BIG Confusion. Help me.

Hello Everyone,

Long time since I am starting thread here. But right now I am in real confusion, and I think all my fellow devshed fellas can help me to get out of it.

It is about job.

No no.......................its not like I dont have job.

Situation is I have TWO offers and I am finding myself in tough situation of not being able to decide which one to choose.

In my final year of college I got selected in Infosys ( http://www.infy.com, TOP IT company in India). But by the time I finish my grad, it was recession in IT and Infy postponed joining indefinately. So I was forced to search for another job. It didnt took me long and I found myself working as systems engineer in One broadband company. Its a part of one MNC which operates in 23 countries !! [ I am not revealing company name due to some concerns ]

Its a great setup that they have done here in Surat ( my home town) and I find myself lucky enough to get chance in MNC such as this !!

The only hitch was my salary which was way too low. Only 6k.

But now after my 6 months, I am going to get 100% hike !! Its been confirmed by GM of Finance/Operations.

I am doing good and out of nowhere Infy has called us up !! I am suppose to join on 10th June. 1 month from now. I am suppose to join in Hyderabad ( Hi -tech ciyt of India) .

Now my confusion is to whether join Infy or stay in Current company.

Now you may say go to Infy ,big company , big things , big projects, right ?

But there are few things.

I am getting really good exposure in my current job and has made myself a place in the company. CEO of company just came to talk to me on last Sunday we even went for lunch..and he offered me salary equivalent to Infy. That is 3 times my current salary !!

Also I am getting chance to work on Metasolv, Infranet Portal, TIBCO. All Enterprise level products. I have GREAT boss. I am given chance to design solution from scratch. Till date I have worked on 6 projects , latest one being Video mail. [ I have implemented it from start to end.]

Now Infy has name, they would give me training, they would send me for off shore projects. But then..then what ? WIll I be another coder amongst those *thousands* out there ? How long it would take for me to again make same position in Infy ? Is it even possible ? If I stay in Hyderabad, how much I would save out of my 18k !! how much I would save if I have 18k leaving in home town.

There are numerous advantages too. They would be first giving me extensive training on varioius technologies, i would have offshore projects to work on, would be going to US/UK and all.. but what would be my profile ? What if they put me in testing team ? [ Me being more of developer , I wonder what I do in testing team. ]


Now what do I do ?

Shall I join BIG company or stick here in a startup ??

I am LOST.
Please help.

JD

I'd stick with the local company. You're getting better networking exposure (and getting an in with upper managemnt), and they obvisouly value you (hence the raise to match the Infy offer). Sticking with the local company will allow you more freedom and probably give you more exposure to project management and team building/leading. Things that could server you well if you ever get tired of coding and want to do something more. (Yeah, right, as if a coder ever gets bored with coding, but it's always good to have a backup plan.)

Going to the big company, you'll be starting off again from square one (ok, square two, since you've already worked there), again, having to prove yourself, your abilities, and your worth to the company. Sure, there might be the potential for some major benefits, but how many years down the line before they kick in?

Another plus: small, successful, local companies have a habit of turning into large, successful, local+multiple locations companies. You'll be there, helping to make it happen and riding the wave to success.

Or, you could just flip a coin.

Stick to the local one. That's what I'd do...
Seems as if they can benefit you more than the big company can do... At least at this point...
Sure, the big company might have bigger projects, and a wider horizon. But where do you fit in that picture? Just as another 'coder' in the mass, or will you have the fortune of 'being somebody'?
The fact that you seem to get along great with your boss and that he has confidence in you is promising, and may be worth more than just money.
Your personal situation will also affect this. For me, having a family and all that, I'm not as attracted to going off shore as I was some years ago. Sure, I've been there, done that, but I'm not that interested any longer. There are other things in life as well...

So I'm joining forces with phoenix_rizzen on this one...
But the decision is yours... Good luck anyway!

//NoXcuz

Hm....

But xcuz, one of my dream is to go abroad to do projects !!!

Also after working with such freedom in this company I don't want to be blackbox , a small part in BIG company.

I am not afraid that I would have to proove myself again in new company but......at what cost ? I don't know.

Family & Friends are saying Go..cause for them name of company is EVERYTHING. But its only We can understand that instead of name , *work* is more important.

JD

You're fresh out of college and that big *** company already wants you in there so bad they're willing to offer 3 times as much cash as they would to any other 'new guy', and you know what does that tell me? That tells me they will be eating you alive after you get a year or so on-field real-life experience. So, what I would do is stay with local company for about 15 months, make myself a name and then ask big guys what they'd offer for you to come to them. In that way you're not sticking with litluns and not jumping headfirst to major league. Sounds like win-win to me, but if you decide to do that, do not even think about telling your plan to either one of your bosses.

What incentives is Infy offering besides travel abroad and more money?

Quality insurance for your family?
401k's?
Vacation Time?
Are they going to add to your quality of life ro take away from it?

Both jobs sounds as if they have there pro's and con's and will be a tough decision for you.

BTW guys he does have a homepage don't let him fool you.

PhPkid
We just need to get on him to put something up .

Well JD,

There is no way to tell which would be best, but the main thing to remember is "do not be afraid of change". At your age, having a chance to broaden your exposure is almost always a good thing. This is more important than the immediate money you will make, or whether the cost of living is higher in Hyderabad, etc...

