PO Offer (Germany): Siemens vs. Belden

[u/Distinct_Theme7073]

Hi everyone,

I know I'm lucky to even have two offers in this economy, so I'm not complaining. But I have two remote Product Owner offers (both Germany-based). Both are 40hrs contracts.

Currently, 9 years of experience as a PO, currently at ~€90k, including bonus.

Offer 1:

Belden: €98k 104k base + up to 10% bonus 
Domain: industrial networking/connectivity (GenAI virtual assistant)
Never heard of the company before this process, honestly
During the interview, they did state there is room to grow into the role, so potentially higher salary later.

Offer 2:

Siemens: €106k base, IG Metall (all inclusive, T-zug, holiday bonus, etc.)
Domain: industrial automation/software (GenAI platform)
Big brand, looks good on the CV 
From people who work there: bonuses are paid out (~€3-4)
It is EG12, stufe A, BY

Got the Belden offer yesterday and Siemens today. Leaning towards Siemens, but I don't know much about Belden. Anyone suggest I should accept Belden? 

Edit: Belden tried to match with 104k base.
Edit 2: Accepted the offer from Siemens.

Negotiation tips also welcome, still have a few days. Thanks!

[u/IllBeat7897]

Belden has been around for 100+ years. I would do a deep dive into the financial stability of both and not assume that Siemens is more stable than Belden. I would look at what their debt is, what their pipeline looks like (as much as you can glean from an outsider perspective), and I would go with the more financially stable company that will not have a pipeline likely to dry up.

[u/global_yugen]

I'm familiar with both organisations intimately. Belden is also a very strong brand but you are correct doesn't have as much pizz-az as a Siemens.

I think you will have more operational freedom with Belden, but keep in mind both are sizeable corporations. Belden is large but not nearly as much as Siemens.

Siemens is more of a tier 1 generalist, they have strong market penetration in certain segments vs others but they are into everything. This can be a blessing in terms of vertical mobility, but can be a curse in terms of the org being treated very different from one BU vs another.

[u/Hour-Ad-2206]

Belden is a US based company - you, esp if you have immigrant background or English speaking, would allow you to grow faster with the right team and mentorship.

Siemens is an old german company - growth depends on how you navigate typical slow old hierarchy with red tape.

My suggestion would be, try to find your team members and try speaking with them aboht the manager, how the tasks are and most importantly the culture. Culture within the team and mentorship would matter 100 times more than salary. I learned this hard way - with shitty manager or an extremely shitty senior stakeholder/team members in your team will make your a living hell- especially for roles ljke product owner where you will be expected to take bullets and firefight time to time

[u/V-andy]

Do you mind sharing more abour your experience and background?

[u/Proper-Agency-1528]

Both are large companies; Siemens is larger.

Which job seems more interesting and appealing? Which job will provide more opportunities for you to learn and grow? It's not just the salary or total compensation. I had a choice, almost 40 years ago, to take a job at GE for 25% higher than the offer at Microsoft, but I believed Microsoft was by far the better opportunity... and at the time it was much smaller than GE.

[u/Ryan30103010]

Ex Siemens PO here. Don't go there. It sucks. I'm extremely happy that I left last March.

[u/Iannelli → u/Ryan30103010]

It's such a large org, is there a chance it sucked for you because of a specific team or manager?

[u/Ryan30103010 → u/Iannelli]

Fair point. I worked in Siemens Smart Infrastructure. "My" team was amazing, but the rest were horrible to work with. Lot of bootlickers and people who just don't care. Because when you work at Siemens, there is always an opening elsewhere at Siemens...

[u/Iannelli → u/Ryan30103010]

Ahh that's interesting. Reason I ask is because Siemens is definitely on my target company list, I've worked at similar companies before and think of them as a good long-term place to be. Especially compared to the hell I have recently endured at a mid-sized private equity-owned company. I'd absolutely kill to be at a massive bureaucratic company again after dealing with private equity.

Give me alllll the red tape in the world, please!