Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Career Advice- how much is a fun job worth? 4
Nicros writes: So I have the good fortune to be a lead software engineer in a really fun company. The culture and people are great, and while the position has some down sides (distance from home, future opportunities), in general I'm quite happy there, and I wasn't looking for a new job. Software is what this company does, and people are happy to get their solutions.
Now to make life more interesting, I have the even better fortune to have an offer to go be a software director for a new company. This company sought me out personally because of my background, which is very flattering. The pay is more than 10% better, the location is closer to home, and the people seem nice. I would get to grow a new group as I saw fit, following some regulatory guidelines.
Problem is, I just can't decide what to do, and I'm not even sure WHY I can't decide.
Maybe it has to do with leaving a job that I like (something I've never done) that just doesn't sit well with me. Maybe it's fear. I'm 40, so maybe it's just getting older and appreciating stability more.
Maybe I feel like I'm just trying to climb some corporate ladder and chasing a title, and I don't like that. But then again, I have my current position dialed in, and could use a change.
I have ambition, and my current company has made every effort to work with me to develop my career- probably more in the business development side, but that could be fun too. That career path is just more vague and longer term than jumping right into a director position, with no guarantee that it would even work out.
In the new company, software is -not- what this company does primarily, not many people would use the software, so the appreciation level would be much lower than my current position.
This is keeping me awake at night. Has anyone made a transition like this in software? How did it work out? Did you stay or did you go? Why? What's more important, the people and culture at a job, or the opportunities that job presents for future growth?
Advice?
Now to make life more interesting, I have the even better fortune to have an offer to go be a software director for a new company. This company sought me out personally because of my background, which is very flattering. The pay is more than 10% better, the location is closer to home, and the people seem nice. I would get to grow a new group as I saw fit, following some regulatory guidelines.
Problem is, I just can't decide what to do, and I'm not even sure WHY I can't decide.
Maybe it has to do with leaving a job that I like (something I've never done) that just doesn't sit well with me. Maybe it's fear. I'm 40, so maybe it's just getting older and appreciating stability more.
Maybe I feel like I'm just trying to climb some corporate ladder and chasing a title, and I don't like that. But then again, I have my current position dialed in, and could use a change.
I have ambition, and my current company has made every effort to work with me to develop my career- probably more in the business development side, but that could be fun too. That career path is just more vague and longer term than jumping right into a director position, with no guarantee that it would even work out.
In the new company, software is -not- what this company does primarily, not many people would use the software, so the appreciation level would be much lower than my current position.
This is keeping me awake at night. Has anyone made a transition like this in software? How did it work out? Did you stay or did you go? Why? What's more important, the people and culture at a job, or the opportunities that job presents for future growth?
Advice?
