TFW you have been looking for a better job for a few months, interviewed for several, and now have 2 great job offers, have made your pros and cons list, talked it out with loved ones, and still can’t make a choice. It’s a nice problem to have, but also frustrating for someone like me, who looks for all the info to make a choice and then second-guesses my decision once made. Argh. Can anyone relate or offer any general advice? I need to make the decision and stop thinking about it.
@GEAUXJayna I check out both places on social medias (the usual suspects: FB, Indeed, LinkedIn, Glassceiling) to see what people post about or complain about & how it’s rated. Search for news stories about both places
@annamuneca This is good advice. I’ve been doing this to the extent possible for each place. Sometimes it’s hard to see info on some companies on certain platforms. I think there are good and bad aspects to both, and the same can be said for the jobs I’m being offered specifically.
@GEAUXJayna I don't know if the companies are equally as great to work for, but that is a huge factor. Check them out on glassdoor to see how they are rated if you haven't already.
@misslovelymess Yeah, I haven’t gotten to look much at Glassdoor lately because I keep getting prompted not only to login, but also to post a review about some of my workplaces. I wind up looking at Indeed and others instead.
@GEAUXJayna I did that the other day and put in a very neutral anonymous review from a different position.
@GEAUXJayna It wasn't inaccurate though. Just neutral.
@misslovelymess That’s a good approach! I actually have one review I’d love to leave for a place that was definitely not a good experience for me, but I have refrained for fear I might not be anonymous enough.
@GEAUXJayna When in doubt, pick the one that has the best snack selection.
@ianthealy Well, both are 100% WFH, which is exactly what I wanted, so they have the same snacks - whatever’s at my house. Since they are WFH, they also both offer wonderful cat co-workers as moral support. 😺
@GEAUXJayna Then whichever one requires fewer zoom meetings where you can't wear pajamas.
@ianthealy That is something I wish I knew at this point, but that’s a wait-and-see sort of thing. I’m hopeful that cameras won’t always be required at either. I’m in IT, so many of us keep cameras off in our calls (at my current workplace and most recent past ones) by default.
@GEAUXJayna I keep thinking about this from oddball directions. Which job has a younger base of employees that may need tech support? Old farts (not like ME! Never ME) who keep using CD-ROM trays as cup holders will be more exhausting day to day.
@ianthealy Well, one is in-house IT for a company and the other is a consulting gig with a national consulting firm/hardware & software reseller. The in-house IT role involves O365/SharePoint engineering, so not as much user support. The consulting role is more Exchange/migration to O365-focused, but there’s no telling what ages & levels of understanding I would encounter on various projects with them.
@GEAUXJayna ummm...which one would be more upset at a unionization effort amongst its employees? Now I'm reaching.
@GEAUXJayna I have been going through the same process myself lately; not the job off part, yet. 🤞
One of the things I have been doing before each interview is like others have said; investigate the social platforms; as well as the job posting sites history. High turnover is a not always a good thing in my opinion.
Depending on the industry; maybe check with old coworkers or friends to see if they know anything about the company.
@pendrag The thing is, I have no personal contacts who have worked at either, but I did some research into both and of course I found some with good things to say & some with bad things to say, which seems to be normal.
Good luck in your search, and I hope you end up with multiple offers, too! 👍🏼
@GEAUXJayna As long as it's better than what you're leaving, you did the right thing.
@Consequences Thanks! I think it really will be, but I know that if for some reason it turns out to suck, I can always look again. I’ve gotten pretty good at it lately, though the search and interview process can at times be draining.
@GEAUXJayna as a senior data center engineer; I highly recommend the in-house job to the consulting. Depending on the # of people, the on calls could be a simple thing.
@pendrag I’ve been told that those of us on the SharePoint side won’t have as much to do when on call as compared to others on the team, other than being the first responder to priority incidents, which hopefully aren’t too frequent. We shall see!
Update: I decided on the in-house IT role over the consulting role, mainly because I want to get back to working in something other than Exchange administration/O365 mailbox migrations, which I’ve been doing a while now. I am hopeful that I made the right choice. The pay and benefits were similar at both, and both a step up from my current contractor role. The only drawback to the one I chose is an on-call rotation, but the other would require after-hours work, too.