I am a couple of months removed from graduating with a CS degree and my gpa wasn't very high. But I do have aspirations of becoming a good software developer. Nevertheless I got two job offers recently. One is with a small start-up and the other is with a military contractor. The military contractor asked for my gpa and I gave it to them. The military contracting position is in developing GIS related applications which I was familiar with in an internship.

After receiving an offer from the military contractor, I received an offer from the start-up after the start-up asked me how much the offer was from the military contractor. So the pay is even.

The start-up would require I be immediately thrust into it with only two other people in the start-up currently and I would have to learn everything on my own. The military contractor has teams and people who know what their doing and would be able to offer me guidance. Seeing as how I have been a couple of months removed from school and need something of a refresher is it better than I just dive into the start-up and diversify what I've learned or be specialized on a particular track?

Some more facts about the start-up: It deals with military contracts as well and is in Phase 2 of contracts. It will require I learn a diverse amount of technologies including cyber security, android development, python, javascript, etc.

The military contractor will have me learn more C#, refine my Java, do javascript, and GIS related technologies.

I might as well come out and say the military contractor is Northrop Grumman and more or less offered me less money than the projected starting salary from online salary calculators. But there is the possibility of bonuses, while the start-up doesn't include the possibility of bonuses.

I think benefits for both are relatively the same.