Consider this job in light of your next choice.
01 Reading notes
Beyond the pay: your next job search.
Xingzhou had signed for a backend development job, but kept looking at what his friends were being paid. Another test-development offer paid more, yet he had tried that work in an internship and knew he disliked it. He asked whether to be content with that choice or keep looking while interning, and whether sacrificing work–life balance for higher pay would be worthwhile.
I suggested interning while continuing with spring recruitment. He could do both: use the existing opportunity to build experience and keep trying for something better. I also discussed openings left unfilled during spring recruitment. In his situation, accepting the offer he had did not have to end the search.
What mattered more to me was the work he wanted to do at his next move. If he still wanted a development role, the projects and problems his first job exposed him to would shape that next interview. Returning to test development for the higher pay could also mean having to explain his fit and fill gaps in development experience later. That cost of changing direction belongs in this decision too.
That was why I supported starting in backend development and continuing to look. My judgment rested on his internship experience, the direction he wanted and the opportunities he could still pursue. The pay difference mattered. But writing down what would qualify him for his next opportunity made it easier to judge whether the extra money was worth the experience he would trade for it.
Try taking each option one step further: after doing this job, what could you add to your résumé? Is that the experience your next employer would be looking for? If you can name only the company and role, but cannot describe what you would accomplish, part of the case for its prospects is still missing.
My advice is to deal with problems now, rather than avoid them or pass them on to your future self.Open this letter
02 Reading notes
“You can transfer later.” Ask for evidence first.
By June the following year, Xingzhou was considering another possible test-development opportunity. Several interviews had ended without an offer, and time was running short. He had learned that this role might involve more development work; the pay and opportunities in the city were attractive too. But he still worried about the role’s prospects and its position in the business. There was no final offer yet.
My advice had two conditions: establish how much development work he would actually do, and ask people inside whether anyone had successfully transferred from test development into a development role. Those questions checked the present and the future separately: what could he learn after joining, and was there a real way to use that experience for his next move?
“You can transfer later” sounds like a path. Before putting it into a plan, it helps to know who has taken it, what it required and whether the current team permits it. These further questions extend the checks I suggested in that reply. When “get in first and work it out later” feels appealing, notice whether an unverified possibility has started to feel like a promise already secured.
A similar question had arisen around the game-company opportunity he asked about in spring. I favored its technical challenges and the opportunities in the city, while also asking him to examine whether his managers would take responsibility, how the team developed newcomers and which relationships a move would leave behind. The growth a job promises needs actual tasks, supportive people and a life you can settle into.
Once those details can be checked, I can discuss the path after joining. Where they cannot, they remain unknowns. Urgency can change how much imperfection we are willing to accept. It cannot supply evidence for something we do not know.
And ask whether anyone has successfully transferred internally from test development to a development role.Open this letter
03 Reading notes
What does overtime buy, besides pay?
Preparing for his first job change, Zhiqiu had compared four options in detail. One startup offered the highest pay and wider responsibilities, at the cost of intense hours and a move to another city. He worried that if the company failed, he might have invested a great deal of time without gaining the résumé value of a larger company’s name.
I separated those two concerns in my reply. First, the project: based on the information he provided, I thought its depth and the experience it offered would be competitive in a later search for a large-company role. That was one reason I favored it. Whether the company would succeed, or how much he would ultimately gain, is not answered in the correspondence.
Then, the time. My reply included a specific condition: if he would otherwise spend his free time on development, and the work had enough depth to teach him something, I thought putting some of that time into the job while earning more was worth considering. The comparison is what the same stretch of time could leave him with under each arrangement.
If the overtime merely repeated work he already knew, with no clear project to own or skill to learn, an important premise of my advice would be missing. Being busy does not answer whether you are growing. Free time also needs to be considered in terms of how you intended to use it. Describe both sides concretely, so that a vague promise of growth at work is not being compared with an equally vague idea of freedom outside it.
My earlier reply to Xingzhou took a strong position on investing in growth early in a career. Zhiqiu’s question lets that exchange be examined more specifically: the extra hours, the increase in pay, the project experience and the cost of moving. Consider them together to decide whether this is an exchange you want to make.
04 Reading notes
Stay for a while, with a reason to wait.
Of Zhiqiu’s four options, I personally favored D, the startup, while also treating A, staying with his current employer, as worth considering. He already felt the company offered limited long-term growth. I still suggested observing things for a few months, for specific reasons: a promised midyear performance rating and the possibility of securing a quick promotion.
Both affect when to leave, and with what experience and level. Deciding whether you want to stay long term and deciding whether to leave now involve different time horizons. If you intend to move eventually, it is worth working out what a short wait could add to that next step.
Waiting needs an object. In revisiting this letter, I would complete “wait a little longer” with three details: what am I waiting for, when will I check it, and what will I do if it does not happen? The original reply suggested watching the performance outcome and seeking a promotion. The timing still needs to reflect what actually materializes and the external opportunities available. A new opportunity cannot be assumed to wait indefinitely.
My summer reply to Xingzhou had a similar structure. If he accepted the imperfect role, I suggested pursuing promotion or building experience before moving into development, with an explicit reminder to plan the timing. After accepting the arrangement available now, there would still be a next step to work toward.
Across these four exchanges, I return to one question: after doing this job, what more could you have in hand at your next decision? Perhaps project experience you can explain, a verified route to an internal transfer, or a promotion worth pursuing. Making those concrete gives the immediate trade-offs a future against which to judge them.
Staying at A is also a better short-term choice, but not the best long-term one.Open this letter
Give every option a next step.
- How would this experience appear in my next interview?Name the projects, problems and capabilities you could discuss. Where you have only a job title, ask more.
- Which benefits are verified, and which need checking?List the actual work, team support and transfer precedents separately. Beside each unknown, name someone to ask.
- What will I put into this, and how long will I wait?Describe the exchange of time, relocation and income. Set a point to review the experience gained or the event you are waiting for.