I’m having a dilemma.

I started my current job about a month ago. Around the same time I also interviewed for a job at an academic institution. At the time that I interviewed the academic job seemed like a no-brainer to me. The pay was actually equivalent or better and was more in line with what I’ve been doing. The locations and people there seemed very welcoming and appealing. By contrast, the pharmaceutical company where I had started to work that very week seemed to have an oddly impersonal culture and didn’t seem to be particularly competitive pay-wise.

Fast forward a month or so. I’ve now received confirmation that I will be offered the position at the university (things move slow). Now the choice is not so easy for me anymore. I had a momentary surge of anxiety when reading that email.

My current job has grown on me a lot. The company environment doesn’t seem so sterile and weird now that I’ve had time to acclimate. I like the people, I like working with my supervisors, and I dare say I’ve kicked ass so far with what I’ve been working on. The place is very laid back, my commute is easy, my responsibilities are surprisingly light, but the job remains interesting enough that I could see myself here long term. My potential to earn more long term remains unclear, but likely it’s more than I’d get at the university. It’s also nice that I’m non-exempt and get paid for every minute of overtime I do, so if I’m here working late it’s just that much easier to be cool with it psychologically.

On the other hand, the university position would be much more responsibility, probably much more interesting, and probably a lot more work—including things I’m not so familiar with. It potentially could be a bigger boon to my career than where I’m at but that’s dependent on a lot of factors. It’s also unclear to me there what my potential for earning long-term could be. It’s no doubt a better opportunity for personal growth for me, but at the same time I’m pretty intimidated by the enhanced responsibilities, probably in no small part thanks to the experience at my last job. Long term, either job should be quite stable, but I am wary of a risk of failing spectacularly at the university job early on.

Either way I’ll be disappointing someone with potentially bridge-burning consequences and I’m looking for some item to make the choice easier. I was hoping I’d get placed in a higher pay bracket for the university job to make it the clearer choice, but it sounds I’m probably being placed in the lower one where I’ll probably be out-earning that after my 6 month review here. Basically I’m torn and don’t know what’s really best for me long term or short term.