Read this post to learn:
- Top 7 software developer cares (#5 will surprise you)
- Questions to ask in an interview about each care
- How to research companies and see how they rate
Vietnamese developers have submitted thousands of reviews of companies on ITviec since we launched our Company Review feature in July 2016.
Here’s our list of top 5 software developer cares in viec lam.
1. Salary matters a lot
“Luong beo” or “Luong thap” is the #1 complaint on Company Review. It proves the old idiom that “You can never be too rich!”
“Low salary, low benefit and bonus.”
“The managers aren’t clear in salary and bonus.
Despite your good performance tốt, your salary may not be increased.”
“Salary isn’t really attractive for me to stay longer.”
Oddly we didn’t see any developers complain about “too much salary.” At one company that pays super high salaries, developers there did complain that “management thinks they own us since they know we’re only there for the high salary.”
Questions for you to ask:
- How often do you do salary increases?
- What is a typical range for salary increases from low (poor performance) to high (great performance)?
- How do you measure performance? Will I receive written feedback?
2. Developers HATE overtime
We were surprised that so many companies routinely require overtime without extra pay. Developers hate hate this!
We found that outsourcing companies do this more than product companies. Because outsourcing companies promise delivery dates to customers, developers at outsourcing companies often have to work on nights and weekends to meet a hard deadline even when requirements change.
They don’t pay me for OT.
“The company should care more about the staff’s OT.”
A lot of OTs, low payment for OT. It takes long time to pay for OT. OT policy for weekend is lower than normal.
Questions for you to ask:
- How many hours a week is regular working time?
- How many overtime hours per week are normal?
- Do you pay extra salary for overtime? How much per hour, and how is it paid?
Note: If a company tells you they pay for overtime, make sure your offer letter includes how they define “overtime” and how much you will be paid for overtime! If you don’t have it in writing you have nothing. See “Lies managers tell” to learn more.
3. Convenient Parking
Another surprise for us. Parking is really important.
Developers love to have covered, free parking. That way they don’t have to get wet walking to the office after they park their motorbike. And they can put on their raincoat on a dry motorbike before leaving for home in the rain.
Uncovered parking far from the office has caused developers to give poor overall review scores to companies that ranked well in other areas.
There’s not enough parking space for staff, so we have to park very far from the office.
The parking lot isn’t arranged well, so it’s very hard to take your bike out whenever you need to leave earlier.
Questions for you to ask:
- Do you offer free parking to employees?
- Is the parking covered?
- Where is the parking area? Can I check the parking area on the way out?
4. Nice Boss
ITviec Company Reviews prove the old idiom that people “Join because of a company/job but stay or leave because of a boss.”
Top complaints about bosses were:
- Not knowledgable about software development
- Too political, plays favorites on the team
- Disrespectful to staff
There’re some managers obsessed to power and evaluate their staff on their objection.
Manager is very young and lack of experiences.
Need more care from manager to their staff.
Questions for you to ask:
- Who will I report to?
- How is my boss measured?
- [If talking to your future boss] How will you measure my performance?
5. Pretty girls in the office
This one REALLY surprised us (although maybe it shouldn’t have).
A common complaint about IT companies is “Not enough pretty girls in the office!”
A positive point in several company reviews (such as for FPT Software) is “Many pretty girls in the office.”
All are cool, beautiful office, pretty girls…
Some Developer in other companies do complain about…lack of pretty girls in the office.
We should have more girls on board…
This makes sense when you consider that software developers are about 90% male.
Some ITviec customers take care to show all the prety girls in their office. Check out the “Girls of Framgia“!
Theses girls in NCT Corporation get beautiful long legs 🙂
A Chinese company did hire pretty girls to keep programmers company and motivate them to work harder. (See here)
Questions for you to ask: No suggestions from us! You’re on your own. 🙂
6. Office environment
Developers prefer companies with comfortable, clean and modern workspaces over companies with small, cluttered workspaces in old buildings. Plusses are canteens, areas for eating and relaxation.
The building is old, there’re only 2 elevators but one of which has problem in weight, it makes hard to go to upper floors.
We need more space. I’s so crowded in the office.
P/S: ITviec gave our Developers a…3 times broader office 🙂
You can see what kind of office the company has on the company’s page on ITviec. Check out the beautiful office of Cho Tot.
Questions to ask:
- Would you mind showing me the workspace for this position?
- Is there a place to eat or relax?
- Where’s the toilet? 🙂
7. Training and advancement
Chat developers like you always value learning and growing so they can go higher in their careers. Check Company Reviews to find out what employees say about learning opportunities at a company.
The quality of training isn’t good enough.
Not many technical training classes.
More soft-skill training would be nice.
Questions for you to ask:
- Would you mind describing the training for this position?
- If I do an excellent job what is the promotion path?
- Was the last person in this position promoted? What is his new job?
Looking for a new job? Read Company Reviews on ITviec before you interview!
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