I just graduated with a B.S. in CS in May 2023. I’ve been working at a big non tech company in a data engineering type of role with AWS and Terraform. My team’s culture, team members, and PTO hours are great. The work is easy, but I also don’t learn much from it.
I’ve only been at the job for three months, but I was just headhunted by a recruiter for a tech company similar to iRobot ( they don’t sell robot vacuums, but they sell hardware with similar levels of tech behind it and are in the same stage of growth and have also been recently bought out by a magma company). They are offering about 25% higher base than my current total comp. Both jobs are remote btw.
However, I am wary of the notorious culture of the magma company that bought it and how often that new parent company fires its devs. I am also wary of how a 3 month job would look like on my resume.
Edit: yes, this is in the US
If you have reservations about a job offer and you’re happy at your current job, there’s not really any reason to switch. More money is nice but working at a toxic company can really ruin your life.
I would keep the a proven good boss over one whose organization’s bad reputation precedes them. Life is too short to out up with a shit boss, except when completely necessary.
On the learning front - an easy job can be a great time and place to do a bunch of self study, if you’re able to make yourself do that. I.e. drop a couple hundred bucks on something like Cloud Academy, and use it in your spare work minutes.
With how competitive the current market is for job hunting, I would stick with the more stable company.
- 3 months+ is considered the probation period for you and your new employer - you can change your mind, too. Better more than in 3 more months.
- You can just leave the short stint off your resume.
- Check your local laws, but if you’re headhunted you probably get additional protections (waive probation, extra severance, etc).
I can only speak from personal experience, but when I was just getting started I prioritised jobs that would a) teach me a lot, b) look good on a resume. Your first job exists to set you up for your second, better job. I feel like an ass suggesting this, but if you’ve got the basic skills, you really can get a good headstart by having harder, “grindier” jobs for your first few years.
