I’m feeling conflicted about a potential career move. Context: My recent tenures have been slightly over 2 years → 8 months → slightly over 2 years → now 10 months and counting. Each move has been a significant upgrade in either role or company. In my current role, I’m doing fairly well. It’s a tough product and territory, but management recognizes this and doesn’t apply unnecessary pressure. It’s comfortable, but increasingly frustrating, as I’m struggling to hit OTE or even come close. Now, I’ve interviewed with another company offering: -50% higher base pay and OTE -A better role, though the brand isn’t as strong I’m torn. While the opportunity is tempting, I’m hesitant to move so soon and risk being seen as a job hopper. Not sure whether to stay put for stability or make the leap for better compensation and growth.
That’s the challenge. Management clearly trusts me to turn this around, and all signs point to their confidence in me. So I don't feel at risk (at least for now, although things can change fast) I have a great relationship with my boss and even with senior leadership, to the point where leaving feels like a betrayal of the trust they've put in me. I get that, in the end, it's not personal and strictly business but I am struggling to keep the emotional aspect aside. Thanks for your advice!
I had the same thing come up a few years ago. I was doing well, and an old friend called and asked me to consider coming to work for him. He offered significant increases in base pay and commission, combined with a target market that sounded like a tremendous amount of fun - I took the job. It didn't work out. There were a number of factors that I didn't learn up front that would have made a big difference in my decision, and branding was a big one. Based on what you've shared, my first question would be 'how important is the brand in this specific market?'
Hey Mate - Sorry, was a bit busy! When I say brand, I mean from the perspective of a recruiter. Both brands are well-established names in their respective domains. So the new role is not with like a no-name startup. Both are Unicorns (not that it means much in today's day and age) It's just that one is significantly more known because of their open-source product. Still no decision btw :(
First of all, congrats on the offer. It's definitely a tough choice. I've said many times that a few short stints really don't matter too much, BUT, at some point the hiring managers are going to look for one long tenure. If ALL you have are short tenures, the perceived risk of the hiring manager goes up exponentially. So that really should be considered in this decision. With the new offer - do you see a path to 3 to 4 years? If you do, a 50% higher base is substantial, so you have to really dig into the product and the territory - can it sustain you being successful for 3 to 4 years. Not even coming close to your OTE in your current role implies that you're missing goal badly - do you feel at risk because of that? Good luck, let us know what you ended up doing. ✌️