1yr contract offer from NVIDIA, Do I: ask for a raise at current job, take offer, or decline offer?
I am a systems engineer for a large defense contractor in the US. Have been with the same company since I graduated college 7 years ago. 2 years ago I was placed with a new manager that I do not get along with at all. I don't need to "get along" to get my job done and get paid, however I believe our contrasting personalities have resulted in me getting smaller raises than I believe I deserve (these are the kindest words I've used to describe the relationship we have).
So I started interviewing, basically out of frustration with my recent raise and manager. On a whim, I applied to an NVIDIA listing that surprisingly matched my skill set and what do you know I got an offer!
tl;dr: of my internal debate about it is this: new job pads resume, gives significant pay bump, but is certainly temporary (1 year contract). Current job is boring, does little in progressing my resume at this point, and raises are poor, but job is very stable.
The long version is this pros and cons list:
Current Job Pros:
- Very stable
- Great work/life balance
- Evil I know (laid back work environment)
- Four weeks vacation + major holidays
- OT -> PTO conversion w/ 400hr PTO cap (this one is huge)
Current Job Cons:
- Mandatory in office due to nature of work
- 2-4% yearly raises don't keep up with inflation
- Loathe current manager
- bored with sameish work load
NVIDIA Job Pros:
- 20% pay bump
- Fully remote
- Resume builder
- New and refreshing work
- getting out of defense (personal desire)
NVIDIA Job Cons:
- Will very likely need to be looking for a new job in a year
- Hiring manager noted their "favorite part" of the job is "how busy it always is" when I asked what their favorite thing about the job is
- Less vacation