!rant

What is it about a company that gets you excited to want to work for them?

They're big and have a cute mascot

1. Amount of freedom ( trust, remote )
2. Management ( bureaucracy )
3. Money ( so I can buy what I want in finite time )
4. Project ( something that’s physically moving around the planet is most interesting )

Exactly in this order.

The company that lets us be ourselves

@vane A deadly space laser? :D

Cool boss who knows what they're doing and are somehow still super cool. My last boss was like that. I miss him every day.

@alexbrooklyn that may be the case but even simple document that once you produce and put in envelope or send by email and you can’t change it can be enough.

Some sensor systems on oil rigs, boats.

Everything that need to work offline most of the time and moves around is cool.

Moves around so most likely you need to monitor some state, works offline you need to make sure it’s properly tested or you will fly around and fix it.
ex. There are people who fly around the world and fix tankers.

Space systems are on other dimension probably I won’t be able to do them in my lifetime.

Free energy drinks

@AlgoRythm We had free energy drinks, too, and pizza every friday. Some crap catered lunch too.

I really miss that place.

@Root that's what I'm talking about!

the quarters I get in me wallet

- Nice, smart coworkers
- Autonomy and respect as expert in the field of software development
- Interesting technologies and/or domain
- Passing the Joel Test
- Beverages other than water and coffee. Seriously, give me some quality of life at the workplace.
- The understanding that a job isn't slavery. Loyalty goes both ways and if you don't give me that I don't give you "me"

@vane How will you actually know about [2]. Management ( bureaucracy ) from the outside?

Questions will be typical. However, I think you will always get the answer you expect, which is mostly far from the reality in the company which you wouldn't accuratly know from the outside.

@asgs How will you know that before accepting the offer?

@amatrelan Solid! The dough is very important for sure.

@Root Why did you leave?

@AlgoRythm haha It's very typical here for most companies. C'mon, there should be more than just a tap of running water :-p

@VaderNT I doubt you'd know much about your co-workers before joining the company. How do you judge from the outside?

@Zer0day
I left for a few reasons:
1) 41.5% raise
2) ability to work remotely, which allows me to move -- i live in the desert and i hate it
3) I felt like I plateaued as a dev; the new job gave me the opportunity to work on a much larger, much more complicated project
4) The new team entirely consists of senior devs; Icould learn from them. The company also only hires senior devs, and I've never (officially) held the title. It's a very minor point, but the recognition is kind of nice.

Honestly, though: (2) is the reason I left. I desperately want to move, and my previous job would not allow working remotely. The raise is nice, but most of that will go to increased expenses, like rent or a mortgage (as right now we own the house outright). Between that, a higher tax bracket, and other moving-related expenses, we most likely won't see much of an increase in income.

On an unrelated note: you can reply to multiple people in the same comment. It looks nicer that way 🙂

Good salary
WFH some days
Good office location
Interesting and challenging work
Training / career progression
Generous holiday allowance
Lack of "red tape"
High code quality standard enforced with code reviews
Working with smart, fun and laid back colleagues

...and probably a bunch of other stuff I've forgotten.

@Zer0day during interviews mostly by asking business related questions and looking at facial expressions or tone of voice.
Same as their HR is looking at you.

Sometimes research in web about company can help.

@Zer0day basically what vane said. Ask questions, look at facial expressions and tone of voice. Be relaxed, make some jokes to see if you're in tune.

I've declined offers from companies because I found them utterly humorless. Interviews and "trial work days" just give you a first impression, but it counts.