[gameguy43]

Surprised nobody has mentioned this yet: be careful about that non-promise of a "possibility of getting a bit more into actual software development later."

It's very easy for a company to make vague non-promises like this. Consider how you would feel if it took 1 year or 2 years or infinite years for that "getting a bit more into actual software development" thing to happen. Would you quit after a year of waiting? Would you feel like you had wasted your time?

Something to consider.

[dagw]

I spent 3 years at my last company waiting for the "possibility" I was promised in the interview. Admittedly it was great job that I did enjoy the stuff I actually was doing, but the constant waiting and hoping for that elusive 'possibility' did gnaw at me, and heavily contributed to me quitting.

So basically my advice is to heavily discount any promises of future possibilities and judge the job mainly by what you know you will be doing.

[collyw]

I turned down a job offer based on promises, over two years ago. Nothing has happened regarding promition, hiring of more staff.

Just quit as I received another job offer, and when I asked to have "something definite in writing" this time, then the wonderful promises vanished.

[ollysb]

Yeah, this would be a red flag for me, if you want to be a coder, take the job where you'll be coding from day one.

[neilm]

I just wanted to agree with this. I turned down a job a number of years ago that offered me great thing eventually but you'll be 'just helping push an existing project over the line for a few weeks'. Complete red flag.

There will be other IT security jobs. If you really want one, you should just turn down both offers and wait for one you really want. Good programmers are rare and you can probably wait around for something you like better.

Edit: Also, don't believe promises regarding payrises after 6 months, shares in the company, healthcare, etc. If it's not on the table when you negotiate the contract, be sure you'll be happy when the promises fail to materialise.