I got two job offers! Company X is gonna pay me $60,000. Defense Contractor Y is gonna give me $62,000. Ugh, but I don't want to build rockets and be a part of all that, ... but it's more money. Arrrrrgh.
Then go to Company X. Same argument applies if Y is "Uninteresting Job Y".
The amount of money is probably way more than you've been making so far, in fact even those extra $2,000 seem like a lot of money. My rule of thumb is that a 10% window is negligible. If the differences are within that, don't even hesitate to take the job you are more interested in or excited for.
People who haven't worked in industry before also don't realize what a huge difference there can be between rates of raises, sizes of bonuses and other perks. Examples:
1. Suppose you want to start a family, and one employer covers all your medical costs whereas the other has a mediocre plan.
2. One company may not even have regularly scheduled raises while others give you at least 3-4% per year. That's going to overcome an initially higher offer pretty quickly.
3. Some companies offer negligible bonuses (or none at all) while others can increase your income by 20 percent or more based on your performance.
In other words, starting salary is a heavily incomplete picture. If you're all about the money, ask a lot more questions about your opportunities for advancement. Even if you're not, you should ask the same questions, but again keep the 10% window of indifference in mind :)
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