Resorting to a list

With all the venting I have done on this blog and to my friends, I don't think it is a revelation to say that I don't enjoy my current contract. So being offered a permanent position, should really be a no brainer, except that the current market conditions suck.

I have been subtley trying to convince some of my London friends to make the move over to T.O. as I didn't think the job market was suffering as badly. But reality has hit as I monitor the job sites everyday - only a few jobs make it through my loose search criteria, and I will be lucky if one of them remotely resembles my type of work, let alone interest me. So when a permanent offer at my current contract is placed on my table, what do I do? I have less than a day before I have to express my interest, and the responsible, logical side of me warns me not to be so frivolous in giving an answer.

Pros
* Stability (not sure when this has mattered to be before, but I think it is an adult consideration and I'm trying to make an adult decision)
* Better leverage in my Permanent Residency application (which I have not decided to pursue or not)
* More say in what I do as a permanent staff (I think, and within boundaries)
* Easy to excel in this environment (at a cost, see below)
* Employment means earning money to travel

Cons
* I have not enjoyed the project in the last year, what makes me think it will change?
* The people on the project do not inspire me
* Lack of challenge. My learning curve is not very curvy at all
* Risk of being stuck in Telco if I don't run away now
* Commuting out to woop woop - which means car pooling or car shopping, and less sleep
* Huge pay cut, and no billing for over time
* Cut any leads of getting contract work through another Consultant on the project (conflict of interest for them to poach permanent staff)
* Full time work means only 3 weeks to travel per year
* Unemployment means I get to travel and escape winter (this is really a pro for me, but a con against taking the job)

It was actually helpful for me to write this down - I have more Pros than I thought! Although I'm not surprised I still have more Cons. If I'm as geeky as some of my friends, I would weigh each of my points and graph it! LOL

At the end of the day, it really boils down to how much risk am I willing to take in order to get a more satisfying job?

Like my usual non-commital-till-the-last-minute self, I'll leave it till tomorrow.