Job decision help please!

dgibbons

I'm a 19 year old with 21 months experience as an IT support analyst.

I've been looking for a new job which will could provide future progression and a solid step forward in my career.

I now have two offers which I can't decide between. One a large insurance consultancy company and the other a large bank. During the interview I was more drawn to the insurance company but I still can't decide better which would be the best option

Does anyone have any advice or guidance they can offer me to help me decide? Thanks

networker050184

Really no way we can give you any useful advice with the details (or lack there of) that you have provided. What are the responsibilities of the new positions? What technologies? Pay? Room for advancement? So many details needed to make an educated decision. Bank vs Insurance company really isn't much to make a choice on IMO.

dgibbons

Sorry both will be 1st/2nd line support supporting all their offices. Both run virtualised Microsoft enviroments. The banks would be supporting the UK and the insurance company support worldwide.

The bank has a IT team half the size of the insurance company. The insurance company has a wider range of technology, bespoke apps, Citrix, and a desire for the latest technology where as I don't get the same impression from the bank.

Equal pay from both however more benefits at the bank.

Not sure what else I can say.
Thanks

TomkoTech

If it were my choice based on the info provided I would go with the insurance agency. Cloud is going to continue to get bigger, and learning Citrix really can't hurt you.

dgibbons

The reason I'm unsure I'd the recruitment bloke for the bank is really twisting my thoughts and making me question which is best (doing his job well)

dgibbons

Thanks tomkotech. The bank does have some great stuff too, they never mentioned in the interview but now I'm saying I'm unsure they saying I could get involved in the IT technology behind the stock markets. I have no idea about this so it's confusing me more!

TomkoTech

What did the bank guy say?

dgibbons

He was saying how amazing it is to have experience in a bank for your future career, how they want to involve me everything in the operations department and how I could progress into other departments in the bank. The thing that I didn't like so much was that the bank didn't seem to use a wide range of technology

TomkoTech

Well do you want to explore other career options? Sure working with bank operations would be cool if that is the path you want your career to take. However if you are all in on IT and don't want to do anything else then that is going to be a hindrance, not a benefit. At least from my perspective.

Fidelity

The insurance company is definitely the one to go for if you are interested in furthering your IT career. They are offering more technology to work with and a larger scope (WorldWide). Their IT team being twice the size also means you have a lot more room for growth within the company.

datacomboss

Relax! You're 19! You have a gazillion years to go in this industry. Just pick one. All experiences both good and bad are beneficial at such a young age.

BradleyHU

dgibbons wrote: »

Thanks tomkotech. The bank does have some great stuff too, they never mentioned in the interview but now I'm saying I'm unsure they saying I could get involved in the IT technology behind the stock markets. I have no idea about this so it's confusing me more!

i think he means market data apps, like Bloomberg, ThomsonReuters, Factset, MarketAxess, etc....knowing that can lead to numerous well paid support positions...

MagnumOpus

My career was in workers comp insurance before I made the switch to IT and the one thing I hated about the Insurance Industry was the abysmal speed in which they worked to do nothing. The IT Team spent much of their time "fixing" issues that weren't really issues to begin with, more so created by staff because they were losing their religion. People in the insurance industry are extremely stressed and it's only a matter time before it bleeds over. My vote, Go Banking.