Career advice for junior dev on first job hop?

Question

Hello all, Currently debating my first job hop as a software engineer. Through some different pacing of job interviews (and the hiring freezes), I am in a situation and I am not sure whats the best path forward.I have an offer that I really like. Great pay increase, hiring manager seems great, in a city I really want to move to. The only downside is its a generic Java Backend role (which is what my first job it). Its not bad, because I do enjoy backend work, but I have been really interested in moving into low level programming. I've wanted to try getting a job working in C/C++/Rust and on OS stuff or low level cloud stuff.I currently have a chill job and I could turn this offer down and keep applying to jobs in hopes of getting everything I want + also the low level aspect, but I don't know if I am gonna regret turning down an offer that basically has everything just because I want to keep searching.I only started searching recently (past month), so it&rsquo;s not like I have been desperately waiting for an offer.Currently my job is relaxed, but I am not payed well now and live in the middle of no where. I can tolerate it in the short term, but I don't want to spend another 6+ months here. I want a new job relatively soon.I guess my question is, is it a good idea to try and wait? I am a bit inexperienced (1.5 YOE) and I work at a bank not an actual tech company, while the offer is a tech company. So should I go there first as a stepping stone? Then go for the ideal job once I have more experience?

codegeek · Accepted Answer

"Currently my job is relaxed, but I am not payed well now and live in the middle of no where. I can tolerate it in the short term, but I don't want to spend another 6+ months here. I want a new job relatively soon"
"Great pay increase, hiring manager seems great, in a city I really want to move to"
Take the new job. You are still very young and you can always look for the "low level" job in another year or so. What if your interests change in a year ? You would end up regretting not taking the better job anyway.

giantg2 · Answer

I would say go there for the pay increase and tech atmosphere. Too many more years in your "chill" job might stall you by making you too comfortable. Also, if you want to move to that city, this is a good first step. You can keep applying to other jobs in that city once you move there. Building your network at that company could help you move to another in a couple years as those coworkers go to other companies too.I regret not job hopping. Now I'm too old with too many family responsibilities to do it. My skills and pay have suffered as a result.

bernardv · Answer

Here&rsquo;s for the contrarian advice.. Given the economic climate and the little work experience under your belt, I&rsquo;d think very hard before taking the risk. Moving has a cost and you have no guarantee the new exciting job will last or work-out. If that happens, your resume will have taken an unnecessary hit very early in your career.It is very easy to undervalue what you have now. You got plenty of time ahead of you to figure what you really want to do and plan how to get there.

Jugurtha · Answer

>Great pay increase, hiring manager seems great, in a city I really want to move to.What's there to disklike? You can join then use this to fast-track your career: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31710673You'll be slaying dragons if you're consistent. Experience is a function of time, intensity, and focus tied together with good communication and personality.>I've wanted to try getting a job working in C/C++/Rust and on OS stuff or low level cloud stuff.I don't know you personally, but that may be a fantasy of yours. You could try doing that on the side and contributing to open-source projects or doing projects of your own. You'll improve your skills and, should you still want to get a job doing that, it will put you in a better position to do so.

toast0 · Answer

There aren't that many high paying low level jobs out there. Take a high paying high level job, and see if you can dig in on the low level stuff when it comes up. There's usually something low level that could be done to improve efficiency or reduce latency, etc, but other options are explored because there's no one to work on it. Dig in on profiling and debugging and you'll find opportunities where the profiling shows native code is the slow bit, and then you'll get to poke inside the JVM and the OS, and then you'll have something to highlight if you apply for future lower level jobs.

hunglee2 · Answer

Seems to me like that most of the elements are in place - city you want to be in, work you can do, significant pay upgrade, and crucially, a positive relationship with your direct manager. If you're young in your life (as well career) the truth is you can afford a greater degree of risk - worst case scenario here is that you get bored in 6-12 months and then maybe look again; best case scenario might actually be the same thing.I'd take the job

edmcnulty101 · Answer

It sounds like the new job is literally everything you want and the old job is literally everything you don't want.
The fact that you're asking this question means that there's some red flags that may not be disclosed in this post it seems to me.
Take the new job. If it works out then you win, if not then you can get a tech job in under a month or maybe the old place will take you back.

OrangeMonkey · Answer

Spend the first 5+ of your career getting your salary higher. Focus / specialize at that point if you like.

devoutsalsa · Answer

If you work at a bank, you'll have a hard time being taken seriously as a low level programmer. Backend at a more challenging company sounds like a good stepping stone.

treis · Answer

What happened when you tried to get a job working in C/C++/Rust... ?