Which job to take?

[Yramrag]

Ok. I am just after what people think about two possible positions.
1) Position within the Public Service working in the civilian arm of the Australian Defence Force. Project Officer position (so working under a project manager) to help deal with the maintenance and life cycle support of light vehicles (non armoured). Getting paid $X, no vehicle, but they pay for all training and education so if i want to get a degree, they will pay for it and give me time off to study for it. A permanent and on-going position.
2) A project officer role with a multinational corporation. The contract length is fixed for 2 years, getting paid anywhere from $X to $X + 15% with the possibility of a vehicle. Initial work would be the setting up of an Asset management system for a large city water provider and cost analysis on unnecessary or unused services. After the two years, not sure what i would move on to. While there is the possibility of requests for international work, the can also tell me i have to work away from home whenever the want, even if it doesn\'t suit me at that time. Also they told me several weeks ago that they would hire me but haven\'t given any further details.
So do i go for the lower paying, great benefits, and safe position? Or do i go for the higher paying, potentially great benefits and slightly risky position?
Both are equally interesting for me and suit what my strengths are. Both are the same travel time from my house as well.
Any thoughts would be helpful.

 

[Sand Rat]

Scream and Leap says I - take the second one - you only live once. Besides, think of the stories
lol


Course, I go back to Iraq next week - I may not be the best one to give advice on jobs.

 

[paintingploddy]

Public service isn\'t the safe job it once was especially in defence. Civillian defence employees are where they will make the cuts to defence spending and to be honest defence project management is a farce in m y experience.

 

[Gilvan Blight]

Personally I would go with the sure thing, and not the 2 year contract. I\'m biased by the fact that I work in the North American automotive industry, and unless you have been living under a rock you know that industry is crumbling fast. Right now I\'m just happy to still have a job.

 

[Onis Lair]

I say the safe choice job right now. But then again the job market internationally might not be in the same crapper that the north american job market is.

 

[War Griffon]

If it was me I would take the safe option but then I am old and have beeen and seen a lot more than the average person ever would.

Option two however sounds a lot more interesting that the government/civil job and with the experience and contacts from that at the end of two years a lot more oppertunities could open up in that line of work.

At the end of the day only you know what you want and whether you are prepared to travel etc so it is really your choice not ours

 

[darklord]

if you dont need the security of the first job then i would say option 2, it will gain you some valuable experience for your cv. if it pays more then you could always try saving the extra income you would get over job 1 for when the contract comes to an end giving you a cushion (or you could just buy more lead!!)

 

[BarstoolProphet]

You can have what\'s behind door numbers one or two, or... you can take The Mystery Box....

Personally, I\'d pick job #2. There\'s experience, there\'s an element of surprise (Hey, guess what? We need you to go to Lichtenstein for a week! Pack your bags, the plan leaves in three hours!), and heck, like steelcult said... think of the stories you might have.

But, then, I\'m free of any real ties, so spontaneous travel wouldn\'t bother me at all.

 

[Yramrag]

I decided to take the first job (with Defence) for a couple of reasons.
1) Just finished building a new house and i feel that the job security is more beneficial than a higher risk, higher salary position.
2) They will pay for me to do up to Masters level courses whereas the other will allow me to do a Diploma level course.
3) Any work i do in excess of 8 hours a day accrues as flexi-time (no overtime pay for either job) whereas the other position i have to work 9 hours and anything over is seen to be \"getting the job done\".
4) No vehicle with the second job.
5) Finally and most importantly, the first job didn\'t stuff me around. I have been trying to get information from the second job about my actual conditions for 3 weeks now and they still haven\'t given me a final answer. Defence on the other hand got back to me very quickly with what they are offering and are sending out more information at the moment.