Dear Blind, I am a 25 year old mechanical engineer and I have two offers that I'm having a hard time deciding between. Both are located in southern california Offer one: Offer one is at a sheet metal/HVAC company that I worked for before I started working for my most current employer (I left a year ago). They are offering to match my salary my the current company. My manager will also invest in getting me Six Sigma Green Belt certified, conferences, training in controls/automation, and will personally train me to transition to a managerial position. This manager really likes me and is doing a lot to make it so I can come back a year after leaving with a 50% increase in salary. He has 35 years of experience in his industry and wants to pass on his knowledge. He is willing to invest a lot into my personal development/success and even wants me to take over his position since he will be retiring in a few years. At this workplace, I am already valued, have a great relationship with the manager, and I'll be favored over the other employees. So much so that they're willing to fire someone else who started recently to take me back. This offer will be a 2-3 year commitment with all the training I will receive. TC: 62k/yr ($30/hr) + 3% salary retirement match Would be able to save approx 33% of my salary Offer Two Offer two is a 6-month contract position at a medical device company that makes endodentistry devices. They are offering me 33% more money than my current job and Offer One. However, it is a contract position. There is a potential opportunity to get hired full time after I fulfill my 6-month contract but it isn't guaranteed. I see Offer Two as a more technical experience with potential for new experience and growth. Plus they have equipment that I am interested in learning such as 3D printers. TC: 84k/yr ($40/hr) Would be able to save approx 44% of my salary If I go with Offer One, I'll get training and a mentor but I make less money. My pay rate would likely be stagnant during my tenure but I'd have the opportunity to make twice that amount once I leave with the experience I will have gained. Plus I already know I'll have a stable job and that my manager is willing to bend over backwards for me and have my back. I would expand my knowledge in HVAC systems, design for manufacturing, manufacturing, project management, and managing. If I go with Offer Two, I'll get paid more and will get more experience in the medical device field. The experience I receive here will be more technical and I'll learn new equipment (3D Printers) and get more experience with 3D CAD. While I may not have stability with a 6-month contract, I can job hunt the whole time and potentially find another job that will pay more than $85k/yr. This would allow me to save a lot more money than I could with Offer One after a few years. I would expand my knowledge in process validation, design for manufacturing, manufacturing, project management, and learn about 3D printing. I'm trying to decide which offer would be best. Do I go with the safe/stable option where I know I'm valued or go with the risky/less stable opportunity where I have to carve my own path but I get more pay? I know both experiences have a lot to offer. Right now I'm leaning towards going for more pay and new experiences. Any advice would be appreciated. Please include how many years of experience you currently have.
Neither just leetcode
He is ME not SWE, lol but yeah the tech salaries are much higher than the ME salaries.
How do you get by with your TC in SoCal?
Living with multiple people but I’m still young so it hasn’t been a big deal. There is affordable housing even if you’re alone but it’s harder to find something affordable and nice
Also I don’t have really much debt, expenses, I’m not married, and I don’t have kids
A hard decision between two five figure offers. I'm afraid this probably isn't the forum for getting good answers in these cases.
Those of us in manufacturing/with 5 figure salaries just need to keep posting on Blind so it becomes our forum too 🙃
Medical device experience is more specialized and could help your career long term. Healthcare industry is booming and medical devices are an important piece. I went through a 10 year phase of contract/consultant work in my career and it really grew me. The ability to transition to different projects, in different industries with different people is great experience. It is helpful from a networking perspective, pays more and you get a much broader set of experience. It is stressful between assignments though.
I know this is an old post, found it by searching “manufacturing” because I’d like to find more of us on here :) I’m not an engineer but I have worked with tons since I started in manufacturing in 2011. Not sure if you already made your decision but just throwing it out there that everything you said about the first role makes it sound like you realize you’d have it really good there and it could really set you up for success going forward. I’d definitely really consider going with it for that reason, not to mention the fact that you already know you could live on only 2/3 of that salary. About the salary though- I’m just curious about how you said that would be a 50% raise from where you were before you left that company? They were only paying you $40k as an ME with a bachelor’s? That just sounds low to me so I do think it would be good to make sure you understand if they tend to pay competitively or if they’re often lower than the market. Best of luck!
Another fellow manufacturing guy here! Found this post through searching “manufacturing” as well. I agree with him as well. The first option seems to offer much better learning opportunities which will be really valuable at your point in career. If the first employer likes you a lot, maybe you could try negotiating your salary by leveraging the better offer in hand. Hope this helps! Let us know how you are doing :)
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It seems they both will grow your career. What would you like to do for the next 5 years? Which career path would maximize your happiness and TC? Is it CAD? Is it HVAC knowledge? The only difference between the two seems to be just CAD and 3D printing?
Really the biggest difference is the medical device industry vs the HVAC industry. Totally different amounts of oversite. I’d have CAD at offer one but it would be more 2D CAD and maybe Revit. Also could have some pull to get other software