I'm Doing The Right Thing, Right?

[sass_in_the_pants]

So I posted a while ago whining about how I don't get to spend enough time with the babies.

But, we need my income so I have to stay working. So, I thought, okay, at my current job I work like 50 hours a week, so if I could get in at a company that works their full-time employees 35 hours a week, well, that would be better and of course if you can't have the best, you settle for the better, right? Right.

Now, here is what I THOUGHT would happen.

I thought I would put my resume out there, and I wouldn't get any bites and I would throw my hands up in the air and say 'Damn this Michigan economy! I can't find a job!' and then I would stay where I was and nothing would change and, most importantly, I wouldn't have to make a decision.

That is not what happened.

That is really not what happened.

Instead I got not one, but TWO job offers. Two very, very, very lucrative job offers. More money. More responsibility. Stable companies. And 35 hours a week. Two! I currently have a job, and here's two more that just fell out of the sky!

So I said to my boss today that I would be leaving the company because I just can't continue to work these kinds of hours and that I was leaving to work someplace that would only work me 35 hours.

He asked if there was anything that they could do to get me to stay.

And I said 'Yes, let me work part-time, but keep me at my current hourly rate' So, I would still be taking a pay cut, but rather than taking a cut in hours AND rate, I would only take a cut in hours, which would be fine.

And he said okay.

He said okay.

They never say okay.

In the TEN YEARS that I have been at this company I have never seen anyone who asked to go part-time (and there have been many) and was given a yes. Not ONE person in ten years.

And to me they said okay.

Am I crazy? I mean, it's Michigan in a recession and I have two job offers sitting in my inbox, two really good job offers. and I'm about to tell them both no, thank you, to stay at my current position, and work part-time.

I feel crazy because it's like I just won the Ferarri and I'm saying 'Really? Gosh, that's really nice and all, but do you have an '86 Chevy Nova? I'm really quite fond of those'

I feel crazy because I am being offered what everybody wants, and I am turning it down, because I don't think it's what I want.

Anyone?

[bean]

Ask yourself:

Do you like your current job? If yes, then what do you like? If no, what don't you like?

What would the benefits be to quitting this job and taking another?

What would the benefit be to staying at this job?

What could these other two jobs offer?

What would it hurt to interview for these two jobs?

Do you have some time to think about it? If so, take some time and think.

[TygerLili]

If you like your job and think that you can make ends meet with the pay cut, then I see no reason for you not to stay at your current job. Starting a new job is always a pain in the ass. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

On the other hand, if you don't like your job, then why stay there and be unhappy if you have the opportunity for change?

Like Bean Water said, weigh the pros and cons.

Also, as far as the Michigan economy is concerned, no matter what you choose to do you're leaving two spots open to go to someone else who is in the position of needing a new job.

[Steven]

all I can say Hon is try to stay away from any fear based decisions........they always rob you in the end.

[Homicidalheathen]

You should feel thankful you have all this opporotunity........

You must be a good worker....

To get to stay at a job you love and have time with your kids.....not many can say that.

When mine were little we had to work opposite shifts because one of us had to be home, that ment me at night out all the time doing crap work like waitressing, office cleaning.

And being tired in the day. Finally mom in law offered to watch the kids so I got to work days a few years later.

[Kit Kat P]

You always pay less insurance on the Nova and you can actually work on it. Who can work on a Ferrari? Otherwise known as the devil you know rather than the devil you don't.

[torn asunder]

once i've made my intentions known (that i'm looking for other work) i never stick around, no matter the offer. i've talked with people who've had this screw them over in the end - their employer uses more money as bait to keep them just long enough to find their replacement, and then gets rid of them, after the other job has already been filled. my opinion, go for one of the new jobs...

[creatureofthenyte]

I say, interview for both job offers and choose the one that sounds to you, like a better situation and go work there. The best time to find a new job, is while you still have a job. I have heard enough on the news to know just how crappy your economy is out there, and I think you would be a fool to not go for a much better situation. Like TA said, they just threw you a money bone to get you to stay and then they will screw you later. I quit a job about 8 yrs ago and stepped into a much better situation and have never looked back.

My thinking, as far as your situation goes, you go get one of these better jobs, and work the hours you want, with MORE money! Think about how much better you would be able to provide for your kids, and how much easier it would be to breathe, financially, if you were making more money. Do you have any idea just how many people in your state would kill for the opportunity to step into a well paying job with a stable company??

Go for it, its better then wondering what if...

[sass_in_the_pants]

I was surprised actually at how many people said I should go for the better job.

Not just on the board, but my dad and my sister even. I was really surprised about that.

But, you know what? I don't want more money, not at the price of spending less time with my kids. I mean, if I'm really that good of a worker, and I think I am, then the right job will be there for me, at the TIME that's right for me, too. And the time is not now.

I mean, why have I busted my ass all these years? What's in the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? What do I get for all of this? Do I get to bust my ass more? Forget it. Right now, all I want to do is spend more time with my kids. They're only babies once. And once they grow up, that's it, it's over. How much longer will they like to snuggle with me? How much longer with they like to hear me sing Copacabana? How much longer do I have with them before they grow up and go away? Not long enough, I tell ya, not long enough.

