Author Topic: help this parent pick next job!  (Read 3370 times)

SACONH

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help this parent pick next job!
« on: August 22, 2019, 03:05:20 AM »
Hi everyone—

I am a new poster who needs advice with picking next job. I currently have a 1 year old and would like to have baby #2 this year (for personal reasons, delaying baby #2 is not an option).

I currently work at a fairly well paid but very time consuming job (make approx. 250k, work approx 50 to 60 hours per week, not flexible and many emergencies). I have been interviewing for past month for government jobs. Here are the options:

Job #1: best work-life benefits but not particularly challenging or intellectually interesting. Work is 40 hours per week with any additional hours worked paid in comp vacation time (max 3 days earned per 2 weeks can accrue for future use--in other words, if done correctly, every three weeks I could take one week off. I could also work longer days and take off one day per week). Flex schedule (could work 6:00 to 2:30 schedule); and telework 3 days per week. 20/year vacation days (but can manage comp time to be present for all school vacation times etc.) Make approx 120k (Potential to make up to 140k). No real careers path after this job.

Job #2: most lucrative with fair work-life balance; job relatively interesting. Work is approx 40 hours/week but no comp time for any extra hours worked. Can work 10 hour days and take one day off per week and can Telework one day per week. Can work 6:00 to 2:30 schedule. Pay is approx 150k (with potential to go up to 220k). 20 vacation days/year. Many career options if want to leave.

Job#3: most interesting with the most standard work-life benefits. Work is approx 40 hours per week. Standard 9 to 5 schedule (although flexible with working from home for snow days, dr. Appointments etc.) and standard vacation days (20/year). No comp time, telecommute, or flex schedule. Many career options (although probably not in private sector). Pay is approx. 100k going up to 180k.

All three jobs have pensions. Job #3 pension is better.

I am very torn as to this decision. Am trying to balance my interests with best schedule for family. Job #1 is best schedule for family and would really help ease burden on my partner (who has been picking up my slack) but very worried that I will feel very bored. Job #2 could be somewhat of a compromise between interesting and family-friendly but I am still not super enthused about it. Job #3 is interesting to me but seems less good in terms of both pay and family-friendly perks. The only other benefit of job #3 is that if we are able to FIRE early, the pension is much more advantageous than other options (which reward staying in job until 60). We are still in the thick of it, but expect that any of these options will keep us on track to FIRE in 12 years if we so desire.

Any thoughts? In the past I would have just taken the most interesting job but am struggling with how to prioritize my desire to spend time with family, which is currently very strong. Wondering if this desire in spending time with kids will sustain a less desirable/interesting job. My partner is very supportive of whatever I choose.

Thank you so much for any insight!

chemistk

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Re: help this parent pick next job!
« Reply #1 on: August 22, 2019, 10:59:39 AM »
Since you're not really looking at this in a financial perspective, it sounds like you should eliminate Job 1 and focus on Jobs 2 and 3. Though your family focus is strong now, a boring job you have little enthusiasm is going to affect your mental well-being no matter how much it pays.

And since you're not focused on the financial side of things, and if you're taking your partner at face value on this, I would probably look most strongly at Job 3 provided it does not inhibit your ability to care for your kids. Again, your attitude toward your work is nearly as important as what you're leaving work to go home to.

But all this also depends on how close you are to FIRE and how much you actually care about the level of income (and not just the flexibility or your level of interest in the job). Have you looked at how each job would affect your FIRE projections? If Job 2 (or even Job 1) would significantly accelerate your FIRE progress, then it's worth considering how much of a trade off you're willing to make between your interest in the job and the salary you earn.

havregryn

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Re: help this parent pick next job!
« Reply #2 on: August 23, 2019, 05:14:17 AM »
I have now a job #1. (civil service job with spectacular benefits that is not particularly exciting and is so ridiculously specialized in a niche that doesn't exist in the free market that it is literally impossible to even imagine being employable anywhere else)
I can't comment on your situation as all this is incredibly dependent on personal preferences and aspirations but I can tell you that I am not feeling particularly happy with my job situation but I also don't think I would change it. Especially not for an equivalent of your job #3.  To be the only truly pleasant way out is FIRE.

I agree with the poster who says that this kind of a job affects your mental wellbeing, yes, it does. But I also think that my mental health would suffer way more if I had to constantly sacrifice time with kids to go and excel at some challenging job. It's simply an either/or in my mind.I know some people claim you can have it all and maybe you do in some fields but for standard 9 to 5 office jobs I don't really buy it.  No matter how you spin this, a day has 24h and if you want to remain healthy you need to aim to sleep for 8 of them. Kids need closer to 12. If you need to be at an office for 8 hours + lunch break + commute I have a really hard time seeing how you could magically create a lot of quality time for you to spend with them.

To me your job #2 sounds like something worth trying.

#3 only if it's really flexible enough (I'd be worried though, because if they don't offer teleworking as an actual job condition perk but only as some kind of an exceptional favour to you in an emergency, that can get messy fast. My work had to implement a centralised policy on this as leaving it to individual managers was a major mess)

#2 sounds like something that will bring you closest to FIRE and give you a lot of flexibility, so unless you really like the #3 waaay more and think it could be flexible enough, it feels to me like the obvious choice.

Kapiira

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Re: help this parent pick next job!
« Reply #3 on: August 28, 2019, 11:53:11 AM »
I agree that option 2 sounds best.  You get more interesting work, flexibility, and open career path.  You can always move on if you find that the job isn't the right fit for you.

RelaxedGal

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Re: help this parent pick next job!
« Reply #4 on: September 05, 2019, 07:35:13 AM »
I currently have a 1 year old and would like to have baby #2 this year (for personal reasons, delaying baby #2 is not an option).

Originally posted in August - 4 months to the end of the year.  I assume this means you are very visibly pregnant or the baby you plan to adopt is due soon.  Congratulations!  What is the due date?

KBCB

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Re: help this parent pick next job!
« Reply #5 on: September 28, 2019, 07:08:04 AM »
Job #1: best work-life benefits but not particularly challenging or intellectually interesting. Work is 40 hours per week with any additional hours worked paid in comp vacation time (max 3 days earned per 2 weeks can accrue for future use--in other words, if done correctly, every three weeks I could take one week off. I could also work longer days and take off one day per week). Flex schedule (could work 6:00 to 2:30 schedule); and telework 3 days per week. 20/year vacation days (but can manage comp time to be present for all school vacation times etc.) Make approx 120k (Potential to make up to 140k). No real careers path after this job.

For what its worth the majority is not choosing job 1. I just might choose this one over the rest. You would get to go to a job where it is easy and you know you can do it well. You can have a work life balance with your children that seems pretty incredible. Sometimes easier is better... just saying!

I am an engineer who is always challenged by work content and hours. Although my current job has a decent work life balance in regards to others of my field, it is still a struggle.

Either way good luck on making the choice.