Job filter: Should I stay or go?
September 1, 2016 1:05 PM Subscribe
I was encouraged to apply for a promotion at my current job. I applied, interviewed, and was offered the job. But I'm not sure I want it, and have been offered another interview at a different job, that seems like it might be a better fit. I must decide whether to accept the promotion before my interview for the other job occurs. Please help me sort out my thinking and plan of action! Challenge level: should I let my current job I have an interview elsewhere, which is why I'm turning down the promotion?
In a former life, I was a high-level clinician, but I've moved countries and don't have medical licensure here, so I'm working as an assistant--mostly assisting clinicians during visits and handing them instruments. I am extremely overqualified for this work. My coworkers are mostly lovely but the job itself is a bit quiet for me. It doesn't involve much direct patient contact or critical thinking and the pace is fairly slow. The pay is also very low. The promotion would involve a bit more administrative work and a modest pay raise, but wouldn't teach me anything new. It will also involve even less patient contact, which is what I find most satisfying. It also doesn't seem to offer much room for advancement, or at least not at a pace with which I'm comfortable, and potentially not even the career ladder I want to climb.
The job I've been offered an interview for is more in line with jobs I would have held in my home country, in terms of experience, educational requirements, etc. It's in a large institution and involves clinical care and offers more independence. There seems to be more opportunity for growth or at least expanding more broadly into higher-level work that I'm interested in. It pays a significant amount more (>150%) than my current job, but is only a 12-month contract (with additional funding potentially available). I can't interview for this job until after I've given my current employer a decision about the promotion I've interviewed for.
Other details of note:
- The "new" job held interviews last week, and is holding an extra interview day just for me--which makes me think that they didn't find the candidate they were hoping for in the first round of interviews, or their first choice declined, so they're holding an extra round for me. I am extremely qualified for this job, and fit all of their essential and desirable categories to a T.
- The old job hired me knowing that, if my professional medical registration came through, I would leave my current position to do that. I've told them as well that I'm concerned the promotion might take me away from the clinical work that I love, and they told me to give it a few more days to think about, but did give me a firm deadline that's well before my other interview. They also said they would be fine with me taking the promotion, even if I stayed only for another 3-6 months. If my medical registration did come through, I would happily work as a clinician at my current gig for at least another year (or a finite time if I knew clinical work was ahead of me). However, I don't anticipate my licensure to come through any time soon, and I wouldn't want to stay in my current position for very much longer. (So if I turn down the promotion, I will continue to look for alternate jobs--which I think will be evident to my employer if I decline this promotion).
- The working environment and colleagues at the "new" job are an unknown. I also don't know precisely what my day-to-day duties would be. (I can gather from the job description, but I won't be sure until I have the interview).
- I'm hoping to get pregnant soon, so leaving a permanent (albeit much lower paid, slow, and somewhat boring job) job for a 12-month contract seems somewhat risky. My current job (and the promotion) would allow me to take maternity leave and hold my job for me. The contract position wouldn't necessarily, although if they were happy with my work, I imagine they would dig up funding for me.
- I am living in an expensive place, so the increase in salary is not insignificant for myself and my spouse. Selfishly, it's also been quite hard for me to adjust to an 80% wage decrease since moving, so I am attracted by the much higher salary on offer at the "new" job.
- Many of my colleagues really want me to take the promotion. Several senior staff have already congratulated me on the job offer and are assuming that I'll take it. There may also be another internal candidate that the team doesn't want, so I am feeling even more pressure to take the position. I know I can't really weigh these things in, but I can't help but let it make me feel guilty!
Of course, I haven't been offered the new job yet, so it may all be daydreaming on my part.
I am dizzy from thinking about this and don't want to let it drag on too long. I am not in the habit of burning bridges and do want what's good for my current workplace. Please share any thoughts or experience with me. I'm hoping to give my current job an answer in the next couple of days.
