RickSpace

This is in no way stating that I am in the following position, that I plan to be in the following position or that the following position is in any way shape or form related to me; this is purely a curiosity that has struck me recently.

Let’s say you have three jobs you’re considering. Let’s go so far as to say that you are employed at job #1, and that jobs #2 and #3 are being offered. What should you consider in making your decision and depending upon your current situation (single, married with children, somewhat lame superhero, etc) which job would be the ‘best’?

Job #1 => Very stable. The job offers slightly below-average pay for the industry but the job is stable, there is SOME growth opportunity in the 5+ year range, the benefits are truly the most amazing part of the job. Education benefits, good retirement investments, and an incredibly relaxed environment are all part of the package. The downsides are the average pay and the lack of exciting opportunities.

Job #2 => HUGE corporation. One of the biggest corporations in your field offers the ability to change jobs within the company and a large assortment of incredibly exciting projects upon which you could work. The job could be unstable simply because of large corporation cutbacks and the chance of failure under fire. The upsides would be likely a good benefits package, moderate to good pay, stability if you really work and network (a.k.a. kiss-butt) well, and a variety of interesting things to work on. Downsides would be the possible lack of stability, the much higher-stress work environment, and you still run the possibility of being put into a task group that you don’t enjoy.

Job #3 => Explosively growing startup. Instability is the keyword here. If that factor were taken out of the equation, this would be a no-brainer. A rather high salary, potentially amazing benefits (stock options of Google, anyone?), and lots of innovative, high-energy, very interesting work going on are the upsides. On the downside of things, your job could be gone tomorrow… or next week… or next month… or maybe they’ll sell out to another company and you’ll end up working for the big company anyway, but be treated as a second-class citizen.

So given your particular situation, which would you choose? What other factors am I not considering here? Are there other glaring upsides or downsides to any of the jobs as described? I’m guessing most single people will probably say the startup sounds great. I’m guessing most family-having people would choose one of the other two. Does it change your mind any if I say that the startup has been around for 2-3 years, has already sold its ‘product’ to several Fortune 500’s, and that they’ve been successful enough to inspire a second round of VC investment of nearly $7 million? Does it change anything if job number one is for a private university? Does it change anything if the mega-huge corporation is Microsoft? Does it change anything if you HAVE job #1, but haven’t really even had official offers for either of the other two yet? Just looking for some thoughts here… any help?