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Should I quit my new current job to take another more prestigious one?

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Mid-Level Software Engineer at Taro Community4 months ago

I got a job through a friend after getting laid off, but the day I started this new job, I got a full-time offer for another more prestigious company. Do I take it?

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(6 comments)
  • 3
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    Tech Lead/Manager at Meta, Pinterest, Kosei
    4 months ago

    Need more details. How much better is the new job? Prestige is one factor, but you should also consider things like:

    • compensation
    • quality of people
    • growth of the company and that particular team
    • does that job set you up well for your next job?

    As a very rough benchmark, if you feel like the job is 30%+ better, I'd jump and take the new job. It sucks to leave the job after such a short period, but better to leave sooner rather than later.

    • 0
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      Mid-Level Software Engineer [OP]
      Taro Community
      4 months ago

      Compensation: the pay increase is ~35% more. The catch is that this current job allows me to take care of some part-time side gigs that in total will produce more money than the more prestigious offer.

      Quality of people: folks might be smarter on the prestigious one, but more chill on the mid size company,

      Growth of the company: The prestigious one is EA Sports, I think it is here to stay. But the projects might be legacy and won't probably offer room for growth, but experience with distributed systems might open doors to FANG companies. The mid size company has a newer tech stack.

      Does that job set you up well for your next job: I think both companies set me up for the next jobs. Maybe the prestige of EA might help or open doors for better offers. The mid size company is building casino games software and this might look bad in the resume.

      That friend is not ok with me switching so early.

      The second catch is that I refused EA once 3 years ago, again. So if I do it again, they will probably black list me.

      The third catch is that EA requires relocation to another city. I kind of have to take care of a sick relative for a couple of months and commuting cities every week is hard. Negotiating fot full remote for a couple of months wasn't approved.

    • 1
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      Thoughtful Tarodactyl
      Taro Community
      4 months ago

      Given this context I would not switch. The pay is the same, the gaming industry doesnt have the best reputation in terms of WLB which can be a pain when job searching where you will need to scale back a bit on work.

      If both jobs are equally setting you up for success it probably isnt worth risking sabotaging a relationship like that

    • 0
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      Tech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course Hero
      4 months ago

      Yeah, now I'm leaning towards not taking the EA offer. The pay is overall the same, and your friend's relationship is important.

  • 2
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    Tech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course Hero
    4 months ago

    The main angle here is the friend. If they fought extremely hard to get you the current job and they're a close friend, I would tell them the situation and effectively ask them for permission. If it doesn't hurt them too badly and they truly care for your success, they should give you their blessing to switch.

    When it comes to the mechanics, you can just leave your current job off of your resume if you do end up taking the other job (just pretend it never happened). More thoughts here: "Team matches and accepting/reneging offer"

  • 2
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    Staff Eng @ Google, Ex-Meta SWE, Ex-Amazon SDM/SDE
    4 months ago

    If you’re leaving, the sooner the better. Don’t let them invest time in training and on-boarding if you’re not staying.

    Agree with Alex, this is about your friend. If you’re willing to completely destroy their trust and friendship for this other job, that is your prerogative, but know that if you don’t speak to them about it and be on good terms if you do this, that’s a big sacrifice. Jobs come and go, friends are a lot more valuable.

    From there it is also about the people at the company you’re leaving. It is a small world. The recruiter, manager, etc won’t feel good about working with you in the future. If you can move very fast, maybe they can hire other candidates and it’s not a huge inconvenience.

    With all that said: you must take care of yourself. You should consider all of this, and still make the decision that is best for you. If you’ve gotten a prestigious offer you likely can again, but if you won’t learn where you are that could lead to stagnating. I would also run a pros/cons by someone you trust or here.