One job pays $17/hr. to go permanent in 30 days or less, with great benefits and cool-ass Liberal Art major co-workers.

I really don't think being a male escort suits you, LT.

Oh, Jon. It's okay - a lot of guys have that happen to them. I still think you're a man. C'mon - let's cuddle, my Big Bazooka Boy.

Unless there's some sort of red flag at the financial company (like everyone you've met seems like a dick or 12 hour days are the norm), go for more money and paid paternal leave! Woo woo!

have you considered The Marine Corps?

The few, the proud, the MARINES! Hoo-RAH!

::daughter of retired Marine::

I'm still in job limbo. Good on you LT!

No, Run-JMC, "dress-up" nights are still cool. Tonight I'll even let you wear the helmet and make the "acka-acka" sounds.

Pinky: I've just been rereading Dispatches. There's a chapter about living among the Marines at Khe Sanh, and the old joke among the grunts was "What's the difference between the Marine Corps and the Boy Scouts? The Boy Scouts have adult leadership."

::son and grandson of regular Army veteran::

No, Run-JMC, "dress-up" nights are still cool. Tonight I'll even let you wear the helmet and make the "acka-acka" sounds.

No, no. You play the young naive FNG, I play the grizzled old sergeant with the spacious trench full of C-rations. Get your roles straight.
(I kid because I love)

Wow, that's fantastic news, LT. Also, tough decision.

I can't help you with that, but I would just like to say that working for stodgy types who are consistent and fair, with good managers, can beat working with more creative types who are less well organized and don't quite have their business plan together when it impacts your work situation.

I'm not saying that place A and place B are like what I just described, but if you can put together the information you do have to try to determine which place is more steady and reliable, it may help. Cool co-workers are great, but you're going to have (already have) lots of fun, bright people in your life, so it's probably not the most important aspect.

Think more about quality of life than $$. Is the work environment less stressful/political at one or the other? Will you be encouraged/expected to take work home with at one or the other? An additional two dollars an hour doesn't mean much when you don't like the people/conditions you are working in. But the most important question is, can I have whichever job you don't take?

I can't help you with that, but I would just like to say that working for stodgy types who are consistent and fair, with good managers, can beat working with more creative types who are less well organized and don't quite have their business plan together when it impacts your work situation.

Taz be speakin' truth. Trust me.

Well, the option isn't whether the LA types are in charge of me; they're not. They just all work in my same department; we speak the same right-brain speak. Job A is for a biotech firm where everything is completely regulated and processed to the nth, which is a good environment to work in.

Job B is just as regulated, as it's in the insurance industry.

Pressure is equal in both, it's just that Job A is temp-to-hire, with no office management aspects (as in "Gee, who's going to plan the Christmas Party? YOU ARE!). Job B has more money and slightly more intense benefits, and possibly more intractible co-workers.

I go back and forth, and am just damn glad to even have the problem to begin with - in Seattle, I couldn't get a job to save my life. I made 16 grand in 2005!

Taz is indeed speaking glorious truth. We do-gooders can't find our own arseholes with an annotated map.

just follow your nose.

So at Job B you're hired right away? That would win me over. I definitely say Job B!

Taking both of them is breaking all the rules.

JonMC - two words: Lee. Dorsey.

Totally off-topic. But DAMN. "Get Out My Life Woman" - holy shit, that's a good'un.

I dunno. I worked in insurance for 11 years. I really hated it after awhile...if you have a creative streak you better have an outside outlet for it otherwise it's just business.

I'd be asking myself, "Which job has the most room for growth?" Would there be opportunities for further or continuing education? We're not getting any younger, and people switch jobs a lot nowadays, so consider where you'll be at in a couple of years concerning pay and responsibility and if that will help you transition to something better.

I'm in a similar boat. One job is with a small (but growing) company. Cool kids and a chance to make a big impact. The other is a much larger company, much more rigid and I'd definitely would be a cog there. Pay is about equal.

Anyway, best of luck to you! Keep us posted!

Agreed. The drums are fucking incredible. "Ride Your Pony," "Give It Up" and "Ya Ya" (among others) are just as good.

