top | item 21474918

It costs $1,800 to get an engineering job offer

23 points| justingreet | 6 years ago |beamjobs.com

12 comments

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BlameKaneda|6 years ago

"Based on some rough calculations (which are detailed below) it costs the average software engineer $1,814 and 1.7 vacation days to get one job offer."

That is, unless you're currently unemployed.

justingreet|6 years ago

Fair enough. In that case, it still takes time but I imagine the opportunity cost isn't quite as high.

socketnaut|6 years ago

Calculating opportunity cost for time spent based on wages is pretty meaningless for salaried jobs. I might make $X/hr at my day job, but I don't actually have the ability to work an extra hour and get an extra X dollars.

mewpmewp|6 years ago

These are funny thoughts actually. I have full-time job and also do freelancing. The last part is pretty flexible. I can always do more work and later bill it. This makes everything I do in life computable in monetary terms. I watch TV for an hour? It costs me 100usd - example, not my actual hourly rate. And I do not really get tired of work or coding, I just really want to watch that TV show. But it is weird to think that it costs me 100usd. This aspect actually made me hire a cleaning service and always order food in, because I can spend the time working instead of cooking, shopping and cleaning. Which I of course enjoy more as well. Not only is it temporary financial gain, but any extra time spent coding will be an investment towards mu future to make me a better coder. Of course it is a double edged sword. Hanging out with my girlfriend? 500usd. I also spent my last vacation fully freelancing. Of course I have goals to achieve financial indepence asap though.

scotradamus|6 years ago

1800 dollars for a 5+% salary bump, a new work you're interested in, and perhaps a shorter commute. Seems worth it.

thorwasdfasdf|6 years ago

Wow: "An average developer will need to do 12 phone screens (the first stage of the interview process) to get one job offer"

That means a lot of companies are leaving a whole lot of talent on the table.

justingreet|6 years ago

Couldn't agree more. The first interview is usually with a non-technical person (like HR), so at the first round candidates are often rejected for things that have no real bearing on job performance.

asjw|6 years ago

Ah! The joys of a labour system where everything is about money!

It costs me nothing to get a new job and if I have to move for an interview I could even ask a refund for the expenses...

rdtwo|6 years ago

That’s probably a low figure but yeah