I am currently working in a very stressful job and industry. I see stress reduction as my biggest emergency right now but I also have a "debt emergency" in terms of a sizable student loan. I'm making strides to save the money, but I know that I could do better if I wasn't always running around like a headless chicken.
On a particularly stressful day at work, I received a call regarding a job opportunity and decided to have coffee with the hiring manager, which led to a formal interview, which led to interviews with management, etc, etc. The company is moving quite fast, and although I wasn't quite ready to make a transition when I agreed to meet for coffee, I now have the opportunity to make a change but feel completely unprepared.
Please consider this my plea for help:
Current Job
Distance: 4 miles each way
Salary: $125k
Bonus: up to 20% of base (but it could be 0 because it they calculate the amount by a multiplier based on company performance, it was 0 in 2012)
Benefits: 15% discount on stock purchases up to $5k per offering (2 times per year), long term incentive plan vesting 1/3 every year (value of $6.67k per year) with grants happenings on a 3 year rotation, 401(k) matching up to 3%, pension plan (not sure if this is going to survive based on company MO).
Quality of life: I work pretty long hours; my days are typically 12 hours and I often have vacation, holidays, evenings, and mornings interrupted by work. I was recently "promoted" but I should highlight that the promotion is a bit of a fake - they forced someone into retirement and had me take over that person's responsibilities. In other words, I am now doing the work of 2 people. My boss mentioned that a third job would be folded into mine as my next developmental opportunity meaning that I don't have much hope of improving my quality of life with this job based on the company's MO.
To make matters worse, my new position is highly visible so I have started to attract some "not so good" attention from "not so good colleagues" that have a reputation for being apt at throwing people under buses. I've been run-over by unexpected buses twice in the last 6 months. AND, as of about a month ago, my boss and I have not been getting along. In case it is valuable information, my boss has and will not change. While this job technically does not travel, I have regularly taken 3 international trips per year. This year, the trips all happened back to back (SUCKING BIG TIME).
Job Offer
Distance: 14 miles each way
Salary: $170k
Bonus: flat 10%
Benefits: This is a non-profit organization so they do not have shareholders or stock. They do not have a 401(k) plan. They put a lot of weight on their pension plan; I am waiting for HR to send me more information on this, but they advertise it to be a good benefit (I suspect that this information will be helpful).
In terms of health insurance, this company offers a similar package as my current employer so it isn't worth spelling out.
Quality of life: I interviewed with a large number of people at the new company and they all claim that the company will offer an improved quality of life. One of my potential future colleagues warned me that he travels a lot (100k miles this year). Although I would also travel, he noted that it would not be to the same extent as him and that he had a particularly bad year.
Generally, I have quality of life down as a question mark. Although the hiring manager, C-suite, and several others claim the company offers a good quality of life, I'm just not sure how much weight to put on this variable. People can say anything they want.
My stupid concerns regarding the new opportunity:
(1) My current job is prestigious - my mother will flip when she learns that I moved. I am a first generation US citizen, so the best way I can describe this is by saying that prestige matters a lot to her (and my extended family).
(2) My commute will triple. The positive is that I live in town and the job is out of town, so I would be going against traffic. Maybe I can find a carpool??? Not sure...
(3) I have regularly changed jobs at the 2 year mark. I am 2 months shy of my 2 year anniversary with my current job. I don't know why I care, but this datapoint bothers me.
Conclusion
I would really appreciate your (collective) help in evaluating this opportunity. I am pretty worn out and I am concerned that I will not think through the opportunity clearly based on temporary/external factors (e.g., exhaustion, emotion).