TL/DR: Financially can't afford not to work. Fresh grad with no current job. One job is offering extremely low pay. I'm interviewing for another job concurrently where I'd make almost double, but it's a long interview process. I can't decide on the guaranteed paycheck or gambling on the better opportunity.
I'm currently applying to jobs as a fresh college grad. I was accepted into a prestigious online grad school (for my field) this upcoming fall. I have a 4.0 GPA with a STEM degree in a high demand field. But because I don't have work experience and acedemia has left a couple of technology/skill gaps in my education I'm struggling to find a job. I'm currently working diligently to fill those gaps on my own time, but with anything tech based it doesn't happen overnight, especially since I'm also getting ready for finals. I've been fortunate enough to have financial aid to supplement my husband's income while I've been in school (mostly due to me killing myself to ensure that 4.0) but now that I'm graduating that well has run dry at least until I start grad school. As of yesterday I had $200 left in my bank account, which is at least a $500 deficit from what's usually left over after all of the bills being paid. By the end of next month we'll be negative if I don't find a job soon. My husband has stopped all contributions to his 401k for the time being until I can get a job, so we're literally mortgaging our future at this point.
Out of desperation I started applying to jobs adjacent to my degree to get my foot in the door. I finally got an interview with a company offering $20-25k lower than minimum entry level market rate for my degree field. It's barely above the federal poverty level. I'd be using skills from my education, but not any of the critical skills needed to set me on the career path I want. It would be pretty much just a paycheck, which I desperately need. During my interviews the interviewers got downright giddy about the skills I do possess and made it obvious they don't usually hire people for this position who have these skills. They mentioned the “benefit” of getting to wear multiple hats at their company and needing people with the ability to do whatever it takes to get a lot of work done in a short period of time because they're still a small company. So my takeaways were: 1 person doing the job of 2-3, grind culture, possibly working above my pay grade in comparison to other people with the same job title, and barely a living wage (if it's a living wage at all considering inflation). It's not far from my house technically, but between traffic and construction on the main road between us it's easily an hour commute each way. There was also a red flag of each interviewer asking how I'd be able to manage grad school while working for them. Nothing about this company suggested anything other than me being miserable there. Their Glassdoor ratings are horrible, and the job itself is borderline outside of my moral compass.
I have been interviewing with another company that really seemed to like me during the initial interview. When I asked for the bottom of market level for the position, they put me down for $15k more, even with the knowledge of my skill gaps. That means if I am able to somehow luckily land that job its almost double this other position. It's also fully remote and directly related to the work I want to be doing. They were excited about me continuing my education for a graduate degree. Their Glassdoor ratings are literally some of the best I've ever seen, especially for a smaller company. The only complaints were mostly related to not much room for upward movement (which I don't need at this stage) and low pay (which has mostly been addressed because they are offering me fair pay, if not high pay). But the interview process is long and can take months. I'm waiting to hear back about step 3 of 5, so I'm roughly halfway through it. I could still lose the opportunity at any point though. It could be several weeks before I have any indication of whether or not I'll get that job, and way too long to ask the other company for time to consider. And I know it's highly unprofessional and potentially reputation damaging to take a job only to quit a few weeks in for a better opportunity.
I also have a couple of internship interviews lined up that could fill the paycheck gap while I continue to look for a better opportunity, and at least they have an expiration date, but I also have a non-negotiable trip out of town for a week this summer. It's related to getting children to their other parent for a court mandated custody arrangement, and cannot be canceled. This also assuming I land either internship.
My husband doesn't want me to take the low paying job. We read something awhile back about never doing something life altering out of desperation. Thats been his mantra to me ever since. It's a lot easier said than done when it's your own livelihood on the line. Please talk me out of doing something desperate, or give me a reality check and tell me I'm being too picky.