The most important thing about a first job is the career path it sets you on. If your first job involves writing backend software in Java for an insurance company, you will get labeled as an "enterprise backend Java developer", and you will find it easy to find another future job like it -- and much harder to find anything else.
So also consider these factors:
- The tech stack: is it popular or hot, or old or very niche?
- The nature of the work: are you building new software (great for learning), or maintaining a mess of legacy spaghetti (not so much)?
- The industry: is your employer the only game in town, or can you choose to move to another company down the line?
- The size of the company: large companies have options for internal transfers, and startups may let you try out many hats, but small/medium companies (or small IT departments in larger non-IT companies) will have limited options for career growth
Anecdote time: when I was graduating, I was lucky enough to be able to choose between a small startup in a then-fast-growing field (mobile telecoms) and a mid-sized company in a small, stable field (energy metering). The second would have been more reliable and likely better paid, but I would have missed out on many opportunities ("hey, want to become the first engineer at our new Asia office and learn everything from presales to deployment?") and it would have been much harder to repeatedly change roles and industries to advance my career.
manpreet![Tuteehub forum best answer]()
Best Answer
2 years ago
Fresh out of college in a few months, and I have three job offers to contemplate and decide which team I'll be joining.
One company pays a very high (close to 6 figures) salary but appears to be work-heavy (that is, 45-50 hours a week, little vacation and holiday). They expect the code to be written extremely well, but the atmosphere of the company is extremely relaxed otherwise.
Another company pays decently, and I'd enjoy working on those projects (probably more than the other two), but the work culture is very strict and secured (no electronics such as cellphones, smart-watches, fit-bits, etc). The location of this job (and surrounding city) is disappointing at best and dangerous at worst, but this place has the best work-life balance (flex-time, lots of vacation and holidays).
The final company pays decently as well, has great work-life balance, the location is great, but I don't think I'd enjoy the code that I'd be writing there. I know some people at this location and it is closer to family.
There's of course additional criteria that I'm looking at (like other benefits, future opportunities, etc), but what are some important criteria that you would consider if you were in my position? Which opportunity looks best to you?
I'm not looking for someone to make a choice for me, rather, help me see things that I might want to know in this situation.