or inability to integrate new tech into current employer.
- Desire to increase salary.
- Lack of motivation and need for new challenge.
- Opportunity for further career progression.
- Losing faith in the project.
Developing with new tech or inability to integrate new tech into current employer
Technology, in particular the introduction and evolution of new tech, is a subject which mutually excites all in the tech community. Whether you are a Full Stack Developer, Product Owner, BA Analyst, Head of Development or CTO; you will naturally be driven and excited by learning more about technology. With this in mind, it’s equally common for our team to hear that candidates are searching for a new role due to the lack of opportunity to introduce new languages, frameworks or tech. Typically, the dependency on legacy projects to continue business operations becomes more pressing than the requirement to upgrade such systems. It is not unusual for this to lead to a lack of motivation in development or software teams. As more and more businesses adopt modern IT practises and methodologies, candidates are becoming more attracted towards implementing modern tech. Tech leaders, such as Microsoft, are constantly updating their applications and frameworks to enable a fuller development experience and improved end results for microservices and cross platform needs. Talent across the IT community have witnessed this transition across the Microsoft (.Net) stack and are constantly searching for the opportunity to join a business who implement the newest, best practises.
Desire to increase salary
One of the most common reasons we uncover with candidates searching for a new role is the desire to increase their salary. In what is an exciting and modern industry, the technology environment contrasts traditional recruitment markets by offering strong salaries based on knowledge and capabilities alongside experience. This has seen Grads & Juniors quickly progress on the career ladder as businesses are valuing more and more the expertise and value that tech candidates provide. As the demand for IT talent continues to rise, those who are searching for a new job in tech are at an advantage due to their niche skill sets. Business are becoming more digitally focused, more eCommerce reliant, more user tailored and more tech driven. This requirement ensures that you; as a Web Developer, Software Engineer, Development Manager and more, are in demand. It is important as a candidate to always remember your worth and to stay up to date on the going market rate for your niche skills. We often discuss opportunities with candidates who feel they are being underpaid for their skill set and are delighted to hear how our clients value their talent (and equally offer strong salaries!).
Lack of motivation & need for a new challenge
Across the technology industry, it is much more common for individuals to change their job and move to a new business. In fact, research has demonstrated that the average length spent in a role across Software & Web Development is two years. This contrasts with the wider employed population who remain in a position on average 4.2 years.
Opportunity for further career progression.
The wonderful world of IT and its limitless potential, immediately alludes to the endless possibilities of progression and personal development. However, what happens when you are stuck in a role with zero opportunity to move up? Leaving for a new position on the basis of progressing your career is one of the most common reasons we find our candidates leave their roles. Let’s say you’re the Senior Developer in a back end development team, and you are dreaming of becoming a Lead Developer and managing a team. How is this possible without your current Lead Developer leaving? How long may that take? Completing your project and looking for a new role with the chance to move into the role you’ve been longing for is a sure fire way of ensuring you gain the exposure and opportunities you need to progress your career.
Losing faith in the project
As an IT professional, you fall into a niche community who hold skills which businesses across the globe are searching for. The ability to create and build products and experiences has become one of the most required skills for businesses in their attempt to grow their positions. A common struggle we discuss with IT candidates when they search for a new job is they have lost faith in their current project; whether that be a change in management or leadership changing the development direction, migration to different technologies for which you have no exposure or interest, failure to implement modern principles and methodologies, or simply not enjoying the real life implications of your code. Thankfully, you as a technology candidate are able to come to these realisations and utilise the need for your IT skill set in a new, exciting, modern, methodology implementing business.