I hate decisions

So the time has almost come for me to make a decision. Of course the time has also come for me to study ops strategy for my final Monday, but that is secondary (I am a master of avoidance).

I'm not going to put in company names, just in case, but now i have the question of who do i work for? The company I worked for this summer, the company that will let me fly around the world, or the company I worked for before school? I would say the company before school is pretty much out, seeing as the jobs they are offering would be a major step down. So then we have the summer job versus the other one. How do I decide?

The money is probably equal for both once I consider bonuses (higher at the summer job) and free travel. I originally thought the potential for advancement was higher at the summer job, but things are changing there. They used to represent this great arbitrage opportunity. This company that was a great Fortune 500 company but only had 5-10 top tier MBA grads in their marketing organization, and really values a top tier MBA education (justified or not). They couldn't get the top grads because of the location and the non "sexy" quality of their business. But if I started there this year I would be in a starting class of 12, probably 6 of which would be Kellogg grads. Minneapolis is getting a lot of attention as a good place to live (if you want to talk about great marketing, the Minneapolis Travelers Association, or whatever it is called, has done an awesome job), and the "sexy" marketing jobs are harder to get now as companies aren't really hiring. So I no longer have my great advancement opportunity. I would have to deal with all the politics in order to advance, and I hate company politics. But I would have a great class of people to start with too and the people there are awesome. After dealing with a lot of marketing people and recruiting at a lot of marketing organizations, I will say that the marketing people at my summer employer are probably some of the best. They are real people, they aren't conceited, fake, and superficial like most other marketing organizations. They are mostly intelligent, real people, which is awesome. I would work in St Paul, and it would be nice to work in a city. Unfortunately, I would also be working on B to B cleaning supplies. Not very exciting.

And then there is the other opportunity. I would work in an industry that I personally find fascinating. I would get the chance to fly all over the world for free. If I wanted to go to Amsterdam for a weekend I would find an open flight and go. I don't know if i have talked about this in this blog but one of my major goals is to travel more (and Joplin, Cedar Rapids and Grand Rapids doesn't count). This job would make that possible. Plus the job is more exciting. the people seem nice, and the marketing role at this company plays more to my skills. I think I would still advance okay in the company, which is also important to me. The job isn't nearly as stable, but i figure I am an interviewing pro by now and i have contacts all over the Twin Cities. How can I beat that?

And then there is my long time employer. I'm not sure what to do about them. I'm pretty sure i wasn't going to get the marketing job with them to start. And if I went into ops or R&D i wouldn't ever. But I really do love the company. The people are awesome and the product is something I am passionate about. But the job would be a major reduction in position, and not the role i want. Plus the company isn't really known for its open attitude towards cross functional moves (even though it claims it is all for it that is a lie).

I think overall I am leaning towards the employer I have never worked for. The travel benefits are awesome, the compensation is fair (after some negotiation), and the work life balance seems good most of the time. The risk is high, but I am young, without a family. This would be the time to take a risk. It's somewhat scary, but I think this could be an exciting opportunity. Hopefully it all works out, we will see.

To anyone who has read my rambling this far, I don't know whether to be impressed with your stamina or saddened by the time you have wasted reading this ;-)