But I have the rest of my life to bust my ass. And so that's what I'm doing. For the next few years, I'll work part-time, and enjoy the extra time with my kids. And then, I can get back to the business of busting my ass. Now, now, it's my time, this is MY time to do EXACTLY what I want to do and what I want to do is sing Copacabana to some super cute babies.

This might sound stupid, but everytime I leave my house to go to work in the morning, I feel like I'm leaving a party just as it's about to get started. And the weekends are SO busy, all the time running here and there, the amount of time I get with just the girls is very, very brief.

So, the short of it is, I'm happy. I'm happy with the decision to work part-time. I know my company won't get rid of me. There is a certain advantage to doing the job that no one else wants to do. Really. I think job security is doing the job your boss HATES to do and doing it well.

So, in a month or so, I'll be part-time, and I STILL get four weeks paid vacation. Even my boss said 'Crap, you're never going to be here, are you?' and I said 'Nope, but the work will get done anyway, so don't worry!' and he said 'I know, that's why I'm letting you do this'

I think this deserves a dancing banana.

[Homicidalheathen]

Congrats babe.

The times I played with my kids made up for them wearing Salvation army clothes vs Osh Kosh.....who the hell needs designer kids clothes hell they out grow them anyway

[Steven]

But, you know what? I don't want more money, not at the price of spending less time with my kids. I mean, if I'm really that good of a worker, and I think I am, then the right job will be there for me, at the TIME that's right for me, too. And the time is not now.

this right here....is fucking GOLDEN.

you are a breath of fresh air to me, I have mad respect for you right now.

[sass_in_the_pants]

Congrats babe.

The times I played with my kids made up for them wearing Salvation army clothes vs Osh Kosh.....who the hell needs designer kids clothes hell they out grow them anyway

this right here....is fucking GOLDEN.

you are a breath of fresh air to me, I have mad respect for you right now.

Thanks guys!

Honestly, ever since I made this decision I've been over the moon!

Whatever financial problems come, we'll work em out.

It's weird. I was worried about having a baby. And then I found out we were having two and I stopped being worried and got all excited. And I was worried about money, and then I went to part-time and now I'm not so worried about money. The math doesn't make any sense, but I was never very good at math anyway.

[Steven]

Thanks guys!

Honestly, ever since I made this decision I've been over the moon!

Whatever financial problems come, we'll work em out.

It's weird. I was worried about having a baby. And then I found out we were having two and I stopped being worried and got all excited. And I was worried about money, and then I went to part-time and now I'm not so worried about money. The math doesn't make any sense, but I was never very good at math anyway.

my kinda girl.

me thinks that the priority that you are placing on your immediate relationship with your children is building a legacy of honor for your future and for theirs as well.

[Fierce Critter]

You'll be fine.

Remember back in October Jon went to a different company? TONS of more money? Better benefits? Well, the company he was working at tried their damndest to get him to stay. Matched the offers. Bent over backwards. The fucking CEO of the company tried to get him to stay.

He went to the new job. And hated it. He was fucking miserable. And then, in January, unbeknownst to me, the CEO of the former company contacted Jon again, and tried to get him to come back.

And Jon handled negotiations excellent. He even got the old company to give him $2.00 on top of what the new company was paying him - so he basically was going back to the old company to be paid $6.00 an hour more than when he left them. He did this all without me knowing. He told me on Valentine's Day that he was going back to the old company, starting the following Monday.

And when the new company learned of it, they tried to get him to stay. Offered him easier work. And offered him $2.00 on top of what the old company was going to pay him. that's right - he could have been up to $8.00 an hour over what he made back in September of last year.

But he told them no. And as he was leaving, they still told him to call them if anything changed.

He's back with the old company. And he's happier than I've ever seen him. The grass was NOT greener when he left. He went back to a job he knew well, where he was secure in his knowledge of what to do and how to do it.

Sometimes, that's worth more than $$.

Good luck to you.

[Steven]

You'll be fine.

Remember back in October Jon went to a different company? TONS of more money? Better benefits? Well, the company he was working at tried their damndest to get him to stay. Matched the offers. Bent over backwards. The fucking CEO of the company tried to get him to stay.

He went to the new job. And hated it. He was fucking miserable. And then, in January, unbeknownst to me, the CEO of the former company contacted Jon again, and tried to get him to come back.

And Jon handled negotiations excellent. He even got the old company to give him $2.00 on top of what the new company was paying him - so he basically was going back to the old company to be paid $6.00 an hour more than when he left them. He did this all without me knowing. He told me on Valentine's Day that he was going back to the old company, starting the following Monday.

And when the new company learned of it, they tried to get him to stay. Offered him easier work. And offered him $2.00 on top of what the old company was going to pay him. that's right - he could have been up to $8.00 an hour over what he made back in September of last year.

But he told them no. And as he was leaving, they still told him to call them if anything changed.

He's back with the old company. And he's happier than I've ever seen him. The grass was NOT greener when he left. He went back to a job he knew well, where he was secure in his knowledge of what to do and how to do it.

Sometimes, that's worth more than $$.

Good luck to you.

that was the coolest thing Ive heard in a long time.

my respect to Jon for handling his business ......