Career advice

Hi! I have a professional dilemma and would appreciate any thoughts, advice and experience you can share. I have a 5+ years in strategy consulting working for a Big4 - I like my work, team and the organisation Though, now I crave for some different experience - maybe work for startup’s or a VC firm I have been offered a job in a boutique investment bank - which works with startup’s in India My questions: 1. Is it worth switching for a Big4 to a Boutique Investment Bank - will it effect my further employability 2. Does this get me closer to my goal of working for a VC fund someday? 3. What salary hike should I ideally expect Thank you in advance for all the help!

Hi all! I have 16 years of work ex in Corporate sales and currently working in a leading indian Fintech from last 9 years. I am feeling stuck here with no visibility of growth or even sense of job security. I didn't take risks in my career as I am sole bread earner for my family but it was biggest risk I guess I took. Plz suggest me what all I should do to find good opportunities in terms of growth and job stability. I am introspecting and would really appreciate your valuable feedbacks.

Yoe: 2 years Tc:32 lpa fixed. Bg: top 5 IIT, 2 years of PM experience where I led two major 0-1 products to completion independently and had a direct revenue impact of around 25 Cr. At a crossroad in my career where a top partner in a tier 1/2 VC firm wants me join his investment team (nothing concrete, just expressed his interest in a gathering). Was curious as to how the VC career ladder looks like! I was always interested in a VC career. Just afraid, whether there will be any exit options say 5 years down the line if I want to move out or get stuck. All advice, opinion, help will be appreciated. Thanks!

I have been working in a small bootstrap startup ( 50 employees). The company is profitable and have great culture and ethics ( best out of the 4 companies I have worked for). I am expecting a decent salary hike (30%), career and learning growth. Should I look for a larger organisation or make up my mind for a long term career in my current organisation. P.S. I have 3 years of post- MBA experience and I have done Btech and MBA from premium institutes. 2 years of PM experience.

advise for growth/ further education hey folks.... I did an MBA in 2009 from a tier 2 college. worked in startups and established companies in marketing and communications roles. now hit a wall in terms of pay, growth and future prospects... thinking of doing a second mba or a data science course. what do u guys think... other info: I'm 39 years , and can't afford to stop working beyond a year.

How important is it to get an MBA for an overall network and growth perspective? I have an experience of 3 years at a series A startup, I now feel my growth flatlining. Would it be better if I go for an MBA or if I go to a different startup?

Hi, I am a 2023 passout btech graduate. Currently I am working as a full time SDE (Full Stack) in a well established startup (8 years old , Series A funded). It's been nearly half year here. My compensation is 10.5 lakh base + 4.5 lakh performance bonus + free lunch and snacks + Insurance (Including parents) benefits I am pretty good at DSA (around 2000 rating on leetcode, 4 Star at codechef in 2nd year itself, 2000+ dsa problems) I have worked in 2 startups as an SDE intern during college days and completed 5 internships overall out of which one was a US based startup. Also, I have many publications under my name over the internet. I had many offers when I was graduating from college. Most of the time people say, "Hey, you have done so much so Why are you not working in a big tech". Well I always wanted to work for big tech during college days but after I started working in startups my thought process changed as here I got the ownership of the product. Now it has been nearly 1 year since I started working in startups. Should I give it a try for big tech now? Would like to hear your views guys

As the title suggests, I often wonder what is the natural progression for people who join startups in Chief of Staff or even Founder's office roles? Do they move to a specialized vertical internally? Or do they move to other startups in CoS roles? Or they do their own venture (I like to believe this is still less likely). Have this thought because a lot of Tier 1 MBA, MBB consultant profiles have been moving to these roles and it really makes me wonder what path would the careers of these top talents take?

I work in a slowing industry (Ed-Tech!) in a generalist role (Project Management!) for half a decade now! You'd think I would be better positioned to deal with life! Heck, NO! This crippling feeling of insecurity or job loss always puts an extra stress on day to day life. I couldn't take any risks in terms of a house or a car or a big EMI purchase in life! What if I get laid off? Will this generalist role help in landing anything next? Do I need an MBA for that? Switching to any specialized roles will take extensive preparation with time being in short supply with family and kids! Seem to have been strangled in the startup world. Any cure for this? P.S : Sometimes thinking : Mommy sahi bolti thi. Govt job le leni chahiye thi. :D

Hi folks, thinking of writing a regular mini blog here about my learnings being a generalist in the ecosystem. I currently handle growth at an ecom startup and have previously been through 2-3 startups + a large corporate in my 7 year career. #1: Why you should not stay only in startups Recently started reflecting on salaries of many peers who are also startup folks and trying to see where it stands. There are 3 cohorts: a. People who started out in Big 4/Corporate & then became a generalist: They've been underpaid the most. First pay was 4-5L, and when they transitioned to startups, started at 7-9L. Over time, growing from there is difficult without MBA. b. People who have forever been in startups: They earn more than A on average. But here too, there is a delta in their salaries vs. people with same YoE who went to an MBA and are in corporate now. Side note: I've seen this cohort has usually loved what they've done, and being in startups definitely has positively impacted their thought process. c. People who went to a corporate/big tech etc. mid way: This cohort has done the best long term. Their pay got recalibrated when they went to a larger company in the middle through their career, and when they rejoined startups, they were respected more in salary negotiation. This is to anybody out there who is a generalist and sees a similar path. Try to sandwich a proper, large company in your career. It gives you perspective on whether you like it and if startups is really your preferred route. And it also recalibrates your pay. Startups will limit you basis your last salary. Corporates have standards basis bands. Just something to think over. NOTE: Do share feedback, if this makes sense. And if you'd like to read more of these too.