Two offers, need advice!

Scorp6

Hello everyone! Well this definitely classifies as a good problem to have but I'm stuck. I have two offers that I will break down and I need advice on which would be best. Thanks!

Offer A: through a hiring company working for a well known global company. Hourly rate at $34 per hour. Using a 40 hour work week, it is $70,720 annually. Overtime is possible but not sure how likely, $51 per hour overtime. Would not use the Healthcare benefits as I have other health care. Zero paid time off. Data center racking and stacking with servers, switches and routers.

Offer B: government contracting company offered $73,000 with 2 weeks vacation and 2 weeks sick time paid. Same distance but $8 in tolls daily extra. May be another company taking the contract but the interviewers were very confident the personnel would stay in place. Would have to start one week after offer A. Senior network admin with at least two juniors under me.

I feel like getting my foot in the door at such a well known company from offer A might be worth the other things I'm getting from offer B. Any help would be appreciated!

Cyberscum

What kind of technologies does each work with?

networker050184

What is the work and culture like at the two places? The offers are pretty similar monetarily wise so not really a big decision maker there. Personally I'd stay far away from government contracting, but plenty people enjoy it.

Scorp6

Added a very brief job description to each. The Network for offer b is about 800 switches, uses eigrp, ospf and bgp. Offer A deals more with server upgrades and racking and stacking with minimal configuration from the sounds of it. My ultimate goal is project manager for Network engineering stuff. Offer B also offers tuition reimbursement. I think I'm answering my own questions here haha.

MeanDrunkR2D2

If it were me, I'd take offer b. Better benefits and slightly higher pay. The tolls would be a moot point and not one I would be terribly concerned about. Of course, I say that because sometimes you get sick, or need a vacation or days off and with offer A, you get nothing. With B, you do get that time off and won't be earning less money because of that.

Mitechniq

Just a word of advice I have been doing contracting for the government for 8 years and it can be rough if you don't understand the process...

It is true that most contract companies offer great benefits for example 401K, some offer matching up to 6 percent but must be vested for 1 to 3 years. Well I have sat at the same desk with the same goverment boss now for 5 years and have gone through 3 different companies. That means my seniority in the company resets, as in back to square one on 401K, accrued leave etc... I love my job but I hate that it is tied to a limited contract.. I have to reapply for my same position everytime and hope the company doesn't try to pay me less than before because they underbid the contract....

Scorp6

Thanks for the advice so far! I think I'm leaning towards offer B for the pay and the experience as a lead in the industry. Along with the tuition reimbursement. Please keep the advice coming.

TomkoTech

Is option A a contract to hire position? Will you eventually be working directly for company A? Does that transition include PTO/Sick leave?

The monetary difference is sort of negligible. It boils down to a guaranteed ~$80 per check. You eclipse that difference with ~45 hours of over time in a year. That's less than an hour of overtime per week. Unless they are Home Depot like in their clock watching you will likely get that in years time.

Scorp6

Offer A is negotiating now with their client for $36 per hour ($74,880 annually) and will give me two weeks vacation.

They came back with $36 per hour, 2 weeks vacation annually, I and 6 days holiday pay. I have weighed both and will be accepting offer A.

Thank you so much for the advice everyone!