Decisions... Opinions wanted please :)

[SilentJay]

Alrighty here's what i'm deciding. Mind you the second job isn't mine yet, but I'm fairly confident that with a decent interview I can lock it up. Granted, it seems I don't want this position anymore, but there IS a job that I do want - so I can't just blow off the interview. How would you handle this?


Current job:
+ Quite a bit of autonomy
+ Good shift hours, tiny bit of flexibility with coming in late/leaving early
+ Exposure to a decent amount of "stuff", though learning has slowed down to nothing
+ Decently close to home
- Pay hasn't increased in 4 years, probably won't increase ever at this rate
- Zero room for advancement unless someone above me croaks
- Not much respect as a 3rd party, despite being the manager of an internal group

New job:
+ Decently-sized organization, seems like it's growing
+ Possibility for advancement is more likely
+ Year-end bonuses are not only possible, but written in the agreement (up to 10%)
- It'd mean taking a few steps down in the organizational hierarchy
- Not really a field that i'd like to get back into
- Terrible commute (from 15-20 minutes to 35-50)
- Shift will either be erratic or consistently really crappy
- If shift is crappy, I'd have to stop night school/not have any social life
- Money is similar to what i'm making now, won't cover my extra travel costs

[Noisy Crow]

Unless the new job has a very real opportunity to advance your career..... I'd be looking for a different new job........... if you take the one you are talking about all your extra time will be sucked up by commuting and the erratic scheduling will make going to job interviews difficult

[prinsesa]

Id say stick with your current job, and find another "new job".

[SilentJay]

:P That's pretty well my sentiment, but how do I brush them off? After an interview? Late-night call before the interview (tomorrow afternoon)? The other thing that stinks is that there IS another job in that organization that i'd like to apply to, but my name might already be soured after this :S

[Lummix]

Do the interview and see what happens. Interview experience is always good. As well, depending on how much they actually want you, you may be able to make some demands as to regulating a schedule and what not.

I know with the organization i'm with, you can usually ask for a 3% increase right off the hop and they'll give it to you or compensate with an added few vacation days.

[S.F.W.]

:P That's pretty well my sentiment, but how do I brush them off? After an interview? Late-night call before the interview (tomorrow afternoon)? The other thing that stinks is that there IS another job in that organization that i'd like to apply to, but my name might already be soured after this :S

if you are interested in a different position with the same company, definitely attend the interview. After the interview, tell the person, you are concerned the fit for the particular role may not be great.

[n00bMeiSter]

if you are interested in a different position with the same company, definitely attend the interview.

+1

Have you applied for this other position? You should really apply for it before doing anything that might "sour" your name with the company. However, you should still attend the interview because; if you don't show up to that, or make up some excuse, and then apply for a different position within the same company, that wouldn't look very good. But also because you may find that you don't want to work for that company after hearing more about them. But apply for the other position ASAP. And you might even consider telling them before/during/after the interview that you noticed position x was open, and you have applied for that as well.

[p-o-g-i]

Unless the new job has a very real opportunity to advance your career..... I'd be looking for a different new job........... if you take the one you are talking about all your extra time will be sucked up by commuting and the erratic scheduling will make going to job interviews difficult

+1

Jason, I'm in the same boat buddy... somewhat. My current commute is next to nothing (Hurontario/ Eglington to Renforth/ Eglington). The job I accepted has the head office by 404/ 16th. For the first 3 months, i will be going to the office every day, but from then on I'll mostly be working remotely. I primarily took the job because there is more posibility for advancment (in Ontario) then there is in my current company (again, within Ontario).

[SilentJay]

+1
Jason, I'm in the same boat buddy... somewhat. My current commute is next to nothing (Hurontario/ Eglington to Renforth/ Eglington). The job I accepted has the head office by 404/ 16th. For the first 3 months, i will be going to the office every day, but from then on I'll mostly be working remotely. I primarily took the job because there is more posibility for advancment (in Ontario) then there is in my current company (again, within Ontario).

:( Maybe it's because it's only one of the VERY few callbacks i've gotten after months of searching... I might have been a little too enthousiastic about taking the role, but thinking about it a little more, the advancement with the new job would only be into roles that i'm doing now, and that'd be 1-2 years down the road. I agree with others though, in that I need out of the current place. Fark this economy :(

[p-o-g-i]

I'm assuming it's still in the IT industry? Technical Engineer? Consulting? Sales?

[SilentJay]

Yes to IT industry, unfortunately, none of the aforementioned positions... That position is more like call centre tech support team lead.

