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?
The technology stack you gain experience in will tend to drive you towards jobs with that.
I’ve worked with people who worked in software for the (property) insurance industry, which is similarly conservative and not tech oriented.
The advantage is that it tends to be extremely stable.
Like you can probably work there your entire life if you wanted, and they have a career path that accounts for that.
The downside is that you’re probably going to hate every minute of it. You won’t be doing anything that could be considered innovative. Doesn’t mean it won’t do anything that would fit on a resume or that it’s a dead end, it just won’t be new.
Personally, I would recommend the more interesting job. 27 isn’t an age I would worry about either.
If I could go back to 27 I’d take the interesting job. I’ve done both but waited until my late 30s to really spread my wings. I did a whole bunch of cool things that I wish I had done 10 years earlier so that I wouldn’t mind settling into a more boring thing later.
But money matters.
I’m only 3.5 years post college, my advice might not be the most sage. I’d take whichever you think you’ll enjoy most in the moment, and it sounds like the contract. You should ask them about possibilities for “contract to hire”, though. A lot of places like to do that anyway. From my experience, the contract work will look better on a resume and help a lot more for finding a new job in 1-5 years, and your skills won’t stagnate. I took some more stable jobs in my own career, but that’s mostly because I think of coding strictly as a job and less of a hobby, and I’m happier with a stable paycheck, but a less challenging, engaging, and exciting job.
But if you’re in a position where it is very important for you to have 100% of your income and a guarantee of work in 7 months, maybe take the more stable one. Like if you have kids or family that you’re supporting. But if you’re thrifty and good at interviewing (which it sounds like you are), sometimes contracts can actually be better financially in the long run, just more work. It really depends on the jobs and your attitudes towards them. But nothing is ever set in stone for your career path, as long as you can learn new things and show them off. If you decide on the financial group but are still worried, I’d recommend just having a side project your working on in a personal, non-work-affiliated github and just keep up on trends with that.
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
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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.
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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.
