I have a dilemma about my job situation. Currently I work for a small electrical engineering firm (11 employees). I have my engineering license, am paid $74k/yr, have 4 weeks PTO and my job title is engineer 3. I have a an office of my own and I generally like my job, my coworkers, my boss, our clients and am the 3rd highest paid person at the company after the owner and a guy in his late 40s who is an engineer 4. I have a good amount of freedom at work and get to visit clients across the state regularly regarding distribution line and substation projects I'm involved in and really feel like I help out our clients with their needs.
Since getting my PE I've had a quite a few recruiters contacting me about job opportunities. I've politely declined their offers until recently as one piqued my interest with an opportunity and I decided I might as well interview for a different job for practice if nothing else . I start with a phone interview with the HR woman, then an in person interview with her and 2 engineers and then a second interview where I meet more of the people in the department I would work in (transmission line design) as well as the president and one of the VP's of the company (105 employees and part of a larger corporation with 24000 employees). All the interviews went well and I just got an offer today for $76k/yr and 3 weeks PTO + some sick days. I knew it was going to be about a lateral move at first as they are offering a position as an engineer 2 since I do not have a lot of transmission line experience but there is significant potential for upward mobility. The benefits are better at this company and the commute will be about the same as it is now, however, the most obvious downside is i'll be back to cubicle life.
I'm not sure if I should take the offer. I have no guarantee I will like the job or the people I work with. I'm 33, getting married in May, no kid, own my house in a nice neighborhood and while more money down the line would be nice, I can comfortable live on my current salary. My fiancé works but she's pretty new in her career so she only pulls in about $35k a year, if we have children she might stop working for a year or 2 or work 3 days a work instead of full-time so we don't have to pay so much in childcare.
If I do take it I will leave on good terms with my current employer, however I will feel like i'm letting my boss and coworkers down by jumping ship. In reality nobody would fault me for what looks like a better opportunity but it's still a tough feeling to shake.
I thought about using the offer as a way to get a raise but if I did that I would probably not get a raise anytime soon and i'll never be able to match the earning potential with the bigger company.
What would you fellow SVT brothers do? Anyone been in a situation like this?
TLDR version -
Offered a job with a big company for slightly better pay and benefits than my current job at a small company. Not sure what to do
Since getting my PE I've had a quite a few recruiters contacting me about job opportunities. I've politely declined their offers until recently as one piqued my interest with an opportunity and I decided I might as well interview for a different job for practice if nothing else . I start with a phone interview with the HR woman, then an in person interview with her and 2 engineers and then a second interview where I meet more of the people in the department I would work in (transmission line design) as well as the president and one of the VP's of the company (105 employees and part of a larger corporation with 24000 employees). All the interviews went well and I just got an offer today for $76k/yr and 3 weeks PTO + some sick days. I knew it was going to be about a lateral move at first as they are offering a position as an engineer 2 since I do not have a lot of transmission line experience but there is significant potential for upward mobility. The benefits are better at this company and the commute will be about the same as it is now, however, the most obvious downside is i'll be back to cubicle life.
I'm not sure if I should take the offer. I have no guarantee I will like the job or the people I work with. I'm 33, getting married in May, no kid, own my house in a nice neighborhood and while more money down the line would be nice, I can comfortable live on my current salary. My fiancé works but she's pretty new in her career so she only pulls in about $35k a year, if we have children she might stop working for a year or 2 or work 3 days a work instead of full-time so we don't have to pay so much in childcare.
If I do take it I will leave on good terms with my current employer, however I will feel like i'm letting my boss and coworkers down by jumping ship. In reality nobody would fault me for what looks like a better opportunity but it's still a tough feeling to shake.
I thought about using the offer as a way to get a raise but if I did that I would probably not get a raise anytime soon and i'll never be able to match the earning potential with the bigger company.
What would you fellow SVT brothers do? Anyone been in a situation like this?
TLDR version -
Offered a job with a big company for slightly better pay and benefits than my current job at a small company. Not sure what to do
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