Mid career crisis

Sorry to hijack this thread with another personal question.

I currently have 2 offers which I am most keen but I am not sure which one I should be proceeding with.

Background: Mother with 1 boy (2 yo yet to enroll in a CC)

Offer 1: Closer to home, salary wise approximately $10 000 less than offer 2 per annum and in the long run will also be lesser. Non profit organization, bonuses approx. 3 months a year. Childcare services in the building however, is much cheap for on-site staff, good worklife balance, no OT, no Saturdays. Job scope administrative and less demanding. Carpark charges are cheaper and colleagues seemed nice. Stable job. Takes a shorter time to process (unemployed now)

Offer 2: Quite far from home, carpark is slightly more expensive and working time is slightly longer. Irregular work hours, but if I clock 3am I don't have to return to work the next day. If I clock anytime before that I will only need to return to office 12pm the next day. Salary wise competitive, standard merit increment, and bonus around 4.5months a year, stable job and I like the scope of work. Taking the son to CC will be a headache due to nature of job and distance. Takes a longer time to process (unemployed now)

Should I choose a job that I think I will really enjoy, or a job that I fairly enjoy but offers more convenience?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Sorry to hijack this thread with another personal question.

I currently have 2 offers which I am most keen but I am not sure which one I should be proceeding with.

Background: Mother with 1 boy (2 yo yet to enroll in a CC)

Offer 1: Closer to home, salary wise approximately $10 000 less than offer 2 per annum and in the long run will also be lesser. Non profit organization, bonuses approx. 3 months a year. Childcare services in the building however, is much cheap for on-site staff, good worklife balance, no OT, no Saturdays. Job scope administrative and less demanding. Carpark charges are cheaper and colleagues seemed nice. Stable job. Takes a shorter time to process (unemployed now)

Offer 2: Quite far from home, carpark is slightly more expensive and working time is slightly longer. Irregular work hours, but if I clock 3am I don't have to return to work the next day. If I clock anytime before that I will only need to return to office 12pm the next day. Salary wise competitive, standard merit increment, and bonus around 4.5months a year, stable job and I like the scope of work. Taking the son to CC will be a headache due to nature of job and distance. Takes a longer time to process (unemployed now)

Should I choose a job that I think I will really enjoy, or a job that I fairly enjoy but offers more convenience?

How much exactly are they offering now?

$10k lesser means different things to different level of people. For e.g. if you are talking about $40k vs $50k. then $10k lesser is quite significant and need to think through whether your lifestyle will be affected by this drop.

However if let's say you are its between $250k vs $240k, then obviously option 1 is much better because the drop is very little and brings a lot of other benefits to your daily life.

BTW option 2 you say can get 4.5 months a year, this is a very high amount for normal PMEs in SG, how sure and stable is this claim? There are a lot of companies out there during good years can give massive bonus 3-4 years straight then downturn suddenly nothing for a long time also.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

You mentioned you are going somewhere in your current role, and there is a recent promotion, why do you want to move out now?

Late 20s, you are planning to have kids right? I will choose the one with stability and room for taking leave and understanding colleagues and boss... Once you have kids, things can change...

I will not move, if I am unsure if the career development is not something I hope to 'hone my experience in'.

A big thank you to all who have provided your opinions thus far. Perhaps I'll provide more information.

The offer is about $20k more per year (>20% more than current annual package). It will probably take me 3 years more for my current basic to match the offered one should I stay on. The offer will be for a managerial position; I will have a team of people under me. Currently I'm just a sole contributor in a team. Work culture and environment wise both (current and offer) are somewhat equal, with good work-life balance.

Hope to hear more thoughts from experienced people here.

Thank you.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

How much exactly are they offering now?

$10k lesser means different things to different level of people. For e.g. if you are talking about $40k vs $50k. then $10k lesser is quite significant and need to think through whether your lifestyle will be affected by this drop.

