Sorry in advanced for the wall’s of text: TLDR with key info at the bottom.
For context, I (26M) have been at my current role for about 6 years. I left briefly for a lateral opportunity but boomerang’d back to my current role less than a year later due to it not being a good fit. I was presented with a new opportunity by a connection and it is essentially a senior version of the role I’m in now. I wasn’t expecting it to jump into a new role, but now that I’m presented with the opportunity I’m conflicted on whether I should go for it.
At my current role I make around 77k, with the potential to get a 10% max bonus yearly. I’m an individual contributor and the work is good. Business can be chaotic at times but I’ve been doing it for so long that I’m comfortable with the day to day. Plus the people are great and I’ve made some amazing, lifelong friends here. While this is all great, there’s no clear path for growth and to increase my salary, not unless people move around or leave. And while my experience with the work is okay, team morale is super low and senior leadership is backwards. It’s also 4-5 days in office role with not a lot of flexibility.
The new role is a manager position at 85k, no bonus. It will be focused on doing the work that I currently really enjoy doing and it’ll help lay the groundwork for various different initiatives which is exciting. It’s also 2-3x days a week in office with a lot more flexibility. It’s a smaller org, so upwards mobility seems limited, but I feel like the manager title will open a lot doors for me down the line than a consultant or specialist position would. This role was also offered to me by a connection who is in a senior position and who I enjoy working with.
On paper my gut is telling me that this opportunity is good. I’m not sure how long it’ll take for something like this to show up again, and until then I’ll be stuck an IC/Specialist. At the same time, I don’t necessarily mind it. The work is okay, but to be totally honest, I just have a blast with my coworkers. We work, have a good time, talk smack about work etc. It’s pretty fun most days. But typing this out, it does feel like a pretty weak reason to stay. I also don’t want to burn any bridges with management, who were all happy to see me come back. If I leave again, this door will probably be closed forever and I certainly don’t want to burn any bridges. Similarly with the new opportunity, if I decline it, I feel as though I’ll be letting down the connection who offered it to me and could potentially close the door there.
Do you guys have any advice on the what right move might be here?
TL;DR: 26M making ~$77k + bonus at a comfortable IC role with great coworkers, but limited growth, low morale, and little flexibility. Offered an ~$85k manager role with more flexibility, better alignment with the work I enjoy, and stronger long-term career potential, but I’m conflicted about leaving a team I genuinely love and potentially burning bridges after already boomeranging back once.