Should I Take This Job?

[SaurusX]

I'll try and make a long story short.

I was getting frustrated with the requirements that the corporate home office was putting on my current job, so I applied for a government job. It wasn't a good fit and the pay was actually less than I currently make, so I ended up passing. They came back with a different and better offer so that I'd be on the same professional track as well as make more money. Since getting the offer it's been a two month wait to actually get the offer fully approved and an offer letter in my hand. Now they want me to give my current employer two weeks notice or else the offer is rescinded (their words). They're concerned I'll try and use my offer to extract concessions from my current employer (again, their words).

I'd like to start two weeks later which would allow me to wind down my current position as well as not leaving my current job right before a particularly hectic time. After the amount of time I was forced to wait it seems ridiculous that the new job can't make this small accommodation for me. While I told them to go ahead and set my start date, I'm very tempted to call back Monday and tell them to shove it. They've had trouble filling this position and I am currently employed with a raise on the near horizon. What say you?

 

[lxskllr]

I wouldn't like government work. It takes corporate bureaucracy, and increases it exponentially. I'd like to work cutting government positions. 30% reduction should be trivial, and 50%+ reductions with a bit of work.

 

[zanejohnson]

i'd say go with the government job, pretty much a free pass for everything in the oligarchy we live in nowdays..

i try like hell to land every contract with gov entities i can (i do some IT work for the local jail) (funny i've actually been incarcerated in that jail before in the past.) also have a few cops that call me when they have problems, i always make sure to give them top notch service, trying to get into that North Texas good ole boy club

if a position for IT analyst/admin for the county i reside in, i would be all over it, i'd shut down shop and take that any day.. retire with full pension at 65, YES SIR, i would be all over it, even with the pay cut.... from what i've heard that level of position in my county makes ~50K/yr, in reality i'm making about the same on my own maybe a tad more, and paying out the ass for insurance, .gov benefits are amazing, i'd go for it.

 

[CPA]

Since getting the offer it's been a two month wait to actually get the offer fully approved and an offer letter in my hand.

This is the key. If it took two months to get an approval to fill a position, just think how long it will take to get approvals for normal stuff. As bad as most people think Corporate culture is, things move faster, for sure.

 

[SaurusX]

The .gov benefits are really the draw of this new job. Excellent health insurance with zero deductible and a full defined benefit pension. Can't beat that with a stick. While I'd be making more money initially there are no built-in raises like you usually have in private industry. You have to advance in rank and importance (very subjective) to get a pay increase somewhere down the line.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I'd be more concerned with how they're treating you now:

Now they want me to give my current employer two weeks notice or else the offer is rescinded (their words). They're concerned I'll try and use my offer to extract concessions from my current employer (again, their words).

I had a similar offer a few years ago (as in they said the first sentence to me almost verbatim and not only that, wanted a decision the next morning or it would be rescinded) and I ended up telling them to shove their job offer and if a potential employer ever said anything to me like the second sentence above, I'd drop them on the spot. It is your duty to find the best offer for *you* and your family and if that means getting more money from your current employer, so be it (even though I normally recommend against taking counter offers). These businesses don't take the first offers or contracts they receive either and play suppliers off against each other, so it is really hypocritical of them to use that argument IMO.