No, I am not in danger of physically losing my head and having it shrunk and put on a staff, I am however in a bit of a decision conundrum. I currently work in the merchant services industry, and I really love my job. I work from home most of the time and travel to meet clients and banker associates on a schedule I set. I have a salary and full benefits, but my base pay is less than $40,000/yr. This is fine while my husband is in school and we are living off of my wages plus student loan reimbursements, but money is always tight. My issue is, I received a phone call from a regional bank president who I have worked with in the past, and he wanted to extend me an offer for a branch manager position. I have no banking experience, however I had no experience in merchant services before I obtained my current position, I am just a fast learner. I have never had the situation where someone is actively trying to get me to leave my job to take a position with their company. I know the average salary would be about $50,000/yr but I don’t know if that is enough to make me leave a job that is extremely flexible and fits my current situation of being a mother of twin preschoolers and the wife of a full-time pharmacy student. I want to know what I should be considering that I haven’t already, and if leaving a job after only being employed since June makes any sense? Thanks in advance.
It doesn’t matter how soon you leave a job after you start if you have a firm offer of another one. Job hopping isn’t a big consideration until it is repeated and even then it only applies if you think you will be in the job market again soon. 40K to 50K is significant but not all that huge. More important considerations would include a comparison of the work hours and schedule required for each as well as likely advancement opportunities in the future. Most important of all is if you are actually interested in being a bank manager.
If you’re not tenured at your present job, then it’s worth a shot. If a flexible schedule is your main goal and not putting money in the bank for retirement, then stay where you are.
Check out the job requirements before jumping ship. If it looks like you’d be over your head, don’t do it. If it looks like you could get learned up, then move forward. A branch manager is a stepping stone.
Present him with your expectations in writing. Include six months to a year of probation, during which you may not be terminated without cause. Should he decide you’re not a good fit after probation, try to make 3 months salary a requirement for termination without cause (one month, minimum) at the end of probation. Tell him you’ll need 3 weeks vacation a year, starting after the probation period.
Remember, he wants you, not the other way 'round. It has to be worth your while to leave your present employment.
Being a bank manager and a mom of twins is nuts. Not impossible, but a thrash. Be hugely thankful for the job you have…many parents would kill for it.
Be respectful to the bank friend, explain about the little kids, and point out that hiring kid-help to cover your absence would actually be a step backward financially, plus you really can’t leave your current job so soon, as it wouldn’t be fair to your current boss. Tell him to keep you in mind and you’ll be in touch when the kids are a little bigger. They will be in the 8th grade in about 15 minutes and you can get a raise then.
Also, try to find a polite way to let your current crew know about the offer…not to get a raise, but just to let them know you’re a sharp pencil.
P.S. Bank managers never travel anywhere except the bank.
I think one of my major complications is the regional president who called me works for a bank that my company contracts with to provide merchant services. I basically work for his bank and several other banks in my region to maintain and sign up new clients for commercial credit card processing accounts. I am almost certain the location of the job he is offering me, because he was asking me about a particular branch manager and how they have performed in giving me leads and clients. I gave him a list of the leads organized by branch so as not to call any particular branch manager out, but I know the branch manager who has only sent me one lead since June/. The regional president and I had to go see this lead ourselves to close the deal on Friday because the branch manager wasn’t pursuing it. The regional bank president kept asking me about her and how it was going, and I kept politely dodging giving him any negative feedback. Our visit on Friday is what he called me about. He said he was impressed with my work ethic and ability to accommodate my client. It is just so awkward because I have only been working for my company for 5 months and I hate to leave them without a solid replacement and time to train them before I left for good. They hired me after the guy who had my job before was fried after only 3 months due to incompetence and the bank we contract with asking my boss to get rid of him. They have put a lot of effort and training into making sure I was going to work out, and if I jump ship this soon I would feel awfully guilty. I was planning on devoting at least a year or two to this career before I moved on. I am wondering how likely it is that if I contact the regional bank president in a year or two this offer would still be there or if this is his Patten at filling a position knowing he wants to fire someone and needs me to fill that position quickly. I am sure he has other prospects in mind, I can’t be his only option.
Years ago I worked as a headhunter. I would think if your present employer learns you haven’t been job seeking but are being actively sought out by another company, there’s a very good chance you could get a counter offer. I don’t know about now, but it used to be very common.
I would echo concerns that the bank job would be challenging with two little kids at home. And that 10K a year isn’t enough to make up for the missed family time and added expense of childcare and other associated expenses.
That said, you’re in the driver’s seat. I’d ask for more money, more vacation, more flexibility, etc. Explain that you enjoy your current job and the flexibility it provides, but that an excellent package may tempt you.
Companies negotiate like this all the time. Don’t feel bad about negotiating from a seat of power. And don’t have any regrets about your final decision. Whatever you choose, it was the right thing to do.
I did think to tell him about the kids and that I am currently in my last semester of grad school and my schedule would need to be very flexible. I said I couldn’t even consider anything until the beginning of next year. I didn’t even think to tell my current boss. He is a really cool guy and has been in this business for 40+ years so I am sure he is familiar with things like this and would at least be able to provide some good advice, and it wouldn’t hurt to remind him how awesome I am 
(just kidding, I really don’t have that high self esteem!)
