Tell me which job to take, please!

[DecisionsDecisionsWWYD]

I'm in the fortunate position of having been made two job offers but I'm really stuck as to which is best. I'd be grateful for opinions!

Salaries are the same
Commute is the same
Stress/demands will probably be the same.

Job 1 is exactly what I'm doing now, for the same type of large, established organisation I'm at now, at the same level of management. I know it, it's familiar, but there's an element of "sexy" because it's a cool brand and I'd be really proud to say I work there. There will probably be opportunities to move roles and progress in the next 2-3 years. It's the "small fish, big pond" job.

Job 2 is the small pond, big fish job - a step up in seniority but at a small firm - a scale-up, so probably not quite as precarious as a start-up but definitely some risk. The role is in a more specialised area and will open up a lot to me; the title and experience will look great on my CV. It could give me better career prospects in the future.

Which one should I accept?

It depends what you want. Job 2 will be more stress. I just moved from a large organisation to a small one and its a lot leaner. There is a lot of passing things to me. There isn't x,y,z resource, as no one made it yet, but we are working on it etc.

Good point, @MistySkiesAfterRain . . . although actually, part of the appeal of the job would be going in at the beginning, setting strong foundations etc., rather than trying to fix broken legacy stuff. But yes, could be stressy . . .

Although, the big corporate culture is quite stressful too. So, stress, but different types.

If you can absorb the pressure and the uncertainty I would take Job 2. If you need the stability of the income and the big department take option 1. I would worry that I would become bored with 1 and wish I had taken 2.

But … I am currently doing 1 and loving it, partly because I came from 2. I loved 2 as well, learnt so much, but then just wanted a different challenge.

I'd learn so much from Job 2, @Bloomingpeony - I'm wondering if I do that, I might be able to ultimately go back to a bigger firm with an even more senior role. So I'd see it as an investment - go in to the smaller firm, work as hard as I can and do it really well, and then scale up.

Yes, and I found that doing 2 has given me more options in terms of career direction. So the job I am in now probably wouldn’t have been open to me before doing 2, I was hired almost entirely on transferable skills.

Job 2.

More information would be useful:
(1) what is the ownership of each company? Is the big one publicly listed? private equity? family owned? is the small one family owned? owned by the boss? other?
(2) what is the company culture like at each of the two companies? What is seen as important and as the "way things are done here" ?Look on Glassdoor, look at customer reviews, ask people you know, maybe even find people on LinkedIn who used to work there. What are the people like who work at each company? Is there one group among whom you'd rather spend your time?
(3) What can you find out about the people who will be your direct bosses in each of the two firms? How long have they been in place and what were they doing before? Do you have a sense who you'd get on with better?
(4) Can you find out anything about the rate of employee turnover at each company?
(5) can you find anything out about the financial strength and financial growth company at each company?
(6) how much risk can you / do you want to take? If you are 25-30, have no kids and enough savings to last for a few months with no job, and think you can easily find another job if the one you take goes pear-shaped, you can take more risk. If you are 50, have a big mortgage, 3 kids, and are the sole earner for your family, and would struggle to find a new job, then the risk tolerance is lower.

Having asked all of these questions, from what you wrote, Job 2 sounds like the more exciting of the two. Depending on the answers, Job 1 could be better instead.

You could also try the coin flip. Heads, Job 1, Tails, Job 2. You flip the coin but don't look. Instead, ask yourself what you want the coin to say. There's your answer.

I’m moving from a 1 to a 2 but for a lot more ££

I used to think working for the industry leader/cool company would be great, but in the last 18 months all the fun things about it have gone, and I can’t see them coming back so I’d rather be big fish in little pond with a better title... means another promotion in a couple of years time; and probably changing companies but I’m ok with that.

2

I'd take job 2 every time - you can then move to bigger companies in a more senior role.

That's a great basis for a bit more research, thanks @YankeeDad - I'll sit down tomorrow and work on that, it may help clarify things for me.

I'm 42 with a toddler; I'm the main earner, and we are in a good financial position, so if things went south we'd be okay for a good 8-9 months - which I think is plenty of time to find something else if needs be.

I think that culture and values of an organisation are one of the top 2-3 factors driving whether it's a good place to work long-term, and their importance is often underestimated. Ownership always has a really important influence on culture and is often the key driver of culture. And while your direct boss might be even more important in the short term, I put that only third in the list because it can change quite easily (eg your great boss can get fired, or resign, from a company with an otherwise toxic culture, and where does that leave you? … whereas the owner is the owner, so harder to fire unless they sell the firm).

Having 8-9 months' reserves available to find something else if need be, and good employability, does put you in a really good position to take more risk if you want to, especially if you have ambition to progress. It sounds as though you have both!

Good luck making the most of the excellent position in which you have put yourself!