Don't know which offer to take :(

Career Opportunities & Internships
1

<p>Hi everyone,</p>

<p>So I've received two offers and I'm not sure which one to take at all and was hoping if I could get some advice from this great forum. The first offer is from Company A and they're well known and global, however the industry isn't too interesting in my opinion. Location is about 3 hours away from my home town in a very small town with not much to do and brutal winters, however it is a vacation city spot. The compensation package and benefits are extremely well and was shocked at how much they were providing (salary wise, bonus and sign on). The position, however, is something I've never had experience with and barely studied about it in school, but it sounds very interesting and has a great career path. The company itself is doing excellent and has on path to double its profits by next year.</p>

<p>Company B is local, about 20 minutes from my house. The benefits are excellent and better than Company A but the base salary is about 25% lower. I've tried to negotiate the salary but they aren't having any of it. The position that was offered is a position that is interesting to me and also something I have experience with. The company itself has a great reputation (pharmaceutical company) however it's future doesn't look to good. It's losing patents on key items and because of it have laid off lots of employees, mostly sales reps. This was concerning to me so I asked them during my interview if they are positive about the future outlook of their company and they all said yes they were and that they had some great products in their pipeline. I would accept this offer but the salary and the future outlook are the things that concern me. </p>

<p>I would like to stay close to home and 3 hours isn't bad but the location of Company A is really not that great. If I could get some advice from some members in this community with great wisdom, I would appreciate it!</p>

2

<p>This is a great problem to have, and it appears to be a genuine problem. Nobody on this forum can tell you which company to choose, but we can help to frame your decision in a different light. </p>

<p>Your location is a bigger factor than you might think just by interviewing. Can you see yourself living in the location of company A? Would you be absolutely miserable during the 128 hours a week that you are not at work?</p>

<p>Your starting salary is not that important (unless the lower salary would make daily living difficult by way of not giving you enough to pay loans, bills, rent, food, etc.), but your growth potential is very important. Are there growth opportunities at each company? Are the opportunities at one better than those at the other? What kind of timelines are there for promotions? Do people in entry level positions, such as yourself, generally stick around for years and year, or do they do two years and then move on to bigger, better things? </p>

<p>No HR group is ever going to say that they have a negative outlook on their company, especially when they are recruiting new hires, so take what they say on that topic with a grain of salt. Try to get a reasonable sense from current employees (perhaps a director or manager, not in the HR group, who interviewed you) of where the company is going. You obviously don’t want to get hired only to be laid off a few months later, but a company in a bit of turmoil may give you the opportunity to shine and fast track yourself to advancement.</p>

<p>With regard to “experience” that you have, don’t place any weight on that. The companies hiring you know your experience level, and they are comfortable with it since they are ready to pour tens of thousands of dollars into bringing you on. If you think you will be more interested in one job versus the other, that should be a factor for you, but don’t let your perceived skill level dictate where you go. During your career, you should always be looking to do things you haven’t done; seek out opportunities to gain responsibility that you aren’t quite ready to have yet, and you will go far.</p>

<p>Something you didn’t mention but that has a big impact on whether you enjoy a job is the culture of the workplace. When you interviewed on site, what was your impression of the office? Did you see yourself walking in happily every day?</p>

<p>If you have specific questions that you would like answered, I’m sure many people would be happy to chime in. Otherwise, good luck!</p>

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<p>Your first job can really set you up for future opportunities. My feelings would be to take a leap of faith on the company that is doing well, as there may be greater career growth and opportunities to transfer anywhere that you do want to live since it is global. Going with a company that is laying off could mean fewer promotional opportunities if they downsize their management and those with bigger salaries (which could include the sales reps, especially if they’re commissioned). But as chrisw said, it could also mean fast career growth as many people start to “jump ship” when they see layoffs, leaving some room for newbies to step up. So it’s a bit of a risk and you need to do more research. It could also mean that Company B will be going through large cultural shifts as corporate management struggles to reinvent itself and get the company back on track. That can be a pro or a con; it is certainly much easier for new associates to adapt, but can leave tenured employees feelings frustrated and unmotivated with the changes and this can impact the atmosphere of the workplace. So try to get some insights into what changes, if any, the company is making beyond layoffs to pull itself out of its rut.</p>

<p>On the other hand…you already have experience with the type of work at Company B which means you already know what to expect. With Company A, you might find out that you really don’t like the work since you’re not familiar with it. Also, although Company B is paying less, could you live at home and save money that way? Look at the cost of living around Company A versus living in your current area to see which would really pay off. I accepted a job with what I thought was an excellent salary until I saw the rent/housing costs (it still is a very respectable income, but living alone with student loans keeps it from stretching too far). The pay may be lower at Company B for that reason - lower cost of living. Or it may be because of their strict budgeting during tough times. Does either company have annual increases? What are the review processes? Quarterly/annual bonuses? Other benefits such as tuition discounts or reimbursement, company-paid life insurance or short/long term disability, etc.</p>

<p>You need to look at more than just base salary and how exciting the town is to really understand which offer is “better.” Cost of living, how much are the benefit premiums compared to their deductibles and out of pocket expenses, opportunities to move up, over, and relocate, whether you want to risk doing a job you’re uncertain of versus a job you already know what to expect of, if you’re comfortable with the corporate culture, etc.</p>

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<p>Thank you both for taking the time to reply, I appreciate it very much. You both definitely gave me things to think about which I’m going to be doing very heavily over the following week. I think I will also try to reach out to some managers in the departments I will be joining to see if they have anything to say.</p>

<p>Thanks again, guys! I knew I could count on getting some excellent advice!</p>