Hello, I'm a graduating computing student and have received a number of offers spanning a broad range of fields. I've always been open to trying out new kinds of work although I would say my interests/goals are to work mainly in the IT sector towards the management route as opposed to the technical specialist route. Never been good at coding and problem-solving in code so I doubt that I will succeed and do well in the specialist route, but I still think the IT sector is interesting and see myself in roles like product /project management or the likes. Besides IT, I'm also interested in strategy and innovation! Therefore, I'm interested in being at the forefront of the intersections of business and IT.
Since business and IT intersections are honestly quite broad as a field, I applied to many different roles that spanned many industries. Am super fortunate that I managed to get multiple offers back, but I am now unsure which is best for me to start my career in. Here's some of the offers I shortlisted:
1. Public service in a graduate program at a stat board:
It's a rotational programme in the initial years, and then I will be placed in a team permanently. The kind of work I may get to do can be research, planning to perhaps something a little more technical. I'm not sure exactly what I will get to do or learn since it's a rotational programme and I'm not sure where I will get placed. But I thought it will be cool to learn how this stat board is helping business and Singapore towards a digital future which is why I applied. But I'm highly worried about whether I will like the work here since it can vary across the teams, and also where I will go next if I don't like the organisation at the end of the day.
2. Public service in a IT role at a stat board:
This sounds like I can learn alot since I will be joining to learn about how IT structures work in a large corporate group! There's international exposure as well
However, I'm not sure how the exit opportunities are like if I decide to quit the stat board and go somewhere else.
3. Tech Consultancy in a MNC firm
I guess this is basically helping clients of the firm design solutions. There's a little coding involved to troubleshoot things for clients, but otherwise it is a role that I guess involves lots of research, presentations, and writing. As with most MNCs, it's likely to have a more diverse and international culture than the stat boards and consequently benefits that are more international. What I'm worried about is that the area of work may be too specialised for me to enjoy.
4. Tech consultancy in a big4 kind of firm
Well this speaks for itself and I guess the benefits are the broad range of projects that I could potentially work on and strong growth and learning culture with likely great colleagues. The only caveat is probably the pay being much lower than the rest.
As a fresh grad,I personally prioritize mainly career progression and growth opportunities. As long as the salaries are reasonable and not below my bottom line, I am otherwise blind to the differences unless it's huge. Part of me is worried that if I miss out on joining the stat boards/public service now, it will be difficult to get back in and they may blackmark me? Another part of me is also worried that it will be difficult to get into the private sector tech firms once I join the public service from the get-go.
Any advice and thoughts on my situation will be greatly appreciated!