
Ask HN: Taking a demotion to work at a better company? - marrone12
Hi HN,<p>I am currently a director of data science at a very small division inside a megacorp. While I like my coworkers, have good pay and low stress, I am getting bored of the problems we work on and the impact we have on the world at large. I also have zero desire to work at any other divisions in the megacorp.<p>I have the opportunity to go work at a sexier &quot;unicorn&quot; as a data science manager. The problems and impact they have are far more interesting, though I would personally manage a slightly smaller team. The pay would be the same, however I would lose my end of year bonus (currently 15% of salary) and instead get equity (final amount still to be determined). They&#x27;ve had some press about potential IPO plans in the future, but that stuff is always up in the air.<p>Has anyone here ever done anything similar? How have the downstream job prospects gone after taking a demotion? Any general advice?<p>Thank you
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codegeek
15% is a lot of money as I am guessing you make 6 figures based on your job
title.

"While I like my coworkers, have good pay and low stress.."

Again, these are very important factors to consider. The 3 things you
mentioned is a really nice thing to have going for you in any job.

I am not necessarily telling you what to do but consider this:

\- Are you willing to take a chance to work at a "unicorn" for 15% lower pay ?

\- Are you willing to take a chance to give up "low stress" and potentially
get into a high stress environment ? You don't know that for sure.

\- Are you willing to meet new co-workers and find out they may not be as
nice/friendly as you current ones ? They could of course be better than the
current ones.

\- Most important question: Are you at a point in your life where changing a
"safer" job is ok ? Are you in that phase "I am too old for this shit" (not
trying to stir up age discrimination here but at the age of 35 myself, I do
say fck it to lot of things that I did in my 20s)

The answer to these questions can possibly help you decide.

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eb0la
That was my case one year ago: working for a megacorp and left to freelance.
Now working as head of Data Science at a small Digital Transformation
consulting firm.

For me this has been a personal development accelerator. It's a demotion only
if you feel it is.

Megacorps are usually slow (that was my case) and I felt I could be lagging
behind the sector if I stayed there and I was right: New projects in the
Megacorp halted after I left and they are trying to start them now albeit
slowly.

I wanted to work on something with bigger impact in the next 2-5 years and
"see" a lot of different stuff from different sectors (banking, telco,
advertising, retail, etc).

BTW - since you'll be joining a "unicorn" and things are starting, you shuld
try to have contact with end clients: knowing what users need / want / IGNORE
is much more important than we (technical people) think it is.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

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romanhn
I've made a similar move and have no regrets. Lost the title, but gained
valuable experience. Over time, I have noticed that I care less about titles
and more about the work I do. No doubt that helping a startup go through a
period of hypergrowth (still in the middle of it!) will be tremendously more
beneficial to me long-term than overseeing a tiny department year in, year
out.

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mchannon
If you're to the stage of getting offered a position where you have to lose
your bonus if you jump ship, there's no harm in asking for the 15% bonus you
would have received as a sign-on bonus. Have you asked? Finding an experienced
data science director is getting exceptionally expensive these days, and even
at your current salary they may be way-lowballing you.

Megacorps tend to be a lot more stable than startups, and that may include the
unicorn in question. Your current job probably has no expiration date (if no
excitement either). Are you content with it being more likely you'll be out of
work in 6 months to 2 years?

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pasbesoin
This reads more like a "lateral" move to me. And, if you make the change and
if such a conversation is forced upon you, that's how I'd frame it.

P.S. Trading pay for equity. Taking an opportunity for greater initiative and
growth. Etc.

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p333347
> How have the downstream job prospects gone after taking a demotion?

I haven't done anything like that first hand, and this response might not be
useful, but FWIW I have browsed many profile on LinkedIn (mostly stackexchange
users and HN folks who make it public, and the related ones) and I was quite
surprised to see many have done something similar - taken a demotion to join
startups. I was further surprised that their next job was at a more
established megacorp at a level comparable to the original one. By this
observation it seems not to be a problem. However, I don't quite know if they
had it easy or had to negotiate a bit, both for the position and the salary.

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kasey_junk
I've taken 15% paycuts for more interesting work (and more!) And I've never
regretted it.

Man management demotions have never caused me any issues.

I'll also add 15% is within the negotion margins most places, so you might not
need to take a cut at all.

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skyfox4
+1 for "work on something that excites you is imho priceless"

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gus_massa
How many hours per week do you work in the current job? How many will you work
in your new job? What are you doing in the your free hours?

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dxbydt
I have done something similar. Lost a lot of money in the immediate short
term, but the long term benefits after 2+ years were worth every penny. A
chance to upgrade your skills and work on something that excites you is imho
priceless. You should grab it while you still can.

