3 ms·
Ask HN: How do I pick between Microsoft and OPower?
I am a CS major who will be graduating in May 2012. (I would be starting full time work in Fall 2012.) I have a number of job offers, but the two I'm most interested in currently are Microsoft and OPower (http://opower.com/). I really have no idea how to pick between the two.
Microsoft - Windows Phone Team
__Pros:__
* Much higher compensation
* Working in C++ may make me a stronger coder
* I am passionate about Windows Phone
* Based on previous internship experience, I know most people there are quite smart
* Microsoft may look better on my resume (but that doesn't feel like a great reason)
* I've lived in the Seattle area my whole life, and know that I like it
__Cons:__
* C++ can be a pain to work with
* Despite being reviewed well, Windows Phone has a tiny market share
* I interned on Outlook in Summer 2010 and had a hard time socially connecting with my team
* I've lived in the Seattle area my whole life, and may want to try something new
* Push code to users every 6-12 months is slower than I'd like
* Is Microsoft stagnant?
OPower
__Pros:__
* Stock options could end up being worth a lot
* Java isn't the greatest, but it could be more fun than C++
* Push code to users every 3 weeks!
* Rapidly pivoting teams/priorities could nicely fit my desire to work on a wide range of projects
* Quarterly Hackathons
* Nice office with plenty of natural light and scooters
* Goofy, laid-back culture
* Arlington / DC could be a cool area to work
* OPower's 21st century approach to energy reporting / analytics is wonderfully refreshing after the horribly user-hostile traditional bills I get
__Cons:__
* Stock options could end up being worthless
* The interview questions were significantly easier than those at Microsoft - does that mean the quality of people is lower?
* Customers are utility companies instead of consumers, so it may be harder for me to relate
* Number of people who actually pay attention to the stuff OPower produces could be even smaller than the number of people who use Windows Phones.
Maybe if I worked at OPower, I could express my passion for the Windows Phone by continuing to develop 3rd party apps.
Both companies felt like a good culture fit - I enjoyed the people I got to meet during my on-sites.
I've interned at Microsoft and Google in the past, and I eventually want to work at a startup / maybe found my own. One friend suggested that I work at Microsoft for a bit so I can save enough cash that taking a risk on a startup is easier.
I have no idea what to do. I suspect I could be quite happy at either. I also suspect that as a new grad, I don't even know what the right questions to ask are to assess how happy I'd be at each of these places. Can you share any wisdom?
- vyrotek 15y agoPersonally, I'm a fan of a lot of things from Microsoft (WP7, .Net, Xbox) so I would jump at any opportunity to work there. I actually have a couple of close friends who work there and they love it! They work on various .Net/VS related frameworks. I paid them a visit just last year and fell in love with the Seattle area. You live in quite an amazing city. The Redmond campus was pretty awesome too.
- mrchess 15y agoWell, from this post you don't seem to love OPower. My personal thought is that if you join a startup or a small company, you should really love it. To me Microsoft seems like the clear bet. Higher pay, and smarter people. Spend your first 2-3 years gathering industry knowledge, learning from the smart people, and building yourself a nice nest egg. If you end up enjoying it, you can climb the corporate ladder. If not, you should find it much easier to interview for a new startup with Microsoft on your resume as it holds more street cred. It is also easier to return to corporate (in the event your startup fails) with prior corporate experience. The only danger of going corporate first is that you get too comfortable and don't want to leave your paycheck. You get used to having money unlike in college when you had none. If you make $100K/yr at corporate and need to downgrade to $70K for a startup, you really feel the bump. Just be ready for that. I speak from experience. I graduated, took the corporate job and saved up a ton of money over 2.5 years and I never regret my decision. I saved up, built some corporate connections, and recently quit. In fact, people expected me to quit (I was always hacking on side projects and keeping my knowledge up to date), and they said to me "Good luck. If things don't work out look us back up.", no bridge burned. EDIT: I just realized a con was "hard time socially connecting at Microsoft". This is actually a red flag in my book. Can you elaborate? Why would they offer you a job if you didn't get along socially?