Which job would you choose?

[McCormick93]

I have a rare situation this week; 2 job offers.

A: A start-up company, 7 years old, run by a very young managment team, they do critical facilities management for technology companies. Most of their business is derived from two key clients. Mostly hands-on work, to which I am experienced and accustomed. Pay bump is 27% + bonus.

B: A large national design/consulting firm, does work for food & beverage, utility, and government. This would be traditional engineering, with calcs, specs, & plans. My impression is that they are very stable and they want to cultivate me into a leadership role. Pay bump is 17%. Commute is 3 miles!

I am a new dad and my wife stays home, making the steady job look appealing. But the startup looks so exciting!
What would you do? Thanks in advance; I have high regard for many of this group's insights.

 

[TPNY]

I would choose B if I were you. The extra money isn't worth it if you have to choose between more time with your family (the the first years are the most important). There also seems to be more risk involved with A; if you were single, it's ok, but you have a wife and child that depend on constant and stable income. Maybe you could mention your other offer to company B and they can work something else out for you.

 

[Heckler]

I would take job B, small start-up companies always seem to have "cash-flow" problems. I've worked for small companies in the past and have experienced missed pay checks, reduced benifits and limited resources for internal training. What good is more money if the company can't make payroll! The three mile commute would be perfect for going home for lunch and playing with your new born. There is a lot to be said about working for a stable company.

 

[sms]

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is...The added money is to induce you to take added risk. If you were single and had no one to think about but yourself I would say go for job A. With a new family, I would go with B. Also you should never evaluate based on salary alone, the pay difference between these two jobs could easily be eaten up in the difference in benefits. Pension? 401K matching? Health insurance cost and benfit? Benefits at a startup are usually pretty minimal.

That all assumes that job interest and satisfaction would be about the same with either job. I would endorse taking more risk for a job that you can really be passionate about!!

 

[Roadbridge]

I to would go with job offer B as for your commute of three miles, try eighty miles round trip every day.

 

[HVAC68]

I agree with the posts above. However, ponder on the following as well.

Well, where do you want to see yourself after say, 5 years ? 10 years ? What would the start-up company give you in terms of (a) knowledge and (b) good resume vis-a-vis the stable company ?



HVAC68

 

[whyun]

Option B seems to be a more stable route, however, Option A would be good depending on your experience level. If you are experienced enough where you will be "considered" a management team, why not join them? If this young management team will work you like a dog, is 27% worth it? Most importnantly, try to determine whether you are convinced that you can lead a balanced life while working for company A.

Hope you make the best decision for yourself and your family and share with us when you decide. Good luck.

 

[ajack1]

Firstly congratulations on getting two job offers, does that now give you the option of “interviewing” them?

You do not mention the commute time of job A, is it a major difference, unless driving in heavy traffic a few more miles adds little time to your journey, the first few minutes of any journey are getting the car out of the garage and on the open road.

In my limited experience of working for larger companies (I much prefer smaller ones) your ability to play company politics is as important as your skills/work and you are seen far more as a number than a person.

Whilst the start up company may ask more will they be more flexible? Taking work home and working around the babies sleep patterns may be an answer to both parties, again in my experience large companies tend to be less flexible, certainly in Europe as you cannot even appear to favour an individual.

My advice for what it is worth is get a feel for both companies and go with your gut instinct, somehow it is so often right, but whatever you decide go with it, the worst outcome is to think what if, good luck.

 

[IRstuff]

I think that I could vote the other way, but it's really something that you need to decide for yourself. You've presumably been working for the last 12? yrs and are sufficiently competent to get two offers.

How would you rate your chances at getting another job if BOTH fell through?

What is the level of your risk adverseness?

Can you imagine trying to make this jump 10 yrs from now?

How important is it to enjoy and participate in your child's early life? Or would you rather miss out on Saturday sports later on?

One the other hand, it might be easier to handle the stress and time lost now, rather than later.



