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New job or keep old job?

SaurusX

SaurusX

Senior member
I had a fantastic interview experience yesterday. It went so well that they called me within 30 minutes afterwards to offer me the position. Now the question is do I take it?

Pros:
- 25% pay bump to $75k with realistic possibility of making $85k in one year
- Large prestigious company
- Make more use of my skills and learn even more

Cons:
- Would be far more work than current job (current job is VERY easy)
- commute seems to be a bit worse, though may be a wash.
- loss of true defined benefit pension (still about 30 years away from that)
- Fear of change

My current job is extremely cushy, though I know if I stay here I'll be stuck here as my skills atrophy and become out of date. I know what I should do, suck it up and take the job that will advance my career. But would ATOT do?
 
Sounds like your current job is a government job?

In any event, do you see it as a lifetime career? I had a contracting job for Lucent once that was VERY easy and paid quite well for the workload, and I hated every minute of it. I have to be challenged to keep interest, and there was nothing challenging about that position.

From how you describe it, it seems like a no-brainer to go with the new position.
 
I would take the job. My job is very cushy right now and very specific software wise to what I'm developing. We also get little bonuses here and there every year I think twice a year but the main pay isn't as good.

I commute about 45 min each way sometimes maybe an hour or more on the way back home.

If you are offered that much, I would take it. I've been here 3 years and I'm finally making what I made my first year out of college.

I should look for a new position but honestly I've done so much specific company work here that I'm not sure what to look for or to put on my resume. I too am also scared of change but more scared of the horrible technical interview questions too lol.

More work means you will be busy all the time. Which is good. Half the time here I spend in meetings then helping others, the rest I'm fixing code or trying to work on new things. I like when I'm busy and the day goes by quickly. Is there overtime?
 
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If possible, please provide some details,...

Cons:
- Would be far more work than current job (current job is VERY easy)
- commute seems to be a bit worse, though may be a wash.
What does this mean? Are you going from a 15 min commute to a 1 hour commute?

- loss of true defined benefit pension (still about 30 years away from that)
How long have you worked with this current employer?
Click to expand...
 
Your cons are minor, especially the dream that either your current job or defined benefit pension will be around in thirty years. Heck unless it's a government (very likely if a true defined benefit pension) the chances of your current employer being around in thirty years is, of itself, slim.

Stagnation is not all that desirable.
 
Newell Steamer said:
If possible, please provide some details,...
Click to expand...

My current commute is about 40 minutes, but it varies and can be over an hour. Traffic in this city is terrible, so there's no avoiding that. New travel time is probably comparable, but maybe 10 more minutes.

I've only been in my current job for a handful of years. Not even vested yet.

Is there overtime?
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Very likely there would be instances of overtime, but scattered and not a regular event.
 
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Go for the money, experience and oppurtunity. Sounds like you are younger if you are 30 years away from pension. Get the cushy gov job when you are ready to do nothing until you retire.

My situation was similar, but the main reason for my move was to go from a 1 hour commute to a 5 minute one:

Cushy gov job
great benefits/401k
no pressure
relatively easy work

-->

Contract job at large company
20k more pay
New environment, skills to learn
Private so I'm finding people actually compete and challenge you
 
SaurusX said:
My current commute is about 40 minutes, but it varies and can be over an hour. Traffic in this city is terrible, so there's no avoiding that. New travel time is probably comparable, but maybe 10 more minutes.

I've only been in my current job for a handful of years. Not even vested yet.
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Think about how well you can use your skills at the new place. If you can make another 10k in a year then that's good. For an extra ten minutes I would take the switch. Unless you really love the people you work with currently.

Has this new company been around for a while? Have you done research to see if they have had layoffs or buyouts lately?
 
SaurusX said:
My current commute is about 40 minutes, but it varies and can be over an hour. Traffic in this city is terrible, so there's no avoiding that. New travel time is probably comparable, but maybe 10 more minutes.

I've only been in my current job for a handful of years. Not even vested yet.
Click to expand...

Ya - these are pretty minor. Another 10 min is no big woop frankly. I know people that take 2 hours to get to work,...

Your best bet is to get into a 401k, and take it with you when you move from job to job,.. because each employer should be matching up to a certain % of your own contributions. Pensions are great, but not great if you want to expand your skills and roam the industry a bit. I would not make a pension be my decision point for employment, unless I was already vested into it of course,..

So, I say, take the new job!!

