How to Choose a Job In Tech That’s Right For You

By Lungisa Matshoba, Co-founder and CTO at Yoco

In our fast-moving world of digital innovation, tech talent is more in demand across the world than it has ever been.

This means that if you are a smart individual who has invested in acquiring a solid Design, Development or Analytics skill set, there is a really good chance that you are one of the fortunate few who has a range of career options available to you.

This post-pandemic, digitally-driven world really is your oyster. Congratulations.

Having been where you are, I know just how exciting it can feel to be able to scroll through a stack of job options and realise that you are in a prime position to apply for many of them.

Even with that said, when I completed my studies I did not have the advantage of a largely remote world of work, so unlike you, I could not apply to work from a distance for a company I really liked.

Remote work has quite literally opened up a world of opportunities for talented tech professionals. You would at this point almost assume that all these choices should make your life easier, but sadly, it makes it even harder to make a career decision.

So, as a young, ambitious, in-demand creator, just how do you decide which job on that extensive global menu is right for you?

There’s obviously no simple answer because every person has unique job and income requirements, personal desires, and career aspirations. However, there is one piece of advice that applies to every job seeker, which is that there’s nothing quite as important for your emotional and mental wellbeing as finding a career that’s a solid fit with what’s important to you.

I’m not necessarily speaking about money, or benefits, or even quirky perks of the Google workplace variety (although all those things undoubtedly need to meet your expectations).

I believe that the one thing that makes for a good fit between an employer and employee is a shared sense of purpose.

We all want to be doing something that actually makes a difference, otherwise getting out of bed every morning and going to work — even if that only involves stumbling down your passage and turning on your computer — can quickly become soul-destroying.

Here’s the thing: money is the same, no matter where you earn it.

And with tech and data skills so in demand today, there’s decent money to be earned in most jobs in these fields. So, money really isn’t the job differentiator it once was.

What’s more, having the means to fund your lifestyle aspirations every weekend doesn’t mean a lot if you’re spending every weekday feeling like you don’t fit in with the company you work for, or you’re not actually using your talents and training to do anything of real substance.

I know that feeling too. And it’s not a great place to be. This is why, when I teamed up with a group of like-minded friends to co-found Yoco, we recognised from the outset that the success of our company hinged on the extent to which its objectives, vision, culture, and way of working resonated with the people it employed. We still prioritise this focus today, almost a decade later.

So, while the people who work for us or more accurately, with us, are getting paid handsomely for building mobile apps and payment processing systems, crafting compelling data platforms, and designing cutting-edge funding solutions, they’re also enjoying the far greater rewards that come from having the opportunity to help break down barriers to success for small businesses — creating inclusive opportunities for African entrepreneurs to participate freely in the global economy.

We like to think this purpose-driven culture, supported by an autonomous, flexible and empowering workplace, is the reason Yoco was recently the only South Africa-based company to be recognised as one of Fast Company’s Best Workplaces for Innovators, 2021.

It’s also one of the key reasons why Yoco has enjoyed exponential growth every year since we first opened our doors, and recently attracted funding of over US$107 million — which we see as evidence that savvy investors recognise our potential and buy into our vision.

Of course, success brings with it a number of challenges, not least the fact that meeting the diverse needs of an increasing customer base requires a growing business, manned by exceptional people. This is why Yoco is always looking for purpose-driven and passionate achievers to join us on our crusade to help millions of small businesses across Africa succeed and thrive.

We have very ambitious headcount goals in everything from DevOps, Software and Support Engineers to Backend, Frontend and Fullstack Developers, and pretty much everything in between.

But we’re not just looking for people with a piece of paper from a university that says they can do a job.

We’re looking for technology-minded entrepreneurs who are artists, creators, connectors, enablers and explorers at heart. People who don’t just want jobs, but want a sense of purpose.