How to evaluate the current company for whether I should switch out of it?
Hi, I have joined Goldman Sachs recently (4 months back) and almost close to deliver my first major project (end of week). My main work is in creating data pipelines or using in house sql tools to gather data in various lakes and warehouse for other tools to use them. The Tech part of the whole firm seems super unorganised (they never use agile or change management in past 6 years for tracking work) having so many in house legacy tools, never having generic view of the problem to create generic solution and half the time doing manual reconciliation or data search for expected data fields with super high learning curve.
I feel I should go for switch. What are some of the points I should use to analyse the team and the firm for switching so early? My team is supportive to help me but they are always under pump. In my last company, we were about to be laid off, so I didn't need to evaluate company for switch.
Discussion
(4 comments)- 1a month agoTech Lead/Manager at Meta, Pinterest, Kosei
My most popular answer on Taro is on this question! How do I know when it's time to leave a team/company?
But that answer was more geared toward people who had stayed at a company for a significant duration, e.g. 4+ years.
In any job, you should be either learning or earning. It sounds like you're not learning as much in this Goldman Sachs job, either from processes or people. That's a good reason to leave, but you need to be careful:
- 4 months is not a lot of time and you want to avoid being labeled as a job hopper. My thoughts: Perception of being a "job hopper"?
- How much are you earning relative to what you could get in the market?
- Are there opportunities to increase your learning within the company?
- 0a month agoMid-Level Software Engineer [OP]Goldman Sachs
Hi thanks, for inputs. Earning is at par with market level. I would explore opportunities in my team further or sibling team if possible within same BU if nothing suits me in current team. I will ensure to give evaluation time before switching ! Thanks , Rahul
- 1
a month agoTech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course HeroThe grass is always greener on the other side.
In your situation, you have 2 big things most engineers don't have:
- A supportive team
- A name brand (while Goldman Sachs isn't a tech company, it is a globally renowned business overall)
Could things be better? Sure. But given the market and the relatively good situation you're in, I recommend giving your team more of a chance, at least for another 3-6 months. If you still feel like you aren't growing enough, then you can start looking (and hopefully the broader tech market is better at that point). You generally want ~1 year at your first role as anything shorter is a yellow to red flag to recruiters and hiring managers (they will be afraid that you'll just pass the interview, join, and leave soon after).
100% empathize with how slow things are for you though, that's what happens at older companies, especially non-tech ones. It's frustrating, but you can still learn a lot in those environments if you have good teammates. Check out this thread: "Help needed: New grad job going at a slow pace with nothing to do - Next steps?"
- 1a month agoMid-Level Software Engineer [OP]Goldman Sachs
Thanks for sharing the broader perspective. I understand that economy is not too good even in Indian market to get job quickly. I also went through the question mentioned in the reply and have some overlap with it, but mostly I have work (mundane but work) and good team to support if they are free from their constant pressure. I will give myself 3 month or End Of year to actually evaluate and focus on passive learning then. Appreciate it Alex
