So I have this friend Mike.

About 4 months ago Mike got a job at Hewlett-Packard as a database developer. However, he was not immediately brought in on staff and he is still a contractor through a third-party agency. Mike enjoys himself at HP – the people he works with are nice, the work is challenging, and the work campus is only a couple of miles from his house. The temp agency is paying him $40,000 per year, but realistically he is making more like $60,000 because of the overtime, which bothers some people, but not Mike. He is pretty happy with his job, citing “corporate politics” as the only major downside.

Recently, he’s been corresponding with a small software company allegedly poised for explosive growth because of the owner’s previous experiences, an avalanche of new clients, and the high skill level of the programmers on staff. Because Mike is proficient in PHP, SQL, PERL, MySQL, and other open source software packages, he was asked to take an aptitude test, which he passed with a 95-percentile score. Mike also did really well on the interview, and got an offer letter.

Mike negotiated a stable salary of $60,000 per year plus 10% commission from existing projects (if completed on time) divided up between a few members of his team. Historically, an average bonus is around $1,000 a month. The projects range from Google Maps API-driven real estate sites to media projects with national exposure to manufacturing processes automation. Mike was told that because the company and the people working for it are young, they are in the process of hiring not just coders, but future company leadership.

Mike did some checking, and the company has enough retainer payments and recurring clientele billings that it’s not “going under” any time soon. The future projects look a lot more interesting than those in HP, the staff is fun (they play Halo and have paintball tournaments in spare time), and the opportunity for professional growth is there. The mentality and atmosphere reminded Mike about what he heard about companies like Google – very personal, laid-back, easy-going. Pet projects are encouraged and given immediate resources if approved by the rest of the team.

Basically, Mike has to make a decision about how to better his career: stay at HP and grind it out, or take a chance and see what happens. He realizes there’s upsides and downsides to everything:

STAY AT HP:

+ Close to home
+ Established himself well already
+ Possible moderate pay increase
+ Possible permanent offer within several months
+ Projects are semi-fun
- Corporate politics suck ass
- Having 5 bosses to report
- Being a contractor (uncertain future)

LEAVE HP:

+ Fun projects
+ Informal atmosphere (no politics – get in, get out)
+ Stability
+ Reliable paychecks
+ Performance-based, immediate advancement potential
- 40 minute drive through stop-n-go
- Long-time girlfriend will need a car
- Severing established ties with friends at HP and temp agency

It all comes down to having balls and taking the plunge, or grinding it out safely. When he asked me about this dilemma, I didn’t know what do say. Mike’s next move is to waive the offer letter in front of his temp agency manager in an attempt to beat a raise out of him.

What would you do?