Hi All,After searching for few months, I have been offered work by two companies .It's a program management position in both cases but there are some differences.First company is a rapidly growing big IT company and has a strong presence worldwide. Has offered me a position of senior consultant in what they call program management consulting area in their investment banking practice. I have only received verbal offer from them and they are in the process of rolling out the formal offer (bureaucracy!). They say it will take some time and joining could be middle of next month. The work is tied to my earlier experience in IT and IB.The second company is a relatively small services company but has been growing well. I have received offer letter for manager position there but , for initial few months, I'm supposed to work as business analyst. I talked to a friend who is working in similar role and he said it's mainly a delivery role. Here the work is in IT but in a totally different domain (which I don't mind). They want me to join next week and have sent me the offer.First company is paying slightly less than the second one. Questions I have are:1. What sort of growth opportunities I can expect in either case ? I don't want to be limited to be a PMO/project manager and I enjoy the technical side of things too.2. I got the job in the second company as I got some good references there from my ex-colleagues from another firm working in it presently. So, if I let go this opportunity, I'd be affecting them too. But I guess I can't dwell on this and should focus on my career. What do you think ?3. First company has told that they are committed to hiring me but lack of a formal offer letter, fixed joining date and fixed project allocation is not really ideal situation. What is your opinion on this ?4. Finally, I want to work in the IT strategy, BTO type of function in the long run. Do you think the above opportunities still leave a scope for that kind of 'exit' ?Appreciate your comments.Seeker

Hi Seeker,In my opinion, sometimes words aren't worth very much and a lot can change. So many time's I've heard "I've been offered the job verbally" only to find that very person still job hunting 6 months late.What I'm getting at is that it would be silly, in my opinion, to pass up on an opportunity a friend has gone out of his way to help you gain, based on a verbal conversation.If you take up the second offer and decide you hate it/you'd prefer the first company - if the offer comes, you leave. It's as simple as that.P.S. do not underestimate the power of networking. I'm not saying that you should base your choices around what your friend would prefer, I'm saying that reputations last a long time and word of mouth goes a long way. One day you might need help again so be sensitive :)