[raghtal]

Stay put and keep looking.

It's good that you have a list of criteria, but make sure your arrange that list in order of importance to you right now. Sometimes you'll find that the new opportunity is not better than your current reality.

[Pokey]

As I found out, the grass is NOT always greener on the other side of the fence. Stay put and wait for an opening that you DO want.

And if you need someone to have a little help croaking prematurely, I may know someone who knows someone ;-) (j/k)

[PCLoadLetter]

As I found out, the grass is NOT always greener on the other side of the fence. Stay put and wait for an opening that you DO want.

And if you need someone to have a little help croaking prematurely, I may know someone who knows someone ;-) (j/k)
The grass is greener but it smells like shit because they use more manure.

SilentJay: get a coin and have heads as your current job, tails as the new job. If you flip tails but have the urge to flip the coin again, you already know the answer.

[SilentJay]

^^ lol

I called and spoke with the HR lady, and explained that it wasn't exactly what I wanted, but was super-curteous about it. I inquired about the other job, and presto, I'm going to call her back to schedule an interview :)

[n00bMeiSter]

^^ lol

I called and spoke with the HR lady, and explained that it wasn't exactly what I wanted, but was super-curteous about it. I inquired about the other job, and presto, I'm going to call her back to schedule an interview :)

Awesome! Just be confident, obviously they liked what they saw in the first interview. Whatever you do, don't go backwards lol.

[p-o-g-i]

^^ lol

I called and spoke with the HR lady, and explained that it wasn't exactly what I wanted, but was super-curteous about it. I inquired about the other job, and presto, I'm going to call her back to schedule an interview :)

Just curious buddy, any update on this...

[SilentJay]

I just had the interview - crossing my fingers, but gotta keep looking for a better way out :)

[p-o-g-i]

Hey man... I was actively looking since January/ February and I just came across an opening now. Just keep at it.... it`s out there.

[SilentJay]

Hey man... I was actively looking since January/ February and I just came across an opening now. Just keep at it.... it`s out there.

Either my skillset is severely lacking, or my resume stinks out loud... I've been hunting since last April, and the only reason I got this SDM attention is because I got an internal referral =S

[n00bMeiSter]

If you don't mind me asking: what did you end up doing Jay? Did you take the 'first' new position? Or did you get the other job opening that they had which you were very interested in?

[SilentJay]

:P I politely declined the first job, interviewed for the second job, but haven't heard back from them. The HR rep was really nice however, so I don't think that bridge was burnt... I guess I have to keep looking!

[S.F.W.]

:P I politely declined the first job, interviewed for the second job, but haven't heard back from them. The HR rep was really nice however, so I don't think that bridge was burnt... I guess I have to keep looking!

you should place a call to the person that interviewed you and follow up. Shows you are pro active, and even if it not for this job, will keep you top of mind for others.

[SilentJay]

^^ Yep, i've been in touch with her pretty well constantly - she will actually call me and let me know where, in the process, they are :)

[gotak]

In my experience one door close another opens and lots of time takes a lot of searching to find what you really like.

I used to work IT and I hated it, drove me nuts. I searched everywhere for another job and eventually I went back to Hong Kong to take an engineering job. That didn't work out too well either I didn't like living there much. So I came back here to do my masters thinking I'll go the academic path and become a prof (Sometimes I look at the freedom my friends who continues on that path have and I wish I could follow them). Took me 3 years to finish my masters only to find that the path to a Phd is hard enough but the path from a Phd to a teaching job that leads somewhere takes even longer with nothing guaranteed. Hitting 28 I decided it was time to be realistic and find a job. So I did and landed a job doing testing for an engineering firm in the rail signalling industry. It was a decent job with decent pay and the people i worked with were great. It just wasn't what I wanted after spending 7 years in higher education. But I stayed there hoping to switch into something on the R&D or development side. As it turns out though it was just a stepping stone for me. An off chance comment to a guy at my karate club landed me an interview at AMD and the rest is history. Now I am doing something I enjoy and am proud of while being paid well for it.

Jobs like everything else we choose in life is an open ended story. You never know where it might lead you. Hopefully anything you choose will be rewarding in the long run :)

[m_bisson]

I just had the interview - crossing my fingers, but gotta keep looking for a better way out :)

Tell them "Thanks, but YOU are not what I'm looking for"

[SilentJay]

Tell them "Thanks, but YOU are not what I'm looking for"

Oh, not a better way out of this position, I meant better way out of my current hell-hole... I mean job :P