TTFN

 

[McCormick93]

Very perceptive, IRStuff - 12 is correct.
Indeed this is a very critical crossroads and I must tread carefully. Thanks to all for the food for thought.
I'm off to interview the COO of company A. Never in my wildest dreams...

 

[ScottyUK]

McCormick93,

I'm in a similar position in many ways. I've got a fairly solid position with a relatively small company by my industry's standards, and have an offer from another much larger player. The offer as it currently stands is a small pay cut, but I get better benefits and have some longer term prospects for promotion which aren't there at my current position. I also get a lot more time off and paid O/T; in my current role I have no paid O/T and am working all hours of day and night.

Be careful that you don't end up where I am now if you take Option A. I'm seriously considering going to my equivalent of your Option B because I want my quality of life back. If I were in your position and had the insight of having done my current job, I would take Option B every time. Time is the most precious thing you've got with a young family. My father spent much of my childhood at work before I woke and coming home after I went to bed. If I could go back and make that choice for him, I would have seen more of him and had a materially slightly less well-off childhood.



----------------------------------

If we learn from our mistakes,
I'm getting a great education!

 

[SolderingGunslinger]

Jobs often are like stocks, the higher the volatility, the greater the rewards...and risks.

A few questions,

1) How old are you. Are you relatively fresh out of school and willing to risk a possible short-term opportunity for big money?

2) Are you a seasoned veteran with a mortgage, family and need something more than a temporarily lucrative flash-in-the-pan type job.

3) Would one job be more intellectually stimulating than the other?

4) Would one job look better on a resume' than the other?

5) Is one job a better "Stepping Stone" career-wise than the other?

6) Are you looking forward to retirement in the next few years? A big bucks job might be a good way to build that retirement nest-egg.

At my age and situation, I would probably take the lower paying long term job, however there was a time in my life (sometime during the immediately previous millennia) when I probably would have taken the more risky, lucrative position.

I remain,

The Old Soldering Gunslinger

 

[AndrewTX]

As a relatively new dad myself, I would say take option B. I work very close to home and going home for lunch to spend time with my daughter is something that cannot be replaced by money.

Take the stable job. Opportunities like option A will come again so you shouldn't think like it is a now or never choice you have to make. You may find out that you will have some opportunitities for a bit of exciting field work even with the big company.

 

[BobPE]

Assuming that you are a new(er) engineer, I would definately pick option A. The experience you will gain there will we some of the best you could ever hope to get. Now in saying that, don't plan to spend the rest of your career there. You will simply be building your professional skills for that bigger and better job.

Some of the best career building experience I received was from a small, start up firm during my early career. The skills I learned serve me to this day, some 20 years later.

Bob

 

[MintJulep]

Most of their business is derived from two key clients.

Seven years in business and only two major clients? How stable are those client companies? How much competition does company A have? What happens if one of those two clients is lost?

My impression is that they are very stable and they want to cultivate me into a leadership role

Is this something that you want? Why are you making decisions based only on your impression? With two offers you are in the driver's seat. Call them up and discuss your goals with them and how they can help you achieve them.

 

[McCormick93]

Everyone's advice is well taken, thanks much!
Here are the reasons I might have ignored much of the advice given here, and gone with company A:
-My particular skill set is very valuable to them at this time. Why not capitalize on that fact?
-I'd become one of the most senior technical professionals in a young organization, and play a large part in their success or failure.
-The markets that they serve could be poised for big growth.

Almost enough to convince me, but not quite. I went with company B, mainly because:
-Much more opportunity to learn from diversified projects and from senior engineers.
-I've been a plant ops guy for 12 years, and it's time to get exposure to the design side of things. It may be harder to change direction after another 5-10 years.
-I don't think the stress will be any less with company B, but the job will be around for a long time. I want to get the job-hopping years out of the way. I've already been burned twice by tech companies whose cash flow is either a flood or a drought.
-Lunch with my family is a big bonus.
-I was able to leverage more $$ out of B given the offer I had from A.

Thanks again for the input!

 

[crossframe]

Good call.