Stay in current role or go to new role?

[harrypayne]

Hi all,

I've been in my current role for about seven months now, but was recently offered a role closer to home i.e. 45 min journey as opposed to 1 hour 15 mins, which is tempting as I have a 20 month old daughter at home.

It's with a reputable company and overall package is better than my current package (slightly less base salary but better pension, bonus and has stock options). I can work from home and it's flexible hours which again helps with nursery drop offs. Work hours is also 30 mins less a day.

My current company also offers WFH and flexible hours, but as mentioned is further away. Also the work environment is chaotic in the sense that priorites keep changing and often work is not prioritised due to there being so much on. I also find myself doing work outside of my job remit. It has a start up mentality, hence the chaos at times and more varied work, but we're part of a bigger company who are doing well at the moment. On the flip side, the environment is laid back and senior figures are not constantly chasing me and I have a great relationship with my boss which is very important to me, as well as the rest of the team who are a good bunch. And generally speaking, I like the company and don't dread going to work in the mornings which is a positive in my books.

So my dilemma is whether to stay where I am due to my good relationship with my boss/team members, and the relaxed environment and put up with the negative aspects of the role. Or go to the new role due to it being closer to home, better overall package and hopefully a more settled environment where I'll be more suited to the work and possibly better for longer term. Although I'll be taking the risk of the unknown and potentially not getting on with my boss/team.

Any advice by others who have been through a similar experience or even if you haven't, would be much appreciated. Thanks very much!

 

[harrypayne]

I would question where the new opportunity came from. If it is the product of you looking elsewhere, then ultimately there was a reason for you to be searching in the first place.

If the opportunity presented itself without you engaging first then perhaps there is a chance that you weren’t looking to move on and would be happy staying.

Certainly with the former there is always the concern of “is the grass truly greener”, but in my book more time with my son is more important to me than anything else.

It's a bit of both strangely. I applied for the new role a few months into my current job due to reasons mentioned above. However, the process was slow, by the time they had offered me the role, it was just shy of three months from the day I applied for it. So by this point, I've built up a really good relationship with my boss and the rest of the team. Leaving me with a dilemma now, though you're right, more time spent with our children is more important than anything else. Thanks for your input.