😀
 
sze5003 said:
Has this new company been around for a while? Have you done research to see if they have had layoffs or buyouts lately?
Click to expand...

The company has been around since the 1800's, so they're pretty well established. It looks like there was some trimming of mgmt a few years back, but nothing else.

Yeah, the right choice is really obvious here. I don't know why I'm even dithering.
 
i don't think i could work at an "easy" job. if i'm not challenged i'm not motivated and things start to get too boring and monotonous, and i'll stop learning.

i'd definitely take the new job if i were you. i mean you were interviewing for a reason and probably aren't happy at your current position.

and now a days i think pensions are a lot rarer than they used to be, so not having a pension is pretty normal, at least in my experience.
 
Of course we can't really tell you what do to, because we don't know all the little things you aren't telling us, but based on what you said so far I would take it. At the very least, never again consider the 30 years-distant promise of that pension as a reason for a decision like this, because unless you're in a government job there's no way that promise is going to live another 30 years. And if you are in a government job... well, almost nobody leaves government jobs so the thread is pointless.
 
It's fine if the job is challenging. As long as they pay you for it. It's a different issue when you start taking on more work but you don't see much of a change in the salary. In your case the jump to the new job you will see that.

Did you request that salary or did they just offer more? I've heard sometimes switching jobs the new place may not offer more.
 
depends on your situation. i work for a major telecommunications company and im relatively sure my pension will be honored, but even then, anything could happen.

defined benefit is awesome, but if you make enough money elsewhere for that loss not to matter, then go for it. i dont even have defined benefit, mine is defined contribution which sucks balls in comparison, but ill still take the company match.

even if im 30 years away too, i would still consider the pension as one important factor when shopping for a job. good benefits can easily be worth $10-20k (maybe more?), so you can't afford to compare only the salary or wage. you have to look at the total that your employment offers you.

still, the new job sounds like it's probably a good move for you.
 
sze5003 said:
Did you request that salary or did they just offer more? I've heard sometimes switching jobs the new place may not offer more.
Click to expand...

Currently I'm way under-paid when looking at the industry standard. I did give them a range that I was looking for. This would just be moving me more in line with what my experience should be bringing in.
 
SaurusX said:
Currently I'm way under-paid when looking at the industry standard. I did give them a range that I was looking for. This would just be moving me more in line with what my experience should be bringing in.
Click to expand...

That's a good start as my company always tells us we are paid at industry standard but for what we do it doesn't seem so. Industry standard to them is based on your entry level name but we all know not everyone is actually doing entry level stuff.
 
zCypher said:
depends on your situation. i work for a major telecommunications company and im relatively sure my pension will be honored, but even then, anything could happen.

defined benefit is awesome, but if you make enough money elsewhere for that loss not to matter, then go for it. i dont even have defined benefit, mine is defined contribution which sucks balls in comparison, but ill still take the company match.

even if im 30 years away too, i would still consider the pension as one important factor when shopping for a job. good benefits can easily be worth $10-20k (maybe more?), so you can't afford to compare only the salary or wage. you have to look at the total that your employment offers you.

still, the new job sounds like it's probably a good move for you.
Click to expand...

yeah benefits can be worth WAY more than that. at my current position, they actually gave me a breakdown of the benefit values in dollars, and i was shocked at how much it is actually worth. it was close to $60k in benefits when it is all said and done. pretty insane.
 
Take the new job.

And yes, you have to look at the whole compensation package not just base salary. It throws a lot of people off when they're contracting and paying for their own insurance to see a lower base salary (non-contract) at a company without knowing the total compensation package.
 
Definately look into the benefits. My company has decent health insurance and Vision but crap for dental. When I was on my father's plan it was government so it was the best. My current insurance has limits I have to spend up to in order for them to pay anything but my company also throws money every year into a health fund and it rolls over so I have yet to pay out of pocket.
 
Yes, there are definitely other factors to consider. It's not all about take-home pay. Unless there was a huge increase in pay my wife would be pissed about having to switch to an HMO, for example.
 
Admit it OP, you knew the answer before you posted and are looking for confirmation.

The answer is yes. New job has more positives and potential than current job.
 
You've already decided that you want more than what your current job can offer, as you obviously wouldn't be interviewing if you hadn't. The problem with letting yourself get to this point is that you'll forever be wondering what your life would have been like if you had only mustered the intestinal fortitude to take the new job. Your only way out is to take the new job and find out! 😛
 
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