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Foxtek acts as a specialist Tech Talent Partner to some of the Netherlands' most exciting companies. We help to scale and strengthen engineering teams and enable companies to achieve ambitious growth goals, critical to their advancement and future success. We do this by providing a complete Talent Solution, from initial advice & hiring roadmap design, through to execution. All the while, identifying & match-making the best local Talent out there. Geographically we focus solely on the Randstad region. The Netherlands is one of the hottest destinations for Tech Talent globally and we relish the opportunity to work alongside amazing companies and the awesome teams within them. So whether you're a potential client, who needs a Talent Partner with the know-how to deliver for your development team in this challenging market, or a candidate, looking for an agency to support you with your search... we're here to help.
As my network on LinkedIn, all knows I am the Freelance DevOps specialist here at Foxtek, and I love the market that I work in! In the early stages of my recruitment career and before finding my specialist area. I worked multiple out-of-market roles and have accumulated a remarkable network of talent, so if we're connected then yes I am talking about you 😉It comes as no surprise that Freelance DevOps Engineers are in demand. The reasons are that they relieve client expenditure, decrease human error and are the key to connecting development with operations...in my opinion, they are worth their weight in gold and any good company will agree with me! Microsoft defines the term "DevOps" as the "union of people, process, and technology to continually provide value to customers.” However, it said that there are numerous definitions of DevOps, and the term was created due to the initial inefficiencies between the two teams. It is also common knowledge that no two definitions ever look the same! Who on my network can describe DevOps in the simplest terms? Comment below... 👀I get approached by my network multiple times per day asking for advice on how to transition to DevOps from their current framework...so I thought I would give brief suggestions on what you should be aware of before making the transition. Depending on what type of developer you are? You will need to understand the best tools and skills that you will need to achieve DevOps status! Here are just a few things to be aware of! Experience and Skills 🔑You will need the technical ability that manages both development and operations. Cloud Deployments 🌥Learning to deploy in different Cloud Services is vital!Choose from Azure (Microsoft Azure), GCP (Google Cloud Platform) or AWS (Amazon Web Services).Specialising in ONE of the above is generally favoured by clients and companies. Engineers that are specialised in a particular platform are very desirable in today's market. System Admin 💻DevOps Engineers are accountable for maintaining several server environments. These include Unix, Linux or windows admin systems.Automation Tools 🔧Efficiency and repeatability are fundamental for any DevOps Engineer, so you will need to understand how to use pipeline tools such as Azure DevOps, Codebuild and Jenkins.People Skills (Bonus) 🙏Equally important as a DevOps Engineer is that you have soft skills. Not only to work effectively with your client but also to deal with internal and external teams, stakeholders and customers. In several DevOps positions, it's expected that you will be able to manage a small team of developers so having these skills are vital to your success! Across the board, it's noteworthy to understand that you don't need to be an expert in all the above programs but rather specialise in one Cloud Deployment. DevOps is a culture and more of a technological transformation in the industry that is currently in demand.
Which is more fun❓Here's the thoughts of a developer I've been working with that's had experience in both 👇"When I worked for a market leader I had the satisfaction of knowing I was affecting a huge userbase with my code 👩💻My friends and ex-colleagues were impressed by my job as they'd used the product extensively 🙌However, production could be slow - the impact of features could have a huge knock-on effect and potentially damage our reputation 💭At times it felt like the company were reluctant to innovate or embrace technical/product changes spearheaded by the developers 🤚At an aspiring market leader, I've found that I'm able to impact the product and drive new features 🚀The prospect of helping the company and product grow is both satisfying and potentially lucrative with share options 🤑Even though friends/ex-colleagues haven't heard of us yet, it's exciting to be able talk about what makes us different and the impact I'm having 💪I've been able to implement some of the structure and processes I found effective at previous companies and colleagues look to me to help inform the direction ↗"What's been your experiences working for market leaders OR aspiring market leaders❓
Let’s talk about Counter Offers…With the market as competitive as it is right now, companies are doing all they can to hold on to their employees - extra benefits, pay reviews & team-building days are prime examples of this.Some companies are a little more reactive when they detect their staff are unhappy, though.The last resort for companies when an employee tries to leave, is to bring out their secret weapon:The Counter Offer.I spoke to a candidate yesterday who was looking to leave their current company due to a misalignment on vision from management, changes to structure and culture – all things out of their control.We identified new opportunities where they’d feel more alignment with the team, culture & challenges they’d be undertaking. These are all jobs which ticked the candidate's boxes.Problem solved, right?Well, no not really.I then asked the candidate what would happen in the scenario that if as they attempted to leave, their current employer matched (or slightly bettered) the offer from somewhere new.They paused and went into deep thought…They then admitted they’d likely stay put for a marginally better offer than a new challenge.Following this, we broke down how trivial the increase would be and I walked them back through the reasons they’re looking to leave. We both identified something:Money doesn’t solve these problems at all.They realised they'd remain unhappy just on a marginally better salary, and decided against this option immediately.The problems would remain the same and arguably if the company valued their employee, it shouldn't take them threatening to leave to trigger a pay increase.Counter offers can seem very appealing short-term, but in reality they just kick the REAL problems 3-6 months down the road.Does anyone agree?
Would you prefer a higher base salary or a balance of cash + stocks?What matters more to you – short-term rewards or potential lucrative, long-term payoffs?Working with a lot of start-up & scale-ups, we often see them falling short in terms of salary budget vs. some of the bigger, more established companies in the market.Whilst they can’t offer huge salaries to compete for the top talent, in some cases they can offer something slightly different in the form of Stocks / Equity.Some candidates hold this in high regard as a lucrative benefit – feeling a greater sense of ownership in the work they do and recognising the potential future payoff should a company meet their ambitious plans for success. Whilst others feel it’s an immaterial gesture and show scepticism toward shares – preferring a more guaranteed reward in the form of bonuses or additional salary.W can see the arguments from both sides;If you identify strong potential in a smaller companies’ future and business model – why not take the leap and make a short-term salary sacrifice for a potential long-term reward? But if you prefer more security and clarity around your earnings or want quicker gratification for your hard work, maybe more cash-based incentives is the way to go. What does our community think – are stocks / equity packages worth the risk? & How do you personally calculate the trade-off? Keen to understand what everyone thinks!
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