WWYD - Job Opportunities?

I need some advice please. This will be long, sorry!!

What would you do in this situation:

Current Job:
You commute about 1.5 - 2 hours but work 7:30 - 3:30 so you are home by 5:00pm
You've been at your current job for 5+ years.
You're pretty happy with your job, love your coworkers, nobody bothers you. DH commutes with you so you only have to drive one way and DH covers the other "driving shift."

You decide that you're sick of commuting so you start looking for another job.

New Prospective Job:
You find a great company within 7 miles of your house!
They offer you a couple of thousand dollars less than you make but you would have almost no commute, however, you'll be working from 8-5pm (getting home a little bit later than your current job).
They offer you the same amount of vacation time, 2 extra personal days, 2 extra Holidays.
They offer 401K after a year.
Sounds great! Then you check out their health benefits and it turns out that you have to contribute $11,000/year for a "semi-decent" plan. No bueno!!
You turn down the offer and they come back with an additional $5,000 per year to share the cost.

In the interim, your current employer offers you a review with a 10% raise and an extra week vacation plus a bonus check equal to the 10% increase from January 1, 2012 to present. With this new increase and extra vacation time, you politely decline the offer from the new company.

Within 2 hours, you receive a voicemail from the new company begging you to counter-offer.

I know this is not the worst problem in the world to have but what the heck do I do here?!?!?!?!

(not sure if it matters but DH is on board with whatever my decision is and just wants me to be happy. He has even suggested that he would be interested in moving closer to my current job if I want so I don't have to commute so much. However, my whole family lives close to where we live now and that would really make me upset)

Message edited 3/8/2012 1:17:06 PM.

Re: WWYD - Job Opportunities?

First off, congrats, these both sounds like amazing offers! For me, I would probably stay at my old job if you like it there and you like the people. That says a lot about a workplace imo.

I thought about leaving my job a few times and received offers elsewhere but for me, what it boiled down to was, I knew I liked the people I worked with, I knew what I was getting here and I don't mind going into work everyday which was more than I can say for a lot of people who loathe work. In a way, I think I chickened out but I knew what to expect here, and I know people here are loyal to me, and I just didn't want to chance not having that elsewhere. I even commuted here for 5 years, 2 hours each day. I think it says a lot that your current employer gave you not only a raise, but an additonal week vaca and made up for lost time with a check! Hope that helps!

Re: WWYD - Job Opportunities?

Thank you, this helps immensely! I just wanted outside opinions. I was very gung-ho about this new job at first but now i've taken a step back to take it all in and i'm realizing that I really do LOVE my job. Never, ever do I dread coming to work! I was just worried that I might be "chickening out" so your response definitely helped.

Re: WWYD - Job Opportunities?

I'd take the opportunity to submit a counter offer. Make sure that your counter is something that you know your current company cannot/will not offer and that it's something you'd be literally CRAZY to turn down.

Calculate everything that you make with your existing employer - including benefits. For example.. 65K base salary, 20K in family medical and dental benefits, 10K annual bonus, matching 401K at 5k per year.. so it's 100K per year. Then you figure 52 weeks less 5 weeks of vacation, sick and personal time. So thats 47 weeks and each week is 8 hours a day plus 3 hours per day commute... so that's 2585 hours a year that you give to the job. Divided by the 100K salary would be a little under 39 dollars per hour.

Now.. obviously I don't know your actual salary or benefit worth.. and I didn't take the time to factor in your real vacation/sick/persona time.. but you can see the basic formula. Once you have that per hour amount you will want to decide how much per hour it's worth for your comfort and security at your existing job worth the relative uncertainty of the new job. So let's say at the end of the day you decide this current job has a value of 42 dollars per hour to you. Now you can start to figure out what you will need from the new job to get you to move. KWIM?

Personally I'd ask them to match what I'm getting PLUS an extra 5K and if you can swing it I'd get a contract that gives you minimum of 12 weeks to get acclimated and a guarantee of 12 weeks severance if they decide you aren't a good fit.

ETA: Stability and loving your job are great.. but there is something to be said for taking a chance and being a little adventurous. There is a reason you were interviewing elsewhere. I say this because I passed up a lot of great jobs because I was 'comfortable' and ultimately I got let go during one of the WORST job markets ever and I still beat myself up for not listening to the instincts that had me interviewing in other places!!

Message edited 3/8/2012 1:52:54 PM.

Re: WWYD - Job Opportunities?

Stay where you are. A similar situation happened to me a few years ago and here is how THAT played out.

A few years ago I was working for a small firm which was close to my house. Same set up as you - ok salary, great hours, great commute, good co-workers. I started looking for a new job only because I was paying through the nose for health benefits (almost 45% of my income) and my boss was stingy with raises/promotions.

I got a job offer at another firm that was farther away but the offer was for $15K more than my current job. I would also be doing slightly more challenging tasks. I asked about benefits and they said I would have to pay toward them and it came to slightly more than my old job. I told them initially "no thanks" but then a few hours later, the increased the salary by another $5,000.

I talked to my DH and he was skeptical as to why they were so gung ho about me coming on board. I told the new firm about my hesitation and they said they just liked me a lot and felt I would be a "great fit" for growing with them...I talked to my current boss and he countered with a 12% raise and I ended up staying for another 6 months until I landed a job at my current company (which was a good 20% increase in pay plus awesome benefits so it was a no-brainer).

A few weeks after I turned down that job, I ran into an employee from that firm in court. turns out the partner was known to "sweet talk" new employees with all sorts of promises about a great work environment, salary progressions, challenging job duties, etc when they had fired the last 3 people for total BS reasons and failed to disclose there was an office manager who was a complete beyotch. That employee was promised many things that simply never materialized, and they were asked to contribute $$ all the time for office parties, etc.

So I was SOOOO happy I didnt take it - I knew when something "sounds too good to be true", it USUALLY IS!!!!

Re: WWYD - Job Opportunities?

Stay where you are happy!!!!!!

And down the line when you are blessed with a beautiful baby then you will be so glad that you stayed!

Re: WWYD - Job Opportunities?

My thinking is along the lines of MrsS.

There is much to be said about stability and especially liking one's co-workers.


As the poster above me said too:

Are you planning to have a family in the near future?

I have known several people who were let go for BS reasons when they were the newest employee at the place, yet got preggers.

Lastly, I personally took a job several years ago (place before where I am now) and was sweet talked and majorly recruited to go there.

My first day, my boss was fired and within a week three other employees were let go, including the VP of the company. There was all kind of fraudulent activity going on with billing and the program got shut down within a couple of months of my coming on board. I was encouraged by people from the state who knew me to get out of there ASAP before my reputation was associated with this place, which would make getting a job elsewhere super difficult.

If there is anyway you can get some inside opinions from people who already work there (and not the one's doing the hiring!) I think that's the only way I would consider the new place.

GL with your decision!!! It is so tough!!

Re: WWYD - Job Opportunities?

Thank you all very much for your responses. I'm feeling torn between the two offers but starting to lean towards staying with my current employer. It definitely helps me to see all of the different perspectives and I really appreciate your time. You're all awesome.

Re: WWYD - Job Opportunities?

Stay where you are. When things sound too good to be true, they probably are - a friend of mine had a similar experience to you. The new job offered her so much $$ that she couldn't turn it down (she had turned them down once already and they just kept coming back at her with more.) She took the job and was miserable. She was gone within 4 months. Apparently the company pays really, really well in an effort to keep its employees but that isn't enough and the turnover rate is crazy high.

Re: WWYD - Job Opportunities?

STAY! What a great situation to be in.