Select what is best for you

How to Choose Your 2nd Company?

It has been quite some time since I have been working as a software engineer, and so far I have worked with 4 companies as a full-time employee and 8 clients as a freelancer, and 1 company I left within 2 months and 2 clients I decided not to work within 2 hours of starting work.

In this article, I will share my experience of why I declined offers from some of the large tech giants and provide a framework to help you select a better company.

Be sure about what you need (Before interview)

You should be very clear before giving an interview for any company, about what you need and what kind of company you want to work with, should it be a large-size, mid-size, or startup company, product-based or service-based, etc, don’t just give practice interviews, the process for all companies are different and type of questions depends on the nature of work that company does, instead I would suggest you go for paid mock interviews, from some good online platforms incase you want to practice (There are plenty of such platforms that provide this service).

Once you are clear start applying for such companies and reach out to recruiters and other employees on LinkedIn for referrals.

Ask enough questions (During interview)

99% of the time interviewer will ask “Do you have any questions for me”, Don’t be shy ask whatever you want to ask to open your heart and tell them what you lacked in your previous company and what are your expectations, let it be money, let it be culture, let it be tech stack, let it be what kind of team you want to work with, let it be product type, its important because if you won’t tell them now, then again you have to start your job search after joining the new company and trust me this circle is never-ending, you will keep on switching companies in search of a perfect company.

No company is perfect; there will always be something missing. However, it’s essential to clarify what is must-have and what is less critical for you.

Do your research (Post interview)

Once you get the offer letter and you made up your mind to resign from your current company, make sure you do these things before you send a resignation email.

1. Go through Glassdoor ratings and comments thoroughly.
2. Connect with 3–4 current employees of the company and understand the current state of the company.
3. Connect with 3–4 previous employees of the company to understand their experiences and reasons for leaving.
4. Check out company cash flow & funding status, this can be checked online via CrunchBase or you can ask the interviewer or HR.

Here is a list of a few red flags 🔴

1. If the interviewer is talking rudely/arrogantly with you in any case it's a big no don’t go to such companies.
2. If the HR doesn’t give proper P&L details of the company, don’t go to such companies because that clearly states, the company culture is not open enough.
3. If the interviewer is not able to explain what kind of project you will be getting post-joining, it is also a big no because what will you do if the project is not challenging enough? or you don’t like the product?
4. If there is a track record of hiring and firing just to make investors happy, stay away such companies will take away your peace of mind.
5. It's fine to work once in a while on weekends but if there are reports where most of the engineers are working on weekends just to meet un-reasonable sales/product promises, then I would suggest avoiding such companies that will burn you out completely.

I joined and left a big tech giant (product-based) in 2months because.

1. I didn’t ask proper questions about projects, and I didn’t like their product after joining.
2. I wanted a work-from-home job (which was must have in my case) but I compromised because of the company's brand name, and after joining I started hating work because of traveling in Bengaluru traffic.
3. Company culture was not of my type, it was a big tech giant with a startup culture collecting tech debts over from last 6 years, with no proper code architecture.

Product vs. Service based

I don’t see any difference between an engineer working in a service-based company and an engineer working in a product-based company, as at the end of the day both are just writing code to build a product that will be used by an end user, some CEO level people say there is something called product thinking, but I never understood what is product thinking according to me an engineer is just responsible for writing a code such that it is extensible and can accommodate new requirements in future, there are product managers and other stakeholders who should be responsible for product features and all.

Please correct me if I am lacking some knowledge, these are purely my thoughts I might be wrong here, happy to learn from your experiences.

What to do if you find yourself in the wrong company? (fixing broken things)

If you find yourself in such a situation do these 4 things

1. Talk with your manager (If you can 😅) about your problems.
2. See if switching teams internally works for you.
3. Start preparing for the next interview and switch as soon as possible.
4. Pray to God to improve your situation 🙏.

That's all from my side all the best for your next milestone 🎉🎉

And remember don’t compromise, on something unless you are in a really bad situation and need a job urgently.

If you like this article and want to learn more around frontend development with personalized classes and mentorship from a seasoned professional. With 4 years of hands-on experience contributing to top products used by industry giants like Amazon, Flipkart, Urban clap, Meesho, Dominos, Swiggy, etc. I specialize in React, Node.js, TypeScript, and System design. Let’s elevate your career together! Reach out at aniket.chanana@gmail.com or connect on LinkedIn.

Any suggestions or corrections for this article are welcome. Stay tuned for more articles. Happy coding till then !❤.

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