So my dilemma from last week continues. I was ready to tell the academic job no, but they weren’t having it. They’re dead set on getting me there, and they might just do it. They updated the salary band for the job, so now the academic position is distinctly more salary and better benefits. To be clear, this isn’t some professorial position, it’s more of an academic support position. It should have a more conventional work-life balance than a job like that yet there’s always bound to be some bleed-in from working smack dab in the middle of it all. I’m certain it’ll be more work overall and more responsibilities, but not by an avalanche. It looks to be commensurate with the pay increase. Im still comfortable where I’m at now, but it’s a bit harder to rationalize that it’s best to stay put when there’s a better paying option. So many of the other would-be deciding factors depend on my ability to predict the future, so I’m not too keen on those. At this point I’m pretty inclined to take it.
Jump. If they were willing to up the salary to get you, they're probably more likely to up the salary and responsibilities as you grow into the position. Academic support positions are harder to hire than regular positions because there's more overhead to new hires; lateral hires are so much easier. If you like the university, and you like the environment, getting into it is a good move especially if it looks like there are other positions further down the road that would challenge and reward you.