Don’t tell your current boss until you have an offer in hand from the bank and are seriously considering it. No good can come from playing your hand early. Also, don’t feel guilty about switching jobs for whatever reason you want. You don’t owe anything to an employer other than giving it your best while you are there. There are no points for blind loyalty any more on either side so don’t handicap yourself with false morals.
I have over 20 employees that have been with me over 20 years. You don’t sound like an employer.
I am talking about it from the employee side and not the employer side. I know each ones preferred approach because they have different priorities and differences in power depending on the circumstances. The OP is an employee and should have herself and her family as her primary responsibility, not her current employer. I am and have been both an employee and an employer.
Am I the only one here who suspects that if this was a professional man at the start of his career with small children and a wife in school, people would be telling him to take the bull by the horns and take every advantage he can get at this critical juncture in his career? Working a 9-5 with kids is hardly unheard of- most of the men (and women) in my office manage it.
Everything comes with trade-offs, but I would look at the long term potential for growth. Now is the time to be investing what you can in your career, because every rung of the ladder you scale at this point will pay off not just this year, but very likely every paycheck for the rest of your life. Even when you think of your children, you have to look at the long term impact of your options.
Anyway- think long term. What does the career progression at your current position look like? What would the career position at the bank look like? Where are you most likely to learn new skills, meet good networking contacts and develop your professional presence? If you think you may have a career transition in the future, what position offers the most transferable skills? Where do you have the most chance to meet people who can help you? Where will your talents best shine through?
If your current job offers no real option to progress (which is what it sounds like) I’d ditch it ASAP. Time spent in a job where you are not growing professionally is just spinning your wheels. If you have to be in the rat race, you might as well be strategic about it.
Another bit of advice- negotiate. Read up on how to do it will. Many women do not negotiate, and subsequently they get paid a lot less more than they could be getting paid. Negotiation is a normal part of getting a job, don’t hesitate or be afraid of it. The employers expect it, they are ready for it, and chances are every man in the office has done it. Remember that raises take a lot of work and time, but getting a good starting salary just takes a few well-planned minutes. Don’t be a sucker.
The number top thing that women get wrong in salary negotiations is they start talking. The will lay out a number, and then when they are hit with a counter-offer, they start saying “Oh, well, I understand that in this economy…blah blah blah” and before they know it, they’ve just laid out a good argument for getting paid a lowball figure. Do your research, add 5k to the high figure, and try to get them to make the first offer.
Big point that I may have missed in earlier posts: get everything in writing. You don’t want to leave your current position to find out that you’re a glorified bank teller with the potential (or on the track to someday) earn that $50K per year.
Even sven has a good point. This country is now mostly two working parents. Husband sounds like he is a student and not employed? Mrs. Cad worked full-time and I was a teacher and we raised our kids even with me going to get two masters and a doctorate full-time in addition to my teaching commitment and then she went and got her bachelor’s while we were both working. Believe it or not it can be done.
DH has been working full time since we were married 7 years ago as a pharm tech at Walgreens. For the past 2 years he has been competing with the other 800 other pharmacy students at his school for clinical pharmacy internships in the hospitals here in town and has landed several interviews but no offers. Walgreens was making him miserable so I actively sought a job which would cover his salary and the one I was making as an office assistant at the VA so he could quit his job and focus on school full time. He is an investment and his education is an investment worth so much more than his pharm tech salary was. We weighed his future earnings and his ability to focus completely on school against the little bit he was making while employed and we decided it was the best thing for us to do.
Oh I forgot, I am also getting my masters this fall!
DH worked all through undergrad and first 2 years of pharm school, and it just got to be too much. I had right after I graduated undergrad which required me to spend 3 days away from home a week, and with him having to take care of two toddlers by himself 3 days a week he ended up having to retake a full year of pharmacy school. He never had time to really study because he was either working or taking care of the babies and late night studying with a half asleep brain is never productive.
If you decide to leave your job, find out the penalties that unemployment would impose and make sure you have a contract with the new job saying you will be kept on for enough weeks and earnings to overcome that penalty before you leave the old job for the new.
Nope, trading a job you love and fits with your lifestyle for a mere $10K? Not worth it. Trust me, OP.
Dont do it.
I am leaning towards not doing it. I don’t think I have devoted enough time to my current career to leave this soon and I love the people I work with and how I set my own schedule. I was so shocked with the call I didn’t know how I should react and if it was a good decision to hesitate. Thanks for all the advice everyone. I know if I had asked friends or family I wouldn’t have gotten the bias free answers I got here! Thanks 
Just my anecdote: I spent the years of raising two sons (now adults) working all I could w/ extra side-jobs and weekends. I really, really, really regret not spending more time with them as they grew up. Hindsight is 20/20 as the cliche’ goes. The kids only grow up once and then its history, ya know
Picture yourself in a decade reminiscing about things - how do you want to fill those memories? I am certain you see the gist of what I am asking you rhetorically here. I know I definitely regret not seeing many of the things the kids did during summers, or having ability to take kids to places somewhat reliably and without telling them “Sorry, guys, gotta do something else instead of y’all this month”.
Lots of folks at/near retirement age also say that they would give up their hard-earned fortune to go back in time doing things differently regarding their kids/family. I can’t remember ever really hearing someone saying they wished they had spent more time at the office/work. Its always mostly the opposite.
YMMV and all that… I always like seeing folks possibly err on side of ‘being there for the kids’, but its always a balance of all things. Be at peace with yourself
Agreed. Especially since your husband is a pharmacy student and, presumably, will be making good money in a couple years.