How to know when to change jobs

Arthien

Sorry for the long post but I'm looking for some independent and unbiased advice. I'm 24, married with a mortgage, and I've been in my first post-uni job for 3 years now. It was supposed to be a stepping-stone onwards and upwards but I'm still doing the same things and earning basically the same as I was when I started.

I've found a job similar to this one with another company, which allows me to use my degree skills to an extent like my current role, but it's not in my home town like I wanted. Google reckons it's about a 25 minute drive but I'm sure it will be more like 35 or so in rush hour. My current job is about a 45 minute drive and part of my reason for looking elsewhere is that I hate the commute, and I'd love to work closer to home.

The new job is also £500 less p/a, but it has a commission scheme, so I could earn up to £6k more a year if I do really well, but I suspect this is unlikely as the job seems to involve prospecting and is much more sales-based, rather than admin-based and managing incoming sales as my current one is, and I know I won't earn much commission for a while since I've never done outbound sales before. It's also 8-5, so 40 hours, rather than my current 34 hours, so I can't help thinking that I'd actually be earning less per hour if I changed.

My husband has a very good job and has just had another promotion and pay rise, of which I couldn't be more proud, but it does strongly highlight the inequalities between our jobs, in terms of position, responsibilities and salary. I know things don't have to be exactly the same with both partners earning/paying the same into the household, but I've always thought I'd do better than this for myself and I'd like to even up the situation and feel more able to pay for my own 'share' in our expenditure.

One other thing that concerns me is that we've always said we'd like to think about having a family in our late 20s, so I would realistically want/need my job to have a good maternity package if possible. My current role only offers SMP, but they have been very flexible with previous ladies who have had children, so I don't see why they wouldn't be with me as well. Obviously I can't ask the new company about this, and I don't see any way of finding out, so I imagine this is just something that we'll have to figure out if/when it happens.

Lastly, my current job is really easy, to the point of being boring, but the people are friendly and the company is pretty easy-going (no limit on internet use as long as I get the work done, paid sick leave, no questions raised if I have more than a couple of days off due to my chronic stomach condition, no timed toilet breaks as a friend of mine had :eek:, casual-wear etc.) so I'm reluctant to leave this for what would most likely be a much more demanding job, but on the other hand I know that I'm not going anywhere in this job so I think taking a risk is the only way I'm going to move forward.

Sorry for the long post, but any advice would be great as I'm really stuck on this!

Tiddlywinks

You may be better asking on the employment board.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=141

neon_dannii

I know exactly how you feel and our circumstances are similar.

I've decided to look for a new role. As much as my job is easy, flexible and lets me get on with whatever I like (such as browsing internet) when there is no work, I can't ignore the fact that there's no progression and everyone is earning much more than me in my career elsewhere. I will go mad if I stay here any longer.

I wouldn't let the little reasons put you off.

lika_86

Is there no chance of progression within your current role?

Ruthy1604

Personally, I would stay in your current job until a better one comes along. The proposed job is more hours for less money & no real reduction in your commute. I see that as more stress and hours for no more £££. Hardly a step forward.
HTH

Arthien

Tiddlywinks: thanks, I thought the Employment board was more for people looking for 'official' advice rather than general wonderings like this, I'll take a look.

neon_dannii: It's nice to know I'm not alone! One of my friends is in a similar situation too, except she seems to actually hate her job, whereas I'm just bored out of my brain. It's just hard to know what is 'to be expected' in terms of enjoying my job, and to what degree 'it's just a job' and at least I should be grateful for finishing at 5 and having the evenings to myself. I'm actually tempted to start trying to learn programming, as that what DH does, or something else totally different, as I can't seem to find anything other than low-paid admin/sales roles with my current skill-set.

lika_86: No, I've actually spoken to my boss previously and said that I'd like to do more and he said 'oh of course, I totally understand that you wouldn't want to sit there doing that job forever' but didn't actually offer me any alternative I also know that he has no intention of taking on any more staff in the next 5 years, so he clearly doesn't plan on me moving upwards as he's not planning to get anyone in to do my current role.

It's also quite a small company and relatively flat structure-wise so someone would have to leave the management team for me to have a chance of progression. Given that most people have been here decades and are in their 50s/60s, I think it's unlikely to happen any time soon.

