2 job offers, advice needed

[Fritzy]

Job 1: Currently, I am a part-time independent contractor ($30/hr for 20 hrs/wk but I pay taxes as self-employed), and they are trying to put together an offer for a full-time research/evaluation position because I got an offer from another company. They have a history of not getting their act together quickly, and lately have not been very good at securing new funding. However, they always seem to have ongoing projects that keep them busy. When they hired me last Fall, they said they are looking to grow their team and that they had been on the hunt for someone to help them land bigger contracts. They always seem not too busy, but busy enough. It is housed within a huge University, and this comes with perks and pitfalls. Good benefits should I actually get the full-time gig, and plenty of professional development opportunities that I've already taken advantage of. I really enjoy the work, and the people are very nice and family-oriented.

Job 2: After 2 interviews, I have an offer in-hand for $45,000 plus benefits (PTO, 401K after 2 years...kind of a long wait, eh?, they pay 100% of health insurance monthly fees right now). They are a small company with 3 partners. The work is nearly identical to what I'm doing now, but this is a younger company in terms of who works there and who owns it. They had a slump when the economy was bad, but now they are hiring multiple people and have over 20 contracts to do research/evaluation work.

I am finishing up my dissertation and currently have a Master's degree in social sciences (If I could do it all over again...I never would have gone to graduate school). So...I am going to ask for a higher salary from Job 2 and also push them a little on the 401K to start it earlier. Other than that, does anyone have some advice for me about which job I should take?

[Financial.Velociraptor]

Have you ever worked at a tiny company before?  It is quite a lot different than University work.

I'd say, don't pick just based on the salary number.  Decide where you will be happiest and most fulfilled.  You may only need to do it for 10 years as a Mustachian but you don't want to be miserable for "just a decade" either.

[Fritzy]

For the last 8 years I've been working part time at large universities/school districts in a very large city. No experience staying in one place for more than 3 years. The only reason I would stay at my current job would be because I think it's a relaxing and stimulating environment. It feels like a mystical unicorn-land compared with the other jobs I've worked at in terms of stress levels. Could be due to moving to a smaller city with friendlier people in general, and not being thought of as a graduate student anymore. I'm just having a hard time giving up the potential on this current job for a job that could be similar but with people who are wild cards. Right now my supervisor is running around trying to make this offer work for me. She just handed me a similar offer they gave another employee so I have a ballpark idea of the benefits/compensation. It says between $43,008-51,000 is the salary range.

[JohnGalt]

For the last 8 years I've been working part time at large universities/school districts in a very large city. No experience staying in one place for more than 3 years. The only reason I would stay at my current job would be because I think it's a relaxing and stimulating environment. It feels like a mystical unicorn-land compared with the other jobs I've worked at in terms of stress levels. Could be due to moving to a smaller city with friendlier people in general, and not being thought of as a graduate student anymore. I'm just having a hard time giving up the potential on this current job for a job that could be similar but with people who are wild cards. Right now my supervisor is running around trying to make this offer work for me. She just handed me a similar offer they gave another employee so I have a ballpark idea of the benefits/compensation. It says between $43,008-51,000 is the salary range.

If the current set up is working so well for you and you don't have the desire to work hard and grow something - you should definitely stick out the current engagement. 

I personally enjoyed my time at smaller firms because I could really see the difference I was making - but I worked a lot and the stress was high at times.  It also gave me the opportunity to dramatically increase my income in a short period of time which, I imagine, would be difficult to pull off at a university. 

[Fritzy]

The university clearly has superior benefits. They have now shared all of that information with me. I am leaning towards staying at my current position until they post the full-time position. They have told me that they plan to do so starting on Monday, but it will take at least a month for them to go through the formal hiring process. They still have to post it on the website, receive applications, and interview other candidates. Blah.

It isn't that I don't want to grow a company and work hard. Quite the contrary. But I can grow the work at the university within my department. It isn't really a typical university job. It isn't academic in nature. It is more like a company housed within a university building.

[Fritzy]

DH and I put together a pros/cons list last night. Here were the categories we came up with to rate: Salary, PTO, Retirement, Health Insurance, Hard Offer, Commute, Professional Development, Professional Atmosphere, Career Advancement (years to principal investigator rank, other career options), location of office, Known Quantity, My Potential for Impacting the work, Work From Home opportunities, Flexibility/Work-Life balance, "new" factor, Creative/Innovative Colleagues. What would go on your list? Would you add anything that we overlooked?

Though the salary might be 1-2,000 higher at the small firm, the pension plan and other benefits like PTO/sick time are far superior at the university. As an example, the small firm provided a retirement plan after 2 years at 3% matching, whereas the university offered more immediate retirement benefits with 14% matching. So any small difference in income was more than compensated by that. Adding in the fact that I like my coworkers and see potential in working in various capacities at the university in the future, I think it is a pretty straightforward decision in the end.

[Chester Allen Arthur]

It sounds like you already know the answer.  Stick with your current position for a while.  If the promotion doesn't materialise in time, then start looking for other options.  The private position isn't such a gem that you can't afford to turn it down.

[Fritzy]

Exciting update on this --

My supervisor said the full time job will be posted this weekend! Also, she said I would be at the top of the hiring range, so I'm hoping for $50k. She already showed me the new office (with a window).

What's sort of funny is that even though this is a really good step, I mean, it's still a job where I have to sit and stare at a computer for most of the day M-F. Prior to this, I have never had a 40 hour set work week. Sure, some weeks I worked 2 or 3 jobs at once in the past, but it was never very predictable.

I'm definitely way more excited that I'm back on the bike, planting season has started at the community garden, and my tennis game can slowly start to reach that inevitable plateau again this summer!