In a former life, I was a high-level clinician, but I've moved countries and don't have medical licensure here, so I'm working as an assistant--mostly assisting clinicians during visits and handing them instruments. I am extremely overqualified for this work. My coworkers are mostly lovely but the job itself is a bit quiet for me. It doesn't involve much direct patient contact or critical thinking and the pace is fairly slow. The pay is also very low. The promotion would involve a bit more administrative work and a modest pay raise, but wouldn't teach me anything new. It will also involve even less patient contact, which is what I find most satisfying. It also doesn't seem to offer much room for advancement, or at least not at a pace with which I'm comfortable, and potentially not even the career ladder I want to climb.
The job I've been offered an interview for is more in line with jobs I would have held in my home country, in terms of experience, educational requirements, etc. It's in a large institution and involves clinical care and offers more independence. There seems to be more opportunity for growth or at least expanding more broadly into higher-level work that I'm interested in. It pays a significant amount more (>150%) than my current job, but is only a 12-month contract (with additional funding potentially available). I can't interview for this job until after I've given my current employer a decision about the promotion I've interviewed for.
Other details of note:
- The "new" job held interviews last week, and is holding an extra interview day just for me--which makes me think that they didn't find the candidate they were hoping for in the first round of interviews, or their first choice declined, so they're holding an extra round for me. I am extremely qualified for this job, and fit all of their essential and desirable categories to a T.
- The old job hired me knowing that, if my professional medical registration came through, I would leave my current position to do that. I've told them as well that I'm concerned the promotion might take me away from the clinical work that I love, and they told me to give it a few more days to think about, but did give me a firm deadline that's well before my other interview. They also said they would be fine with me taking the promotion, even if I stayed only for another 3-6 months. If my medical registration did come through, I would happily work as a clinician at my current gig for at least another year (or a finite time if I knew clinical work was ahead of me). However, I don't anticipate my licensure to come through any time soon, and I wouldn't want to stay in my current position for very much longer. (So if I turn down the promotion, I will continue to look for alternate jobs--which I think will be evident to my employer if I decline this promotion).
- The working environment and colleagues at the "new" job are an unknown. I also don't know precisely what my day-to-day duties would be. (I can gather from the job description, but I won't be sure until I have the interview).
- I'm hoping to get pregnant soon, so leaving a permanent (albeit much lower paid, slow, and somewhat boring job) job for a 12-month contract seems somewhat risky. My current job (and the promotion) would allow me to take maternity leave and hold my job for me. The contract position wouldn't necessarily, although if they were happy with my work, I imagine they would dig up funding for me.
- I am living in an expensive place, so the increase in salary is not insignificant for myself and my spouse. Selfishly, it's also been quite hard for me to adjust to an 80% wage decrease since moving, so I am attracted by the much higher salary on offer at the "new" job.
- Many of my colleagues really want me to take the promotion. Several senior staff have already congratulated me on the job offer and are assuming that I'll take it. There may also be another internal candidate that the team doesn't want, so I am feeling even more pressure to take the position. I know I can't really weigh these things in, but I can't help but let it make me feel guilty!
Of course, I haven't been offered the new job yet, so it may all be daydreaming on my part.
I am dizzy from thinking about this and don't want to let it drag on too long. I am not in the habit of burning bridges and do want what's good for my current workplace. Please share any thoughts or experience with me. I'm hoping to give my current job an answer in the next couple of days.
Just to confirm the second job is at a completely new institution? If thats the case I'd take the promotion at your current place, interview for the second job and take it if it comes along. There's nothing wrong with this.
If its at the same institution I'd just lay everything for the prospective hiring managers and see if you can't come to some sort of arrangement.
posted by bitdamaged at 1:17 PM on September 1, 2016 [2 favorites]
If its at the same institution I'd just lay everything for the prospective hiring managers and see if you can't come to some sort of arrangement.
posted by bitdamaged at 1:17 PM on September 1, 2016 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Won't threadsit, but:
Yes, second/new job is at a completely different institution. My current job requires a 4 week notice period, and it'd take me at least that long to go through HR with the new job. The interview with the new job will likely let me know if I've been offered the job on the same day--so in a week or so, but a few days after I need to let my current job know about the promotion.
posted by robertthebruce at 1:20 PM on September 1, 2016
Yes, second/new job is at a completely different institution. My current job requires a 4 week notice period, and it'd take me at least that long to go through HR with the new job. The interview with the new job will likely let me know if I've been offered the job on the same day--so in a week or so, but a few days after I need to let my current job know about the promotion.
posted by robertthebruce at 1:20 PM on September 1, 2016
Take the promotion. Go to the interview. If you get the better job and still want it, put in your four weeks notice. If they get mad at you, well, then maybe they should learn from the experience and strive to become an organization that people want to stay at rather than letting people get poached.
