Choosing between job offers in different locations ( asking for insight and advice)

Hello All and thanks in advance for reading this long-winded question!

I’ll try and keep this as simple as I can. I currently live in Central Texas along with my fiance and have received two job offers and both of these are government contractors. I was recently granted a DoD Secret security clearance by another company before but the offer was rescinded by the company right after the clearance process was completed.

Company A is located in Texas on a military base about 35-45 mins away from my apartment and initially extended an offer of 71k. This position is for a entry level applications/software programmer.

Company B is located in Huntsville, AL and after researching the area a bit, I see that it is a beacon for cleared position if I chose to pursue this industry fully and wanted to get on with a variety of other contractors and/or possibly become a gov’t employee. Company B is offering 75k w/ 1.5k relo and this position is for a Database Analyst/Developer.

Company A has offered to match or exceed the offer of 75k, so I might have a bit of a bidding war happening here if Company B were to try and match the higher salary of Company A.

A bit about myself, I am currently leaving a position I’ve worked for 4 years and it is my first position out of college (we will call this Company X). At Company X (private company), I worked as an Oracle Analyst supporting the company’s database and applications w/ some light DBA functions.

The reason I am leaving is lack of opportunity to progress and just feeling a bit stagnate. The offers from both Company A and Company B would be a 10k+ increase for me. Hell, there is the off chance that Company X would also try to counter-offer this but I doubt it. I enjoy being in Texas but not the biggest fan of this area, I would welcome the change but am also ok with staying.

My fiance is a RN Nurse so I am a bit concerned about her if I relocate but she is totally supportive and all in on what ever decision I were to make. She assures me that she will be fine as there is always a need for nurses.

So, my question here is which position would you take or is more appealing to you if the offer is identical? Also, is there any advice you would give someone in this situation?

I’d go to Huntsville. A lot of contractor jobs and a lot of government positions too. Many people hear ‘Alabama,’ laugh, and move on to the next topic, but Huntsville is a bit different. It has been attracting scientists and engineers since Werner Von Braun days. Plus UAH (University of Alabama in Huntsville) has some pretty good programs-- a lot of those scientists and engineers like to teach.

Of course you’ll need lots of air conditioning but if you’re from Texas you probably are used to that already :slight_smile:

I don’t know where you are in Texas, but I’m not a huge fan except maybe Austin or San Antonio. And they closed the military base near Austin.

Good luck! Many would be happy to have your problems.

1 Like

I wish I had your problems! lol