And if you like Lee Dorsey, check out "Everything I Do is Goan' To Funky (From now on)"
We used to play that at my old job to get us going for the weekend!

Benefits can sometimes out-weigh salary, so don't look at it with your eyes on just the "raw" money. And, as black8 says, look at opportunities to grow and move within the company. I work for a large company and they've paid for my 2-year, part-time Masters degree and gave me every Wednesday afternoon for two-years off to go to lectures/study. Sure, I could get a better paid job if I commuted to London, but the fact that I live close to where I work and they're very good to their employees means that I take home a little less money, but have what I perceive is a better work/life balance.

Whoo hoo, LT! That's such great news! :) And what a great feeling that must be to not only have an opportunity, but actually have two of them to choose between!

I agree with what TPS said- if one job is a temp-for-hire and the other is a definite hire, I personally would go for the definite one. I know a certain media company that lures people into "freelance" jobs with the promise of benefits and permanent hiring down the road, and then can put it off for literally years. Just be careful.

You're the Lipstick Thespian. Go with the liberal arts folks. You'll be happier that way.

I need new glasses, I could've sworn that said "Torn Between Two Otters ..."

Otters love me. They do. When they're out there floating in the water, they keep saying, "LT's such a fine and dandy man!"

Sadly, they say it all the time. Fucking otters.

I never supported you I don't think, but congratulations anyway!

In other news, I've been worried about layoffs where I work, and I think I just cracked the code of who gets the notice and who doesn't, and I think I'm safe, at least for the time being.

Stodgy financial types suck. All they want to do when you go out together is suck on their cocktails and blather on about their 401k or some other boring shit. Go with Job A.

Stodgy financial types suck. All they want to do when you go out together is suck on their cocktails and blather on about their 401k or some other boring shit. Go with Job A.

Nonsense. They engage in fox hunting, polo, croquet, slave races and other vigorous pastimes.

(I kid, but trust me 'creative types' are equally boring. The best to people to work and hang with are nihilistic, disillusioned drones with no occupational prospects or aspirations whatsoever. I say this because I need more drinking buddies.)

"Torn Between Two Otters ..."
I picture a bodice-ripping offering in Harlequin's new furry series...

Beware the Insurance Business! It was my father's industry (he was the guy brokers with unusual risks tried to market to, an interesting job, but he still retired early). 20 years ago, I worked for 5 years, tempted by good pay and benefits (for my then-sick wife) at Executive Life (no relation to my dad's co.). They sold a lot of annuities at higher rates than anybody else, but invested in Junk Bonds (CEO was pal of Milken). I had a feeling it would end badly, but the offer I could not refuse. When the market went belly up, the company went belly up, and all employees had to spend 2 hours a day taking complaint calls from people whose primary (or only) income was interrupted. For the first few weeks we couldn't make any assuring promises. (WORST. WORK, EVER.) Then the State of California stepped in (The Insurance Commissioner then was just now elected Lieutenant Governor... it wouldn't have taken him 16 years if he'd handled this crisis better). We also were advised not to wear out company logo T-shirts and caps in public (lots of people were angry). Still, my last 10 months with the company were the highest paid I EVER was, because it was slowly shutting down (annuity people got paid from elsewhere) and they gave big incentives not to quit before they laid you off. (An old friend of mine worked for another insurance company that went under; he was one of the last to shut off the lights and go home - it took 3 years, he made enough in incentives to take a decade off... the first thing he did was volunteer for the Peace Corps... interesting guy, but I digress) This was also the job where I almost got blown up by a terrorist bomber targeting the IRS office next door because I went in to work early (but I digress again). So I can't really recommend anything in the Insurance Business, but Your Mileage Will Definately Vary.

Okay, end result? I took both. Basically I said yes to the temp offer and if the other guys get their shit together and hire me at a higher rate, I'll take that.

I fussed and hemmed and hawed and then realized that the Temp in Temp-to-Perm means that I can have my cake and eat it, too.

Simple. Now I plan to get very, very high indeed.

Wow. Why didn't we think of that?

I think I'm gonna barf, Wolfdog.

In other news: congradulamations, LT. I know you'll choose what's best for you.

On preview: w00t!

Yeah, Harlequins are kinda pukey.