Keeping it abstract, but I was recently offered a job that I am SUPER, SUPER unqualified for. It's a pay cut, I'm likely too young for the role, it'll mean sticking to my home town for the next few years, and it'll probably be stressful for the first few months... ...BUT it would make me faculty at the university honor's program I graduated from two (ish) years ago, meaning I could go to grad school for free. What's Hubski's gut feeling?
My gut feeling is if they offered it to you, the "unqualified" and "too young" aspects are a lie. Unless they've misjudged you terribly, they've surmised you'll figure it out quickly enough. You've never done the job. They've hired for it (or something similar to it) before. Don't look down your nose at that vote of confidence. My one word of caution is that university salaries tend to increase more slowly than salaries out in the marketplace and with the economics we're looking at for the next few years, "pay cut" now might be "deep pay cut" a few years from now. If you've got an exit strategy should that pinchpoint squeeze you too tightly I say go for it.
I’m the CEO of a biotechnology company. I have a degree in business management from an unremarkable university. Still, I’m any mans equal. I’ve learned this. I have natural abilities that are hard to qualify. You do too. My guess is they see this in you. Take it.
Thanks guys. We're still in the salary negotiating phase, and I know they're desperate to hire before school kicks off in about a month. I'm going to see if I can leverage that for a bit more pay (my current salary isn't far outside of their range), but ultimately I'll plan on accepting the position. I'll keep y'all updated and let you know how it goes!
Short answer: I think so? Long answer: I'd effectively be a lead dev on like 30 student projects simultaneously. It sounds stressful, but I also know they aren't doing anything technologically groundbreaking and it could be a really useful accelerator to pick up some skills I want to lay claim to in the future. I'd also get to deliver lectures and spend my free time picking up new technologies (essentially fucking around w/ side projects so that I can be a better resource for students). The role seems really flexible, and I'd get to use my natural soft-skill talents more than I do in my current in-the-trenches dev job. So...Probably? I think so! Plus, I'd get to say I was the assistant director of an entire school on my resume. Kinda nifty.