Will taking a job in one sector set my career path
Hey I’ve been pretty luck last week and I managed to get 2 job offers.
One is a good gig at a massive, old school financial group. I’m talking I have to wear a suit and tie. My biggest worry though is the tech is old and my coworkers and higher ups don’t seem bleeding edge so I doubt I’ll be flexing my developer muscles. Plus they have a volleyball intramural league
The other company is contracted for 6 months with a really cool tech IoT company. Job through Insight Global, Full remote, Has amazing Glassdoor reviews, cool projects, I crushed their technical interview so I feel like I can actually contribute.
I’m leaning towards the financial group because money matters and I want to feel secure.
What I’m worried about is after 2 years I’ll be 27 and I’m scared that working as a SWE for a financial group won’t look as good so I’ll never be able to work on a project that I’m passionate about again
Any advice?
My background: staff level eng at a moderately large company with experience in both tiny scale (12 man) and massive @Google (that January layoff was so great 🫠), 7YOE in Android + 2 in iOS dev
Getting your first 2-3 years of experience under your belt makes finding jobs much easier in the future: no companies want to hire juniors and train them but most companies are looking for seniors.
Whichever software stack you start on will tend to improve your chances of getting better jobs in that sector and it’s hard to leave golden handcuffs as you get more and more experience in a field.
Were I in your shoes: I’d take the job at (shot in the dark here) Chase Bank over the job through Insight any day. I’ve loved every contractor I’ve worked with but the companies see you as an expendable resource to cut as soon as possible.
What matters most for you is years in the field. Job experience. Skills and technical experience comes from time working on projects more than anything else.
When it comes time to exit Chase Bank be sure you’ve got your algos down and your soft skills on point. Being charming in an interview is as important as your algorithmic knowledge, for better or worse. If you’re charming, have 2-3 YOE and ace your technical questions you’ll be in good shape to move into realms you find more interesting.