Need Help Deciding Between Two Offers
Pretty much what the title says. I'm an EE major planning on graduating in Fall 2027 and I'm deciding between two offers
Job 1 Summer '27 Internship @ Fortune 500 company
Pros:
- Pretty much guaranteed full time job after grad. Return internship for Summer '27 + verbal full time offer for after I graduate
- Worked here the past 2 summers and already know the team
- Solid pay: $32/hr + housing, $80-90k base + 15% bonus for full time
- Get to graduate in my planned 4.5 years
- Near a big city that I love
Cons:
- I wouldn't even be an engineer, my title would be shift manager. I'd oversee the union workers
- Dirty/hot heavy industrial environment
- 50+ hour weeks and can get called in anytime
- Limited upward mobility/pay growth. There aren't many positions between entry level and plant manager, and promotions mostly depend on someone above you retiring
- Terrible location. Could live in a nearby metro, but with a long commute and more expensive rent
- Not an industry I wanna be in at all
Job 2 Spring '27 Co-op @ Fortune 50 company
Pros:
- Huge name on my resume
- More interesting work/industry
- Closer to home so I could live with parents for a few years and save money
- Great pay: $40/hr intern, ~$100k+ base + bonus full time (conservative estimate)
- Better promotion/pay growth potential
Cons:
- Delay graduation from 4.5 years to 5
- Give up essentially a guaranteed full time job
- No guarantee of a full time offer here
- I've heard work culture can be bad (high workload/long hours, amongst other things)
TLDR: Is it worth delaying graduation for a co-op at a better company with more long term upside, even if it means giving up a pretty much guaranteed fulltime job after graduation?
I'm leaning towards the 2nd offer because the quality of life, pay, resume value, etc. would be better, but graduating later and losing out on a guaranteed job after graduation in this market is scaring me. Money/tuition while I'm in school also isn't an issue.