

Ask HN: Help me make a decision - newmie

$125K (incl. bonus, stock) - company A<p>$150K (base, stock options based on performance) - company B<p>company A is a large well respected hightech company (~200B market cap)<p>company B is a growing, recognizable but not a well recognized or popular, low employee satisfaction hightech company (~2B market cap)<p>similar job profile for both<p>growth is mostly self driven but maybe more challenging in B due to culture<p>company culture - A has significant advantage over B<p>which would you accept?
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gyardley
The travel you mention in the thread is more significant than anything else
you've talked about in the post.

A job with 75% travel basically puts the rest of your life on hold -
significant other, relationships with friends, etc. It's harder to stick to
proper fitness and diet when traveling so much. You've got to deal with all
that travel-related stress (ugh, airports). And business travel tends to get
old and boring really, really fast.

Given all that, company B is the winner - although personally, I wouldn't take
that job either. Even 25% work-related travel is a pain in the ass.

~~~
newmie
Agree on the travel part. I am fine with 25% travel. I think its a good
balance. Plus, if you want to climb the leadership/management ladder, cant
escape travel much.

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mark212
Company A, without a doubt. Culture matters a whole lot. And the experience of
seeing how one of the behemoths does it from the inside, good and bad, is
valuable. (Don't have any info about your job history; this last point could
be less important if you've already had that experience.)

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newmie
yes, this is what is drawing me to A. But it also involves 75% travel compared
to 20-25% at B.

EDIT: I typed 7% earlier instead of 75

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iamjoday
1.

It appears very hypothetical situation...but for a given data, I can always
almost say that Company A will NEVER pay less in total package than Company B
for the same job role (assuming its the same as you have not provided any data
for it...)

It's like saying... Faecbook will pay less than Zynga for an in demand SE.
They will surely match offer of Company B if they want you.

2\. Culture is extremely important not just to grow but to work every day and
leave home satisfied.

3\. Travel is personal choice.

Best of Luck! Nash, [http://joday.com](http://joday.com)

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newmie
I assure you its not hypothetical.

You would be wrong to assume large companies beat every other offer. Large
companies rarely beat other offers. Even Google does not do it unless you are
a rock star.

Also I never pitched them against each other ... I dont see that as a
professional behavior, I negotiate separately. But I agree I did not do a good
job of negotiating with A, maybe I was starstruck

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argonaut
Your wording is a bit unclear. Are you saying B would challenge you more, or
that personal growth would be challenging to attain at B? Are you saying that
B's base = 150k and that your stock goes on top, or that base + your estimate
of how many stock options you'd get = 150k?

Another important factor that's often not considered is how long your commute
is to A and B.

~~~
newmie
personal growth would be challenging to attain at B because the culture is
sure to throw hurdles in the way.

B = 150K base + options (not yet awarded)

commute is not an issue in this case. thanks for bringing it up though

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hashtag
Company A. I value personal growth and happiness over pay differences. And it
seems like Company A will help me more base on what vague information is
provided.

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europa
Take B. Keep looking for a position at company like A or better and pays
better or equal to B.

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a3voices
Company B for sure! So I could pay off my mortgage faster :-).

~~~
newmie
what about long term career prospects? Having A on resume is a huge+

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atrust
Company B. I believe there are more opportunities in future.

~~~
newmie
true, but swimming against the tide can either pay off really well or bite you
really hard

~~~
atrust
One important thing I would also add here. Think about your daily work in both
companies: how valuable it is, how does it impact the company in general.

Right now I work in a huge corporation. The work I do is not THAT important. I
mean, it's important, but if I ever decide to leave, that will not affect the
company a lot. They will find another engineer and that's it. Such model is
good for business, I guess. But, it's important that every employee feel how
valuable they are. Not just feel, they should exactly know, that the work they
do does really-really matter to a company. This is just imho.

~~~
newmie
exactly! many people dont realize in big companies there are (relatively) very
few people that matter. rest are just cogs in the machine. doesnt mean you can
grow up from being a cog, but what you say is true.

B wants me badly. My skill set is very niche. B needs me to propel them
forward and in a different scenario, thats a great situation to be in. But I
am very hesitant of how motivated B is to transform to the next level.

