We’re midway through the first quarter and the analytics
hiring market is heating up – organizations are evaluating their business goals
and hiring needs, and candidates are evaluating their career options for the
coming year. As a follow up to my blog post with
my predictions for the analytics hiring market, I decided to conduct another
“flash survey” of my connections to see what motivates them to make a career
move and how they found their last job. I’ve read studies about how Quants are
most motivated by intellectual curiosity, and was interested to see if this
would translate to their career aspirations. I received 216 responses to my quick
survey, the first question being:
1.) What would be your top two motivating factors if
you were to change jobs?
Key Insights
- Overall, salary and opportunity for growth were the top two motivators for respondents, with 47% and 44% respectively.
- Challenging work was third with 38% of respondents choosing this in their top two motivators.
- A change in company (16%) and industry (11%) were the factors least likely to inspire a job change.
Conclusions
Quantitative candidates are more in demand than ever, and if
the results of this poll are any indication the talent pool is ambitious and
hard-working. Their focus on salary is interesting, and reflects what I found
in the Burtch Works Study last year – that Quants changing jobs can expect a
14% pay increase. When compared to the average 2-4% yearly increase they can
expect if they stay at their jobs, it’s no wonder the hiring market is humming
with activity and that salary is a top motivator.
Opportunity for growth was a close second, and it seems that
analytics professionals are evaluating “promotability” when considering new
roles, compared to the opportunities available in their current organization.
For my analytics job seekers, I wanted to offer a word of warning here –
although you can realize an increase in pay, I usually don’t see candidates
substantially improve their title when changing jobs. It’s much more common to
see a candidate make a lateral title move when changing companies, knowing that
there is a greater possibility for a promotion down the line in their new
organization because it is in a growing field or expanding.
Stay tuned for my next blog when I will post the results
from my survey’s second question, “What was the source of your last job?”
