Ask HN: Development agency vs. product company, what's better for a first job?
I am a long term HNer but recently converted hacker. I am now in the interview process with a few companies for engineering jobs and getting more traction than I expected.
At this point in my career I'm looking to deepen my knowledge of engineering rather than receive any immediate payoff.
It looks like I might have offers from a company working with a big monolith code base and also from an agency which has a bit of a mix (they only work with long term customers so they do get to know the code bases instead of churn them out).
I am quite familiar with building small applications, and have never worked on a monolith. I can see the pros and cons of both sides - something brand new + more steady with the product company vs. getting very good at building rails applications quickly + gain some monolith experience with the agency.
What would you do and why? I know both pathways will make me a better developer, but I'd love some guidance choosing the right path.
Thanks!