Consulting vs Govt job offer
Was curious to hear people's take on my situation.
Background: work experience in big4 consulting, investment bank (structured finance), and big tech.
Got laid off 2x in 2025. Was making good money at my last place. This yr, I struggled to get traction with jobs at my prior comp range. Took me more than 3 months and hundreds of apps to just land few offers.
I became jaded with corporate America, after going through 2x layoff in one year. So I applied for a government job - ended up getting an offer recently. Comes with 60% paycut vs what I was making past 8 yrs.
I've been interviewing with a boutique consulting firm for past 6 weeks and after 7! interviews, I was just extended an offer. Pay is still below what I made at my last job, but still considerably higher than govt job. Pay difference here is around $70k a yr.
Pro for govt: job security.
Con for govt: low pay, seemingly boring work, slow to non existent career upside.
Pro for consulting job: more interesting work, higher caliber coworkers, higher career upside, higher pay ($70k per yr)
Con for consulting job: far higher odds of layoff
If you were in my situation, what would you do? Welcome to any feedback or advice!!