Recently laid off, now facing two job prospects.

Tstarks

I'll repost these questions again once the offers have been made, hopefully within the next week.

Thanks.

undomiel

Exchange 2005/2008? Did they mean SQL? Either would be great experience. All salary aside it looks like option 1 would get you the greatest experience. It sucks that it looks like you'll be taking a substantial pay cut either way. Hopefully that doesn't hurt you too much? Getting laid off hurts and I'm glad to see you bouncing back. I sure hope you get an offer!

Tstarks

undomiel, thanks for responding and good catch regarding SQL, I've corrected that oversight.

Yes, the pay cut is substantial. I was fortunate to be in my previous position salary wise, so I'll have to bounce back. Hopefully future (Only if I decided to move on, because there are other opportunites at these companies and the environment seems very welcoming and friendly. You can't always place a price on that) employers will look at the totality of my experience and not just my salary to determine what they're willing to offer.

undomiel

Personally I'd recommend keeping your salary under wraps. The information gives all the cards to the employer and could prejudice the employer if you were underpaid at a position. Of course there is also the low-balling that most likely would happen as well. Sure you may miss out on an opportunity or two, but in my experience employers are willing to overlook you withholding salary information to look over your skills. That's just me though, and not everyone agrees with my stance.

Kasor

Average out the salary and be reasonable right now. Good Luck

Tstarks

Kasor, I truly appreciate your response and what you say makes good sense. To be honest, salary is only one factor in making a determination in this case (and that's if I'm fortunate enough to be offered these positions), however I would certainly expect to be "reasonably" compensated for my qualifications.

Without question, I'll be taking into account the type of work environment and nature of my co-workers and manager. Also, opportunities for advancement, latitude to become a key contributing member of a team, some level of autonomy in managing projects from conception to implementation, exposure to a variety of technologies/applications, etc, etc, are important. I'd say both companies meet these desirables quite well.

I can tell you that despite my good salary at my prior position, co-workers and management were not the most cohesize and consequently introduced unnecessary conflict and difficulty to the work environment. As they say, things happen for a reason and I've gained a new perspective from that experience. As you know, money does not heal all wounds or solve all problems, although it can be helpful. Basically, I'm looking for a fair balance in my next position.

At the end of the day, from what I've been able to gather so far, I can see myself working at these organizations for quite some time. I certainly need to find out more before making that decision.