Multi piston or single turbine?

I've was having a general debate with two people (retired ATR captain and a current Citation pilot) what would be a better choice for career progression, piston multi or single turbine, and I got two different opinions...of course.

What say all?

Depends what you want to do, wouldn't it?

Multi-Piston. If one makes it this far in their flying career it wont be hard to teach them to light the turbine in a Caravan and go.. But a lot of it does depend on the kind of flying you are doing with the airplane.

I went with multi piston for about 2000 hours or so, and now i fly a single turbine, hoping i can get into a king air at some point, because adding another pt6 shouldn't be too much of a transition. The 2 places i have looked at getting into a king air in the last couple years really liked my times/experience but didn't like the fact i had no turbine, but now that i do i should be fairly marketable when everything opens up

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Multi-piston PIC, particularly if it's in a cabin-class twin.

People have been known to get stuck with flying other single engines after the caravan. If you want to fly something more than a PC-12 or TBM you will want a lot of multi time under your belt before hopping into the Caravan.

Unfortunately insurance rules and jets that are nearly center line thrust somehow have a direct link to multi pistons.

I have been lucky enough to get into both. 1200hrs in the van and now working on the multi. Just hope it works out for the best.

depends on your career goals, I wouldn't mind flying a PC-12 for the rest of my career. would prefer a king air, but either would be acceptable

I would fly anything for my career if the pay and QoL were really good. Unfortunately that type of thing seems to be more common among larger aircraft.

Multi piston, more options

I was faced with the exact same question, and it was a very difficult decision to make. I somewhat lucked out and was able to get a multi turbine gig. If I wasn't offered this position, I would be flying a twin piston rather than a single turbine.

I don't think there is a right or wrong way to go. It's luck of the draw. I know a guy who didn't have a lot of turbine or twin time and just nabbed a job as a captain on a phenom 300. I'm beating a dead horse saying it's all about who you know and not being a because people in this small industry remember/talk.