With Infy, the fact that you will be sent to other parts of the world is a BIG advantange. International experience involves more than just technical skill at a job, but the ability to negotiate cultural differences if you can prove yourself in these areas, your future is far wider.

My brother-in-law is a perfect example. For much of his career, he did not even have a college degree, but he started immediately at gaining international experience, and now he is one of the top IT people in Philips corporation. (And I mean one of the top people worldwide) He worked in the US Navy, which gave him some international experience, and then he married a woman who worked as a mid-level Embassy worker. Thus, her job took them to several parts of the world. They lived in Europe, then in Canada, then in the Phillipines, and then in Africa, before moving back to the US. During this time, he never worried about staying with the same corporation, or having career security. He realized that security is best achieved by proving yourself. So, everytime his wife's job demanded that they move elsewhere, he would just arrive in that country, and start looking for work. This confidence, and the ability to deal with change, made him a far more attractive IT employee than the typical back-room computer geek, so he quickly was promoted into IT management, in most of these companies. This culminated in his present position at Philips worldwide headquarters, where he is, at the age of 35, one of the most highly-placed people in the business.

I doubt he would have advanced at the same speed if he had stayed with one company. This is a sad fact of modern business, but loyalty is rarely rewarded in the long term. Many companies find it more promising to hire top people from the outside, rather than promote from within. However, there is a certain logic to it: people who have not been afraid to move around can bring a broader perspective to their jobs.

Even in my own rather jumbled career, I will say that I have never thought twice when it came to the chance to go somewhere. One time when I was working for a small business with a limited budget, we had a chance to do a large contract in Germany. My boss claimed that the company only had money to send him, even though I had done most of the work in preparing this bid. I refused to stay at home; I used my own credit cards to pay for my trip to Germany, and I have never regretted it. It was a great piece of experience for me, even though we didn't get the bid. I actually got to see firsthand how business culture works in Germany.

So, my advice is: don't play it safe (unless you have a family and children to care for). But at your age, you can afford to take some risks. I guarantee you, if you go work for Infy for a year, and then want to go back home, your previous employer will jump at the chance to have you back. Just think, they would now have an international IT guy working for them.

Go or stay; either choice is good, as long as you do it for the right reason. In other words, if your reason for staying is simply for job security, its the wrong reason. (don't think about job security until after the age of 35) If you want to stay because your heart tells you that this is what you want to do, then stay. Choose the job you really want, rather than the one you think you "should" take.

rycamor,

You are the FIRST techie guy who is saying that i should go.

Interesting. Actually you are right. Getting out of your home town and working is challenge itself. Infect I really do want to get out of my hometown and see what actual is happening.

My only concern is being converted in BLACKBOX.
I mean i would be given some input and i am expected to produce some output without knowing the OVERALL Picture. Here I have that chance.


It would be long before I would be given chance to solve a problem, design the solution.

I am not bothered about salary nor about leaving my home town. What I am looking for is GREAT career. Thats it. Period.


I also feel that if I can proove myself in MNC in 6 months, I don't think I would be totally LOST in Infy. But yeah, progress wont be as *fast*. So is it worth to try to sail a BIG SEA instead of playing in a pond ???

rycamor, what you would have done ?

Any other feedback ? Sepodati, hero,silkysmooth, you ppl there ???

JD

I'm probably in a different situation than you, JDK.

I've traveled around already, worked in a lot of places, doing a lot of different jobs with a lot of different people.

One thing I always missed was having a home- What's the point in working if you don't care what/where you're working for? I feel like I need a real, flesh-and-blood community and need to work with people I like||care about more than pretty much anything else.

I also have a different philosophy than most- I work with non-profit (or NGO) organizations exclusively, and probably will for the rest of my life. For me, money isn't as important as my happiness, and I've made concious choices to give up higher salaries in favor of doing important work.

Personally, if the local company had a good revenue stream and seemed like it'll be around in a little while, I'd stick with them.

In my head, it's much more fun to be a big fish in a little pond than just another piece of capital in a large company. You get to see the results of your work clearly, and there are faces on the things you do and the people you work with.

You need to decide what your priorities really are for your life and your career and try and make a rational decision based on the benefits/disadvantages of both. Write this down on paper, and decide outside of emotion which one is better. Let that guide your final decision.

Oh, and keep in mind that whatever decision you make now, even if it's the wrong one, you can always go back. It's not the end of the world, you're still young.

If you found one job, you can find tons more like it again.

Hm..

The city I live in, I will never have chance to work in software companies. It was just my luck that I got a oppurtunity to work in some decent company.

Now I am solely interested in making a career in IT.
My goal is to become solution architecht. Long way to go.

Now If my city doesnt have what needs then I would have to move out. Also when I am just starting my career I am not afraid of spending time away from my dear and near ones. But I would definately like to be around my family after say 10 years from now when I would have settled in.

So....

Hm...

JD

jdk, correct me if I'm wrong, but so far you've opposed everyone saying that you shall stay where you're right now. And that makes me wonder do you really not know what do you want, or do you just want someone to tell you that you must go so it won't be solely your decision?

Yeah you are correct.

According to me both choices are balanced , And I am trying to argue with myself and others and decide which one is best !!

By arguing I am trying to make up decsion and I find it the best way.
JD