Good morning nairalander,

I have a friend whose career is on the line. He has been working with a firm which happen to be a one man business, the firm is well structured, the firm has big prospect, he is being paid well and he has future with the firm if he's diligent and village people ignore him, but during probation period he got an academic offer in a reputable university (Federal).

He is now at a dilemma, the first offer wont give him time because the deadlines are always deadly and as a one man business he can be shown the door anytime soon but he will be financially comfortable while the academic offer will give him luxury of time but the pay is not good except he found other side hustle doing.

Usually, the most that FG jobs offer is Job Security. Sometimes the pay can be good too, but there's not always the motivation or medium for growth.

I guess the moral dilemma he's facing with the current private firm is the absence of job security; strict timelines and targets which may threaten his continual employment. And also the unsustainability which a wavy economy can pose to the firm. However, If he has a career path ahead of him, he can use that to decide what he wants.

The firm currently offers a lot of opportunities for growth and a good financial package which if he plays his game well; can be use to diversify his earnings by making wise investments for (rainy days).

His interest should be key in making decisions. This is not hard however, I understand the peculiarities of our situation where people think FG jobs are more secured.

If job security is his concern, he should pick the FG job but I am scared the students will suffer for this because he isn't enthusiastic about it which means, he might not be concerned about if his students are impacted positively or not. On the converse, if he is more concerned on money and future growth/prospect and feels his current firm gives him that more, he should stick to the current job.

Well, I think the FG job is better because it'll afford him the luxury of time to venture into other businesses that'll help make up for the low income.
Also, like you've rightly mentioned, he could get kicked out at any point in time in that one man business. Sometimes it isn't about the money.
However, I hope he doesn't focus more on growing his side hustles at the detriment of the students should he accept the FG job as a lot of lecturers care less about ensuring their students are well educated.
He should ensure he lectures how he'd want his children to be lectured, properly!

There is nothing as good as being employed by the Government, a federal government job for that matter, he should not dare contemplate it, I've worked with one man business severally, especially when you are paid high, they tend to overload you with work sometimes on Sundays and even public holidays you are at work, please he should embrace the federal government job with joy, just take a look at ordinary NPower Program a mere volunteer job, just because it's a federal Program, you can imagine over 4 million applications and counting.