A (sort of) Hypothetical WWYD

[AlmiraGulch]

Background:

 

I am the primary breadwinner for my family. My job is about as safe as a job can be safe, and it pays well, but it's soul-sucking. The stress I've been under for the past 6 or so months has come to a head and is almost unbearable. I also travel quite a bit, which is getting old and keeps me from my kids. I'm likely going to have to hire a part-time nanny in the fall.

 

The Situation:

 

Today or Monday I'm going to get a job offer from another company. I don't know what the money is going to be, but I'm reasonably sure it's not going to be a "life changing" amount (MAYBE $10k more than I make now, but my benefits costs will likely go up, too, so it wouldn't be that much money). I may make enough to keep me at the same level of income I am now after paying the nanny, so in that sense it would definitely be a raise. The job itself is definitely one that interests me. The company is very respected in its industry. I know a lot of the people I'd be working with directly, and I think I'd enjoy it. I believe the travel may be slightly more than what I'm doing now, but only slightly. Plus, starting a new job is exciting, but definitely stressful.

 

I'm also in process for essentially the exact same job as the one I described above, but with my own company (a recently acquired division), and I'm very likely to get an offer within the next couple of weeks. If I were to get an offer, I probably would not get much of a bump in pay at all, but my benefits, pension, etc. would all stay intact. The company model of that division doesn't excite me as much as the one above, but the truth is that's all about to change anyway as they assimilate into my current company's business practices. I expect the travel to stay the same as what it is now, with potentially a slight decline. The benefit of that role, should I get an offer, is that I get a new job without changing companies. BUT....I'd have up to a 90-day transition period out of my current role into the new, and I do not want to do this job I'm in for another 90 days. At. All. Especially not when I'll have an out (going to the new company) right in front of me.

 

What would you do? Do I stall the first company to see if I get an offer from my current company? And if I do get both, should I stay, even though it doesn't excite or challenge me as much, and I certainly wouldn't be making more money (and potentially less, given that I have to hire a PT nanny), or do I go, with all of the excitement AND risk involved in a new job?

[Tap]

Talk to the first company. See if you are still interested. If yes, ask them to write up a contract, including ALL terms.

 

Sign on bonus (when it will be paid and if there are conditions)

Salary going in. Incremental raise time line and factors/goals needed to achieve those raises. And advancement potential/expectations.

ALL benefits and cost to you. Medical, dental, vision, retirement, pension, days off, short term medical, long term medical, stock options etc.

Current position and travel requirements, stipends, reimbursed expenses, company car/travel.

Etc.

 

Once you have the letter in hand, then go to your current employer and have a chat. If they want to counter offer, do the same with them....in writing.

 

Weigh the two offers and make a decision from there.

[AlmiraGulch]

Talk to the first company. See if you are still interested. If yes, ask them to write up a contract, including ALL terms.

 

Sign on bonus (when it will be paid and if there are conditions)

Salary going in. Incremental raise time line and factors/goals needed to achieve those raises. And advancement potential/expectations.

ALL benefits and cost to you. Medical, dental, vision, retirement, pension, days off, short term medical, long term medical, stock options etc.

Current position and travel requirements, stipends, reimbursed expenses, company car/travel.

Etc.

 

Once you have the letter in hand, then go to your current employer and have a chat. If they want to counter offer, do the same with them....in writing.

 

Weigh the two offers and make a decision from there.

 

Thanks for this very sound advice!

 

I failed to mention that I actually work in HR, so the complete documentation of the offer/benefits/performance management in their entirety is a given for me. You did add some things in there that I hadn't thought of, though, so I appreciate that!

 

I don't care so much of my company counters with more salary (although it would certainly be nice and I'd push for it but it's not really what we do, culturally). It's more a matter of weighing stress level, career benefits, the can-I-add-the-stress-of-a-new-job-to-my-already-crazy-life factor, can I afford NOT to take the new job if I ever want to progress my career....that sort of thing.

[Tap]

Thanks for this very sound advice!

 

I failed to mention that I actually work in HR, so the complete documentation of the offer/benefits/performance management in their entirety is a given for me. You did add some things in there that I hadn't thought of, though, so I appreciate that!

 

I don't care so much of my company counters with more salary (although it would certainly be nice and I'd push for it but it's not really what we do, culturally). It's more a matter of weighing stress level, career benefits, the can-I-add-the-stress-of-a-new-job-to-my-already-crazy-life factor, can I afford NOT to take the new job if I ever want to progress my career....that sort of thing.

 

 

Have you had any conversations with your acquaintances in the new company? Can you get some honest answers from them about what the culture is like inside the company? Is is an 'up or out' company that is always pushing people to move up in the company or get pushed out or is it one that will let an employee settle in and retire in one position?

 

Being part of a company that is rearranging, absorbing, reconfiguring, scares me. I have seen toooooo many good employees lost in the shuffle. Especially, when decisions about who is retained, repositioned, etc are made high up the food chain without regaurds to individual skills.

 

If things are chaos now, I would expect about a year or so after the shift for things to settle down. You are in HR, you know how when companies merge, it takes a while for employees to move around, retrain, get established and get a grove going again.

 

Are you vested in you current retirements/pensions etc. Will you be losing anything by walking away at this point?

 

That being said....the new company is sounding better.

[Trilliums]

I'd go for the new job. You sound pretty unhappy where you currently are and is that likely to change even in a new position within the same company?

[JFSinIL]

Go to the new company.

 

Hubby HATES his current job, and is in long-term negotiations to move to a somewhat better-paying position at a different firm....the moment he gets a firm offer I know he will jump ship from the old place asap. Life is too short to be miserable.

[justLisa]

I'd go for less stress.