Job Offer Advice

[Cida]

I'd go for the dream and take NYC. $60K is an excellent start. Yeah, maybe it'll be with roommates, but it should be - roommates will be a nice way to get acquainted with the city. And, by the way, if you work long hours, you'll likely get overtime; if you work 9-5, you can probably drum up some extra income on the side.

[BigCityLittleMan]

First, thank you to everyone who contributed advice. I had a really difficult time trying to decide so the opinions were invaluable. The opportunity in Chicago is with a more respected company in their industry and, ultimately, I decided to accept their offer.

If anyone else is in my shoes, major factors in my decision were the starting salary and what the company had to offer in terms of growth. A higher starting salary will make it much easier to negotiate when considering future opportunities. Additionally, the company's growth was attractive to me because growth within the company will be easier to achieve. If I make a good name for myself, it will be a lot easier to find other opportunities in NYC in the future.

Although it has been and still is a dream of mine to live in NYC, I won't give up this goal. Ultimately, I realized that I won't get everything I want right now but I can always work hard towards getting it and this is only the first step.

Again, thanks everyone for the advice and best of luck with any decisions that you face.

[Bluefox]

Originally Posted by BigCityLittleMan

First, thank you to everyone who contributed advice. I had a really difficult time trying to decide so the opinions were invaluable. The opportunity in Chicago is with a more respected company in their industry and, ultimately, I decided to accept their offer.

If anyone else is in my shoes, major factors in my decision were the starting salary and what the company had to offer in terms of growth. A higher starting salary will make it much easier to negotiate when considering future opportunities. Additionally, the company's growth was attractive to me because growth within the company will be easier to achieve. If I make a good name for myself, it will be a lot easier to find other opportunities in NYC in the future.

Although it has been and still is a dream of mine to live in NYC, I won't give up this goal. Ultimately, I realized that I won't get everything I want right now but I can always work hard towards getting it and this is only the first step.

Again, thanks everyone for the advice and best of luck with any decisions that you face.

I think that's the decision I would have made. NYC isn't going anywhere and you're in a good field. Who knows, in a short amount of time you may be able to get an even better job in NYC paying a higher salary.

[nyc1986]

New york is old. Nice place to visit but too expensive to live unless you're hooked up to an apartment. Taxes in nyc are high, rent is around 1500 for a 1 bedroom outside manhattan, groceries around 150/week, transportation 100/month, dinner for two is around $50, movie ticket = 13, etc.
I would pick chicago personally, I heard good things about there