
Ask HN: Happy at your job? Why not leave? - mutaaf
Hey HN,<p>I&#x27;m building a new team of 20 software engineers in downtown Dallas. I have recently been meeting a lot of great candidates that are happy with their current roles. I understand that, however, what if the opportunity you present is better? How can you convince them of taking the leap? Have you been in this position, what made you take the leap?
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mindcrime
Look, you can talk about a lot of "blah, blah, blah" on this, and some of it
matters to some people, some of the time. But the simple, straight-forward,
naked truth is this: offer more money. Yes, some things other than money
matter, but to _most_ people, _most_ of the time, the way to pull them away
from where they are is to increase their compensation. This really isn't
rocket science.

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AnimalMuppet
Seconded... but you _also_ need the rest of it. I'm making a lot of money,
doing work that helps people, in a (mostly) sane environment, with really good
co-workers. Yes, I'm kind of bored, so I could be talked into leaving. Not for
less money, though. _And_ not for a garbage working environment, or for co-
workers who are jerks, or for management that is insane.

~~~
mindcrime
Yeah, there are some things that are kind of the "cost of entry" like decent
work conditions, etc. But once you meet that minimum bar, I think more money
is the easiest way to lure _most_ people. Now there will always be some people
who can be lured away by something else... one good possibility would be
offering a private office instead of open plan. Hell, I'd probably take less
money just to have a private office. But I doubt everybody feels as strongly
about that as I do.

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cimmanom
I have no evidence that the opportunity you claim is better is actually
better. Especially in the ways that matter most to me, many of which can’t be
determined until you’ve been at a new job a few weeks. And then there are the
obligations I feel to my teammates (if not to the company), which I don’t take
lightly.

And hopping jobs all the time doesn’t look great on a resume. If I’ve been
somewhere 11 months and don’t hate it, taking that slightly better opportunity
is probably a poor choice.

Dream job might be another thing, but I highly doubt your open position is
anyone’s dream job. Nothing personal. Just that the odds for any given startup
are extremely slim.

Now, offer a private office or a 10 minute commute on foot or 10 weeks PTO
annually or to increase my salary by 50%, and I’ll at least hear you out.