However if let's say you are its between $250k vs $240k, then obviously option 1 is much better because the drop is very little and brings a lot of other benefits to your daily life.

BTW option 2 you say can get 4.5 months a year, this is a very high amount for normal PMEs in SG, how sure and stable is this claim? There are a lot of companies out there during good years can give massive bonus 3-4 years straight then downturn suddenly nothing for a long time also.

Let me put things in perspectives.

Offer 2: 4.5 months includes AWS, Mid yr bonus 0.5, End Of year Bonus (between 0.5 to 2mo) and Performance Bonus of 1.5 mo to 3mo. Job is very stable unless opposition take over

I would say its a difference between 60k to 70k? (Approx there)

Any advice?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

A big thank you to all who have provided your opinions thus far. Perhaps I'll provide more information.

The offer is about $20k more per year (>20% more than current annual package). It will probably take me 3 years more for my current basic to match the offered one should I stay on. The offer will be for a managerial position; I will have a team of people under me. Currently I'm just a sole contributor in a team. Work culture and environment wise both (current and offer) are somewhat equal, with good work-life balance.

Hope to hear more thoughts from experienced people here.

Thank you.

How do you know if you will stay long enough in this 'better role'? With great power comes great responsibility. I know managing people is a different level altogether and it seems very intellectually challenging to do that but you have to see if you like to lead or u don't.

Hope you don't mind, reason for me trying to 'dissuade' you now is because I know life may change drastically for you when you have kids. You will want to spend more time with your children. I will stay at where I am comfortable in, so in the event when I need to take leave I know I can take without bringing any worries home.

I am writing with experience, made a similar plunge several years back and it is not worth it. I know you are young and energetic and you want to give your best in your golden years but trust me, it's not the time yet.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Let me put things in perspectives.

Offer 2: 4.5 months includes AWS, Mid yr bonus 0.5, End Of year Bonus (between 0.5 to 2mo) and Performance Bonus of 1.5 mo to 3mo. Job is very stable unless opposition take over

I would say its a difference between 60k to 70k? (Approx there)

Any advice?

I didn't know public agencies require you to work till 3am in the morning. Are you talking about MFA? Btw government and political parties are two separate entities. Even if the leaders change, a mark of a well run government is that things proceed as per usual.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Let me put things in perspectives.

Offer 2: 4.5 months includes AWS, Mid yr bonus 0.5, End Of year Bonus (between 0.5 to 2mo) and Performance Bonus of 1.5 mo to 3mo. Job is very stable unless opposition take over

I would say its a difference between 60k to 70k? (Approx there)

Any advice?

I assume it's a civil service or stat board job... I gather should be an Assistant Director job?

My personal take is it's not really worth going for option 2 if that's the case. That extra 10k incurs a lot of hassle and additional expense with very little upside anyway. It's not like you have much room to move up after AD for a typical farmer career.

At first when you said 4.5 months bonus I thought it is exculding aws in some lucrative industry in oil&gas or banking side. But now I know it's public sector with limited opportunities and upside, option 2 doesn't seem worth the hassle.

Sounds like a position at people's association?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I assume it's a civil service or stat board job... I gather should be an Assistant Director job?

My personal take is it's not really worth going for option 2 if that's the case. That extra 10k incurs a lot of hassle and additional expense with very little upside anyway. It's not like you have much room to move up after AD for a typical farmer career.

At first when you said 4.5 months bonus I thought it is exculding aws in some lucrative industry in oil&gas or banking side. But now I know it's public sector with limited opportunities and upside, option 2 doesn't seem worth the hassle.

Nope not AD jus normal mid level staff. I decided to take up option 2 anyway, if u are an A performer u get 6mo bonuses, i dont think civil service has little upside and opportunities.

At my age i dont think i want to work very hard anyway, standard income and good payout every quarter is gd enuf, i calculated and the diff is 15k the first yr and the gap will get bigger so i decided to opt for option 2

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Sounds like a position at people's association?

No its not