A growing number of companies are currently seeking qualified engineers, but the number of available professionals does not always meet the demand. Employers are therefore turning to their competitors to recruit the best workers. What are the major elements to consider before accepting an offer from a competing company?
When approached by companies actively seeking to hire them, engineering professionals have an opportunity to easily improve their employment contract. “To my knowledge, all my colleagues and I are approached by recruiters up to several times a week,” explains Christophe Naud-Dulude, a team manager in the computer engineering community. “However, there are a large number of generic and not very interesting offers compared to a small number of interesting offers.”
The legal components
Before taking up an interesting opportunity, some data deserves to be taken into account. Workers first of all have to check that their current employment contract does not contain a non-compete clause, a legal measure prohibiting an employee from going to work with a competitor, for a predefined period of time. “Most full-time contracts in my field include a non-compete clause for a company in direct competition for 12 months after the end of the contract,” the engineer says.
It’s not only about salary
After reviewing the offer and ensuring that it is serious, the worker generally determines whether this new job will allow him a higher salary, or at least certain benefits such as shares in the company. Unsurprisingly, recruiters put a lot of emphasis on compensation to attract employees who already have a job. “We mainly receive messages through LinkedIn including a summary of the company’s mission and the position along with a promise of generous compensation.”
However, the engineer believes that it is important not to consider just the salary, but also other important elements such as the possibility of being promoted to a more interesting position or the type of products developed by the company.
An overall beneficial decision
Accepting a position in a competing company can have many advantages, such as meeting new contacts and improving working conditions. “Above all, it’s a faster way to get a better job, rather than waiting for an internal promotion. It also lets you see how other companies work, and therefore accumulate new knowledge more quickly,” concludes Christophe Naud-Dulude.
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