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The software engineer position is the one that peaks my interest the most. That is the field that I originally planned on entering before deciding to teach.
However, the technical training job is in a city(Chicago) that I have always wanted to live in and is within driving distance where I could visit my family once every three months.
I could easily work both jobs for the next 5+ years and feel like I am actually challenged and growing.
More interested in software engineer gig, but Chicago location has me wanting to take the second gig.
Would love to hear you insight on which job you think would be best for long term success.
I'd take the Chicago training job, software skills go obsolete quickly. Get a cheap apartment and save and invest as much as you can, basically act as if the Chicago job paid the same as the Dallas job and save/invest the difference in low cost index ETFs.
#2 because university benefits are incredible. I was a university employee for 5 years, and while the pay was terrible and there was no room for advancement, I was always thrilled about the benefits.
I'd also say Chicago. Training skills will look great on a resume and Chicago is a major tech hub, you can easily find a software engineering job here if you want that pays significantly better than the one in Houston.
Also, having moved from Texas to Chicago myself, I would never take a job in Houston. Texas is fine, and I wouldn't mind moving to the Austin area or even Dallas, but not Houston. And none of the cities compare to Chicago.
I vote the Software Engineer position because it sounds like the career path you want to take. You can always get to Chicago in 1-3 years with another similar position once you gain some experience. And then you'll jump to higher pay at that time too.
Also, IMO, more and more technical training is done via webinars. There're not that many trainer jobs these days(compared to 5 or 10 years ago) because of that. Trainers these days record their courses and then the same course is replayed thousands of times via web for many students. This is just going to increase.
I think over time there will be many more open positions for Sofware Engineer versus Techical Trainer. You should check the labor statistics for number of positions for each now.
You can always get to Chicago. But you won't always have the fork in your career path that allows you to choose between becoming a Software Engineer and a Technical Trainer.
Good luck. Also - Chicago can be very cold and windy. I lived there many years and will never go back. Though the pizza and beef sandwiches and hot dogs are awesome.
Last edited by sware2cod; 11-19-2014 at 12:54 PM..
-long term job growth - software engineering is growing much faster than average and is projected to continue
-long term average salary - software engineering is low $100s
-which career path has the most opportunity/openings or mobility to start over if things go bad
I am in a Houston suburb. I know development people who moved into oil and gas and are doing well $$$. Chicago has much more to offer as a city than Houston, but in Houston you could easily afford a house on the water, a boat, and a 4x4 truck (it's Texas after all) with a software engineer salary.
Although I do agree that a university gig would be immensely appealing to somebody that enjoys being in an environment filled with continuous learning. If you are a software engineer or developer of any kind, you would probably understand. That's the wild card there.
(1) Jr. Software engineer
Location: Houston
Pay: $45k + 10% yearly bonus
Extra Benefits: Tuition Reimbursement, 3 weeks paid leave
that's a really crappy salary for a software engineer, especially in houston
yeah, there's a lot more growth potential money wise for #1 than #2
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