Startup or Small Local Consulting Firm

Need some advice from the senior people at TE. Ok, 2 job offers to choose from. A growing startup (not really a startup anymore, 4 years old), or a small (10 Employees) local IT consulting firm for small businesses.

Startup:
- Good pay
- Level 1 support (misc. level 2 tasks)
- 3 month contract to perm
- Opportunity to grow

Consulting Firm:
- Slightly better pay.
- More exposure to technology (VMWare, AD, etc.)
- Full Time

About Me:
- HS Education
- No Certs
- Fairly Young
- 2 yrs of exp.

So what do I do? Besides finally start working towards certs or education (hoping to soon). Take the startup role for the name, and opportunity to grow. Or, take the better pay and exposure to all kind of technology. I guess my question is, what looks better down the line?

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Comments

SweenMachine

dubzer wrote: »

Need some advice from the senior people at TE. Ok, 2 job offers to choose from. A growing startup (not really a startup anymore, 4 years old), or a small (10 Employees) local IT consulting firm for small businesses.

Startup:
- Good pay
- Level 1 support (misc. level 2 tasks)
- 3 month contract to perm
- Opportunity to grow

Consulting Firm:
- Slightly better pay.
- More exposure to technology (VMWare, AD, etc.)
- Full Time

About Me:
- HS Education
- No Certs
- Fairly Young
- 2 yrs of exp.

So what do I do? Besides finally start working towards certs or education (hoping to soon). Take the startup role for the name, and opportunity to grow. Or, take the better pay and exposure to all kind of technology. I guess my question is, what looks better down the line?

My vote is the startup company to be honest. The biggest mistake I made was quitting my job at a 'small' company in 2004 to go on tour with my band. Every person that was at the level 1 desk with me are all mgmt level or above, and the company that had 24 employees then has 500+ now. Extreme case esp not knowing what this business does, I know, but that is why I left a large pharma company for a small IT company just this year...

-scott

lsud00d

I'd vote for the consulting firm. The startup isn't even a guaranteed position after the 3 months.

@scott--

The biggest mistake I made was quitting my job at a 'small' company in 2004 to go on tour with my band

I was always bummed I never got to tour with any of my bands (since it would have involved quitting my job) but in retrospect I'm glad I didn't since...those bands obviously didn't work out lol.

paul78

Welcome to the TE forums. Do you actually have 2 job offers to choose from? If so - congratulations!

It's really tough to decide but you hinted that the startup is well-known. And depending on the size of the company - I personally would go with the startup. It really depends however on the business model of the startup. But I'm not a big fan of consulting companies unless it has a good exit strategy or growth model. A startup implies that it's a growth company with an exit strategy - if so - you could learn a lot about business and how to build value.

Good luck!