Ruthy1604: This is what I keep flicking back and forth over. I don't want to make life difficult for myself when I've got it so easy now, but I feel like if I don't do something then I'll just be here forever. I would be moving for the 'potential' of future progression, rather than immediate progression, I suppose.

ska_lover

I would go for the other one - as I hate being bored at work. I would rather be busy and stretched, than internet surfing and bored. It depends on how much you want to progress or if you are happy to potter along, which you don't sound as if you are (happy to potter along, I mean)

Commision schemes can be fantastic - but you are pushed and it ain't easy. The basic is good here, and I can more than double my basic salary each month on various bonus incentives

Some aren't worth the paper they are printed on though and depends how easy the targets are to attain. I would speak to other staff on the same paygrade if possible and try to glean this information

Good luck

Arthog

When I had a dilemma like this, I got 2 pieces of paper and put Pro on one and Con on the other, then put each aspect of it all down on the appropriate piece of paper, with a score out of 10. It'll help you realise what you really want.
(I did move jobs!)
Good Luck!

tea_lover

It sounds like you do want to move but the new job you've seen isn't quite the right one yet. FWIW, I'd keep looking for something that ticks a few more boxes before jumping ship (but I'm pretty risk averse lol). Good luck with it all.

Snakey

Move, to a job with some sort of training or professional qualifications if you can get one.

Being a graduate is good, being a graduate who managed to find and retain employment through the tail-end of a recession is even better, but it's not enough yet to stop and call it the best you can do. You need to get something under your belt that isn't "entry-level" before you put your career on the back burner to have your kiddies, otherwise when you come back you'll be unable to move as you'll be up against people five or ten years younger with nothing to differentiate yourself (other than that you'll be looking for more money than they will).

Presumably you have a clear three years in a potential new role before you even consider trying to conceive, and it will then be a year or two before the day arrives when you actually head off on mat leave - that's loads of time in the context of a 35-year career. You could, for example, train and qualify as a Chartered Accountant in that time and get a couple of years' post-qualified experience. That makes you marketable, even after a career break.

If this isn't the sort of thing you're looking at, then your move should be to a job with prospects within the company, so that you can go back post-baby and stay with the same employer without having to stagnate. A large company might give you that, and they usually have good benefits and policies too.

Think strategic, because what you do with your career path in the next five years may well set the scene for what you end up doing throughout your thirties and forties. Things like whether one job is ten minutes' further away than another or has a slightly longer working day should not be affecting your decisions unless you really do have so many great options that this is the only thing that differentiates them.

Good luck, it's an exciting time. Don't be scared of taking a drop in order to get a future rise, you have a second income to fall back on as a temporary measure and people are pretty resiliant in their twenties anyway. You never know what you can achieve if you don't go for it.

Good luck!

Arthien

Thanks everyone for the advice, it's been food for thought.

I had some minor good news today, work have raised my salary by £500 and are giving me a £750 bonus as the company made a small profit last financial year.

It's nowhere near enough to make me stay, and you're right I'm the sort of person who needs a challenge and something to get my teeth into and really aim for, but it's nice to have a little bit extra coming in while I consider my options

I'm not convinced that this interview will lead to a job I really want, but then again I didn't think I'd like/be able to do the job I currently do before I took it on, so I need to think positive! I'm probably just going to go to the interview, do my best and base my decision on what happens after that. I'm usually quite risk-averse, so I'm trying to stop myself from closing off potential options for small reasons before I've even looked into them properly.

I'm also going to send my CV off this week speculatively to a couple of bigger companies in my area, as I agree that a bigger company would be more likely to be able to give me the opportunities I'm looking for. I'm very fortunate in that DH could support us both if the worst happened, but I would never want to rely on him out of choice as I want to be doing my bit to achieve our joint future dreams.

The thing about having kids in a few years has just struck me recently, but it didn't help that everyone kept saying 'so when are the babies going to happen then?' when we got married last year! I sometimes over-think things like this, but I am just trying to be sensible and plan ahead while I've got the opportunity.

I think I could consider a total career change, I just really wish there was somewhere I could go for proper advice, rather than a job centre or agency, where they just want you off their books and making them money. Who knows, that in itself might be a business model I could look into