Ask HN: Which job should I choose?

#1

Post by askhell » Wed, Aug 19, 2015, 5:01 AM UTC

I need to make a decision in the next 8hrs and i need help to decide which choice would be better for me and my career.

The first company is developing software for airline companies and they have a few big clients. The tech i would be working in is Angular, Backbone, Cordova and some PHP.

The second company is into IT security. They develop tools for malware detection and network security. The tech i would be using is JavaScript, jQuery and Kendo UI. I would mostly be building charts in the beginning but there is a possibility of getting a bit more into actual software development later.

Both companies are good standing and the pay is about the same (the IT security company is offering a little bit more). I like the tech the first company is using more, but i'm more interested in IT security than airline software.

Please help me decide, i have 8hrs, what would be better for my career and what branch do you think has a better future?

Re: Ask HN: Which job should I choose?

#2

Post by kelukelugames » Wed, Aug 19, 2015, 5:07 AM UTC

I can help you make a decision.

Take a deep breath.

You will be fine. It won't matter which job you take.

Re: Ask HN: Which job should I choose?

#3

Post by askhell » Wed, Aug 19, 2015, 5:09 AM UTC

kelukelugames wrote: post #2

I can help you make a decision. Take a deep breath. You will be fine. It won't matter which job you take.

lol, why?

Re: Ask HN: Which job should I choose?

#4

Post by kelukelugames » Wed, Aug 19, 2015, 5:12 AM UTC

askhell wrote: post #3

kelukelugames wrote: post #2

I can help you make a decision. Take a deep breath. You will be fine. It won't matter which job you take.

lol, why?

Both choices have their pros and cons. If you pick the wrong then you won't be stuck there for long anyway. Follow your heart. Don't bother rationalizing.

Re: Ask HN: Which job should I choose?

#5

Post by cpeterso » Wed, Aug 19, 2015, 5:13 AM UTC

Congratulations on two job offers!

Tech is always changing. Think about what you'd like to be working on in 5–10 years. The jobs you take now will help you "write the resume" you will need later.

Good luck!

Re: Ask HN: Which job should I choose?

#6

Post by lsiebert » Wed, Aug 19, 2015, 5:17 AM UTC

It may be helpful to think about how your work for each company would look on a resume. The company, unless it's a brand name everybody knows for it's technology like Google, is less important then your role.

The airline company software lets you talk about full stack (don't worry if you don't like PHP, you can always learn another stack), and maybe scaling issues. You also get soft skills potentially, have to deal with changing client requirements.

The IT security... well you get to do front end dev, and maybe they'll let you do something real at some point? But maybe you get some interesting experience integrating with APIs.

It honestly doesn't matter too much, you'll be doing dev work for both. If the money is a big difference in your mind, it wouldn't hurt you to ask the airline software company if they will match what the IT company offers you, or if they can provide some other perk (a signing bonus, discount airfare, extra vacation days).

Re: Ask HN: Which job should I choose?

#7

Post by 1arity » Wed, Aug 19, 2015, 5:18 AM UTC

location?

it would also be ideal to get into the situation where you tell both offers that you are considering another offer at x price and that you will take y time to decide. then you hold the negotiation instead of feeling rushed.

sometimes the side that wants you more will come back with a bigger offer or ask you what's meaningful for you to see if they can give you that.

Re: Ask HN: Which job should I choose?

#8

Post by askhell » Wed, Aug 19, 2015, 5:26 AM UTC

1arity wrote: post #7

location? it would also be ideal to get into the situation where you tell both offers that you are considering another offer at x price and that you will take y time to decide. then you hold the negotiation instead of feeling rushed. sometimes the side that wants you more will come back with a bigger offer or ask you what's meaningful for you to see if they can give you that.

EDIT: i don't wanna be giving up to much info on the companies

Re: Ask HN: Which job should I choose?

#9

Post by askhell » Wed, Aug 19, 2015, 5:34 AM UTC

lsiebert wrote: post #6

It may be helpful to think about how your work for each company would look on a resume. The company, unless it's a brand name everybody knows for it's technology like Google, is less important then your role. The airline company software lets you talk about full stack (don't worry if you don't like PHP, you can always learn another stack), and maybe scaling issues. You also get soft skills potentially, have to deal w…

Yes, i think the job description of the first company would look better on my resume. But IT security is a much more interesting field to me although i think it might be more difficult for me to find a job if i had to leave the company after a couple of years.

Thanks for the advice.

Re: Ask HN: Which job should I choose?

#10

Post by megablast » Wed, Aug 19, 2015, 5:38 AM UTC

I would pick the first, because I hate security. Everything bad and annoying on a project and come from security requirements. Yes, I know why, but if you aren't going to help me write the correct code, you are just putting lots of barriers in my way.