Considering a career move. Advice?

I'm so sorry about your Dad's passing.

It sounds like you've got a plan. Although, I have to tell you, I think a man might try to negotiate a little. If management really wants you in the new position, can you tell them it doesn't make sense for you financially unless they up it a little? Or would that piss them off?

As an aside, if you really are about to start a family, no matter what you think you might do now with regard to work... all bets are off. I have friends who were dedicated career women with Ivy League MBAs who just. couldn't. go. back. to. work. after baby. Or some only returned part-time. So if you're really, truly ready to have kids, I would choose the career option that offers the most flexibility, with the possibility of going part-time.

((( HUGS )))

 

Don't worry about pissing them off. It's an insult that they've strung you along for two months and have slashed the salary before giving you the opportunity. Treat it as such.

 

Eh, people told my wife that all the time.

"You won't go back to work once you get that baby in your arms!"

Or they'd roll their eyes and say, "She's not going back to work. Not (repeat after me) once she gets that baby in her arms!"

From the moment she gave birth, there was not a single solitary doubt that she was going back to work. None. Nada.

 

farmerj,

Leave and start somewhere fresh. It's obvious that's what you really want to do. You just need a little kick in the pants. And Dr. J needs to be fully on board.

Good luck.

 

Thanks for the love guys.

Stitch, I work in retail which explains the awful pay.

Lugz is right. I am in a position to negotiate. The raise is pathetic to begin with and our boss before the major problem paid us so little to begin with my district manager basically handed me a tissue when I told him how much I made back in August. People in my position in other stores are making at least a dollar to sometimes three or four dollars a hour more than we do. I would be more than happy to except the new raise in combination with a merit raise to make anyone happy. Part of me thinks that at my age, making sub $20,000 is just not acceptable with a bachelor's degree and five years with the company.

That's the thing about suffering a huge loss. It gives you a newfound strength that you've never had before.

The one thing I am concerned about is the two people I'm closest to will be royally pissed at me if I turn this down. They're both higher than me on the food chain, and me taking this would take a lot off their shoulders. They really pushed for this. And no matter what the pay this job is secure. The wost thing that's happened in the past five years is my hours have got cut from 38-39 to 35-36.

Anyway, with the whole family thing that's the great thing about retail. I could always go back to the store and write too if I only chose to go back part time.

 

It's embarrassing that hotels are paying workers minimum wage in my city even though most don't have any vacancies. And the same employers complain to the Chamber of Commerce, City Council and anyone who will hear them that they can't keep anyone. BTW, even the dives charge $120 per night where I'm at in a rural Midwestern city.

 

Farmerjerome,

Nobody can tell you what to do, and, in the end, you will probably end up going with what your heart says to do, whatever that is.

I'd just like to put in a word of caution. It sounds like you're in a place, personally, to make a break and start fresh somewhere else, and that could be a great thing. It could also, however, not be a good thing. Sometimes, the grass only looks greener from the other side. If you don't have a firm plan yet about where you'd like to go or what you'd like to do, I'd work on that first, so that when you do make a break, you can be confident things will work out, instead of just taking a leap of faith and hoping that they do.

I've been in a place/process that sounds similar to yours in many ways, and, while it's been good in some ways, and while I've grown and gained perspective and strength, and while I still have hope...the reality is that, that is still really all that I have right now, even 2 1/2 years since my life went through some major upheaval that also included the death of my father, although that has hardly been the only situation to arise.

Change is not always as timely, opportunistic, exciting or great as it is cracked up to be, especially when it is initially unplanned and is prompted by some thing or things that you wish -- to this day -- had never happened and that you still rail against because there is not a thing you can do about it.

My other thought is that you should consider where you want to be, position- and career-wise, before you decide that the raise -- even as meager/insulting as it is -- is not worth taking.

Would the position be worth taking even if, essentially, you did it just for the title/extra responsibility? Would it give you some skills/qualities, etc. that would help you get to a next step you might be planning or hoping for in the future?

Because, sometimes, even if you're a sales person who knows they could and should be a manager or editor, or whatever, and even if others think or know you could be a manager or editor, or whatever, you still might never be one if you don't actually take the intervening steps, get them on the resume, and spend some time, officially, in the jobs.

When it comes right down to it, even though you've told us on here, nobody really has to actually know what you make, and so, our opinions notwithstanding, that should not matter to anyone but you.

There can be other reasons for taking, or not taking, a job. I wouldn't argue either way about what you should do. This is all just something for you to consider.

 

These threads are incredible for the responses. I say go for it. Mom dukes always said nothing beats a failure but a try - also if it will help improve your finances and spend more time with your wife, why wouldn't you switch to news?

 

So I interviewed for the job Tuesday. Showed them exactly what it is I do on a weekly basis, with writing samples, photo samples, editing samples, layout samples, e.t.c.

Suffice to say, I don't think they know what hit them.

Found out last night I got the job.

 

Way to go. Good luck.

 

You're hired!

Congrats

 

Awesome!

I tried showing prospective employers what I do all do, but posting on SportsJournalists.com didn't get the respect I thought it would.