You clearly don't want to make your current organization a permanent career. Take what's offered to you now.
posted by Etrigan at 1:22 PM on September 1, 2016 [10 favorites]
You clearly don't want to make your current organization a permanent career. Take what's offered to you now.
posted by Etrigan at 1:22 PM on September 1, 2016 [10 favorites]
Take the promotion. Do your best. Do the interview. Do your best and be confident when assessing the new opportunity and environment. Then decide.
The worst that could happen is you don't take the promotion, the other opportunity falls through and you're back where you started. Which would be pretty sucky! Life is strange and sometimes things just happen this way. Someone else will be delighted to take your place if you end up going elsewhere.
posted by amanda at 1:46 PM on September 1, 2016 [2 favorites]
The worst that could happen is you don't take the promotion, the other opportunity falls through and you're back where you started. Which would be pretty sucky! Life is strange and sometimes things just happen this way. Someone else will be delighted to take your place if you end up going elsewhere.
posted by amanda at 1:46 PM on September 1, 2016 [2 favorites]
Take the promotion and interview for the new job. During the interview process (or after they offer you the job) make sure you know whether you actually need the medical license to perform the new job. Do they know that you don't have it? I'd hate for you to jump ship and then find out that they assumed you had the license.
posted by CathyG at 1:59 PM on September 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by CathyG at 1:59 PM on September 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks for the replies so far. Yes, the new job knows I don't have medical license and it isn't required for the job. (It is a research position so while it's not full clinical care, I do get to use some of my
old clinical skills that I enjoy).
Caveat: promotion must have decision in 3 days. Interview is in 6 and the job offer will be made that day. It seems so close to accept and (potentially) renege. Dangerously close to bridge-burning territory, perhaps more than fits my comfort level.
posted by robertthebruce at 2:43 PM on September 1, 2016
old clinical skills that I enjoy).
Caveat: promotion must have decision in 3 days. Interview is in 6 and the job offer will be made that day. It seems so close to accept and (potentially) renege. Dangerously close to bridge-burning territory, perhaps more than fits my comfort level.
posted by robertthebruce at 2:43 PM on September 1, 2016
I guess I don't understand who you'd be burning bridges with: Coworkers? They'll understand. HR? Their job is dealing with this sort of disappointment. Some tyrant of a boss who uses a sense of social obligation to try to guilt people into working for less than they could be earning elsewhere?
Uhhh...
Take the promotion. It'll make you a stronger interviewer, because you'll be negotiating from a position of that much more power.
posted by straw at 3:51 PM on September 1, 2016
Uhhh...
Take the promotion. It'll make you a stronger interviewer, because you'll be negotiating from a position of that much more power.
posted by straw at 3:51 PM on September 1, 2016
If anyone gets upset with you doing this, they were going to get upset with you leaving for some other reason, real or imagined.
Oh, and if anyone asks how long you were planning on going to the other place, don't tell them. They don't need to know.
posted by Etrigan at 3:54 PM on September 1, 2016 [5 favorites]
Oh, and if anyone asks how long you were planning on going to the other place, don't tell them. They don't need to know.
posted by Etrigan at 3:54 PM on September 1, 2016 [5 favorites]
You don't know you're going to get the new job, so you need to act at your current job as if you won't. That means taking the promotion.
If you get the new job, take it, and quit your current job.
This isn't like you're taking a new job and then quitting that for a third. It's at the same employer, so it's just a change in responsibilities. This isn't the same hing, so you shouldn't be burning any bridges.
posted by J. Wilson at 8:04 AM on September 3, 2016 [1 favorite]
If you get the new job, take it, and quit your current job.
This isn't like you're taking a new job and then quitting that for a third. It's at the same employer, so it's just a change in responsibilities. This isn't the same hing, so you shouldn't be burning any bridges.
posted by J. Wilson at 8:04 AM on September 3, 2016 [1 favorite]
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