What are your thoughts on taking the first job offer you receive out of college?<p>I'm in a weird situation. I have an offer to start as an SWE consultant at a small, but growing technical consulting company that has an office near my college (in NC), as well as offices in other states.<p>Things I like about the company/offer:
- Flat organizational structure
- Supportive and collaborative culture (I've talked to 7 people at the company and had good impressions from all of them about this)
- Better work-life balance compared to other consulting companies I know of
- Opportunity for exposure to lots of technologies via different clients
- Good starting pay ($72K)
- Company pays for continuous learning opportunities (certifications + online courses)
- Role is oriented around being a self-starter
- Health insurance and 4 weeks PTO<p>Things I don't like:
- Perception (by others and myself) of settling, since this is my first offer
- In an industry I don't think I'll stay in long-term. I'm interested in the idea of working on open source products at companies like Elastic and Canonical, but I'm not at the level of skill/confidence yet where I can make significant contributions and/or get into those companies.
- Not sure if fast-paced nature of consulting aligns with how I learn best.
- Nagging feeling that I should be doing something more "risky"<p>I have a good feeling about this company, and think the small, self-starter nature of it could provide lots of opportunities for me to learn, grow, and stand out if I put in the effort.<p>About me: I struggle with perfectionism. I love learning and the thrill of programming, but I've been in a chronically overwhelmed state in college. I don't know how to explain it, but I feel like I haven't been able to truly _focus_ on learning in my later college years because of all the technical courses I am taking, and I really hate that feeling.