Federal or State Job? (Manassas, Winchester: health insurance, employment, school)

[nixau27]

I am in a quandary as to which job I should take,,,,I have a job offer for a state job starting salary is $31+ and it's 15 mins. from where I live and another one for a federal job w/c is approx. an hr.'s drive away (one way) starting as a GS-5 ($33,269). The State job w/c has a start date of Feb. 9 and the federal job w/c will start in March . Pls. help!

[dmccauley]

Look at the benefit package (health insurance) do you have to pay, what about retirement? Is either one of the jobs a temporary one?

[nixau27]

Thanks for your response. I'm not at all worried abt. the health insurance since I have it through my husband (federal job as well). They are both, full time, permanent positions. The federal is an hour away and the schedule is from 830am -530pm and the state is the same schedule as well (but is only 15 mins from my house).

[akorosdc]

Is there one job that you would like more than the other? What sort of promotion potential are you looking at? Do you have kids (or something that would make it more beneficial to be near home)? What do you mean by an hour commute; driving, train, bus, some combination of the above?

All other things equal, I'd be more inclined towards the state job that's closer to home.

[nixau27]

The federal job is an hour's drive away one way by car (I live in Winchester and the job is in Manassas). I have one child who is a "tweenager" and is amenable to taking the school bus. Some say I should take the federal job since it has more stability and room for advancement(and better benefits e.g better pension & 401K) and some say I should take the state job since it's nearer my home. Both jobs are basically the same,,,social services, so I don't really prefer one over the other.

[Mike From NIU]

What advancement potential is there for the federal job? Is it a 5-7-9, with pretty definite jumps in a few years, or is the GS more standard, with promotions to other grades very slow in coming? I don't know how it works in VA, but with my mother's job for a different southern state, your pay increases very slowly from your initial salary, when at all. Federal increases and jumps can come much more quickly.

I would also judge stability. Is the Commonwealth job well funded and secure? VA is facing a large budget shortfall, as you are probably very aware, and there are very few if any absolutely safe agencies when it comes to budget cuts. As for the federal goverment, I do see any large-scale RIFs coming down the pipeline.

It is a very tough call, especially since you get a lot of the benefits of federal employment via your husband. Commutes can be a killer, especially with a child at home. If your child does really well at school and is mature, I think the extra 45 minutes in the evening won't make much difference. If your child is more borderline (ie, gets into trouble frequently when bored), you may want to choose the state job and have that extra 3-4 hours each week with him/her.

In general, I would recommend federal over state jobs due to their stability, benefits, and guaranteed raises. However, from the information you've posted so far, it does really seem like a toss-up.

Congratulations on having two job offers in this economy. That alone is very impressive.

[Yankeesfan]

The state job will save you ninety minutes a day of commuting. That's 7 1/2 hours a week. Savings in time, commuting costs, and stress. Seems well worth it to me, all other things being fairly equal.

[Gil3]

Nixau,

While the state job may be closer to your home, if it were me, I would go with the feds. As mentioned by Mike and I agree with him, the Feds will offer more stability and job security. I almost left the federal government a few years ago to take a job with the State of Va, but looking back, I am glad I did not.

[ChristineVA]

Federal is going to be more stable than state. I also think that within the federal government, there is going to be a lot more opportunity for movement and growth. I think state government jobs can be rather limiting but if you don't care about all that, I would go with the state for convenience.

[car54]

Absolutely take the Federal job...there's no comparison.

State pay and bennies are awful.

There's only one guy that can print money, and his name is Uncle Sam.