Hey all, looking for some advice as I’m a bit stuck on what to do next.
I’m currently working as a developer in a role that’s fairly low paid (~33k) with in the insurance tech space but I’m getting solid hands-on experience with real systems, c#, and starting to get exposure to CI/CD and DevOps-type work. The team is decent, commute is manageable (2 days in office), and overall work-life balance is okay. Downside are no real progression, very slow Innovation or intake of modern tech.
However, I’ve recently been offered a role paying around 65k with in legal firm. The catch is:
- 3 days a week in London (I’m based in Birmingham)
- Long commute (train or drive) don’t wanna move out of brum if I have to
- Role is more focused on internal systems, support, and legacy tech (SQL, VBA, etc.) have previous experience since I worked in a similar firm after graduation with similar tech.
- Less exposure to modern engineering practices
So I’m basically choosing between:
- Staying where I am, building better long-term skills but being underpaid for now, only 2 days in office and it’s in the midlands so commute is about 45mins by car
- Or taking a big salary jump, but potentially locking myself into less modern tech + worse work-life balance
What would you do in this situation? Is it worth taking the money now, or better to optimise for growth and move later?
Appreciate any advice 🙏