My First Thread Ever - and I need advice!!

This little wyldelf has come upon a problem that needs some serious (and not so serious) advice. Please bear with me as I try and muddle through this.

I work as a “Temporary” for a recruitment company - meaning I get contracted to other companies for specified periods of time.

At the moment I am working for a Mining company as a receptionist. This is a 3 month contract with a view to becoming permanent. I have been here for approx. 1 1/2 months now and really enjoy the people I work for. The job however has very little challenge in it.

Today I was quietly offered a position within the same company but a different section of it. I would be working as a claims officer in the workers compensation section. This would mean finishing my contract early as a receptionist and working in the same building permanently but for another section.

Now the problems are that there is quite a lot of politics involved in the workplace and I could possibly be seen as “deserting” (sp?) my current position/employer to take this position and they could be seen as “poaching” me. Also though my immediate boss at the moment is quite difficult the boss I would be working under is also very difficult.

To sum up:
Pros of taking job:
Stable full-time position (the reception position could be lost to restructuring at any stage)
More involved/challenging position
More money (about $5,000 - $8,000 more)
More chance of promotion

Cons to taking job:
Political unrest within company - could cause quite a few problems
Difficult boss (very difficult apparently)
Less people time (I am definately a people person)
Will have to move offices to another premises next year therefore not close to some of the people I love working with here.
Pros/Cons of current Position
The people I interact with are excellent fun to be around.
I get to surf the net a heap :wink:
The little things I do to help out and make another’s day enjoyable are appreciated
The job may not be here when the contract finishes (they are prone to restructuring)
No challenge in the job. If I had nails I would spend a lot of time filing them. (I manage to keep quite busy by finding work to do but not work I have to do)
The money is excellent for what work I am doing but not great in the overall scheme of things

HELP ME - I have 2 days to think this through. What do I do?

Hrm, Interoffice politics are difficult to deal with. Your current boss is a possesive type? You said you got along well with them, perhaps could talk to him. Let him know that you have been offered a permanent position but don’t tell him were, and findout if he is willing to match, if he isn’t, then since your job would be over in another month anyways, take the permanent. If he does, keep the current job. Mind you this might not be feasable in the job area you are in, am speaking more from a techhead in Sillycon valley position.

Narile’s advice is good.

I must add that since you are in a relatively low pay scale, you need to consider the value of having a salary history in higher figures. The “earning power” that such a history gets you follows you to your next job and so on.

The compensation work also represents a learning situation where you can gain additional marketable skills. Try and negotiate with your boss. See if he will match (although I do not recommend staying), if he isn’t willing, then you have ample reason to move on.

If anything, tell your new supervisor that you are obliged to give your current boss two weeks notice (at least), to help them cross train an employee or new hire for your position. This sort of professionalism is not lost on anyone that you would want to call “boss”.

PS: Welcome to the world of threads!

That’s an easy one.

Take the job. As to your cons:
Political unrest within company -Someone might be temporarily miffed, but even your difficult boss will understand. Would he (I’m assuming here) pass up a good opportunity?
Difficult boss -nothing new there.
Will have to move offices to another premises next year therefore not close to some of the people I love working with here. -temporary thing. You will form new relationships.

Take the job.

Well - I managed to pidgeon-hole my current boss this afternoon and mentioned the offer to her (yes it is a her) as I thought that was the more politically correct thing to do. I told her how happy I was working for the company etc etc and that I was concerned that my current position would not go permanent etc etc and let her know that I would be considering the position and that I would like to have a talk with management on Monday to discuss where my current job is going etc.

shrugs

Was that an incredibly stupid thing to do?? I hate being dishonest so I felt I had to tell her.

Take the job.

Also, play the politics, they can get you a few extra rungs (or more) up the ladder, if you play your deck right. Don’t be afraid to be a little slimeball-ish from time to time. :wink:

Take the job. Until you have been offered a perm position, you owe nothing at all. Consider this free profesional advice from a tax expert (which I am)- tell your old boss- “no hard feelings, but my tax advisor advised me to take the other job”- go ahead- blame me. No charge, either. :smiley:

Italics added for emphasis.

PS: elf, it’s buttonholed as opposed to pigeonholed.

[sub]“Button hole” means to grasp someone by the lapel(s), where the button (buttonaire [sp?]) hole is.

To “pigeon hole” is to place someone into a category or “slot” (as in a mail sorting set of boxes).
PPS: While reading this again I considered the importance of using the s/he reference.

doh - my English suffers really bad after 1/2 bottle of champagne after work - sorry

Pidgeons/Buttons… Actually what I did was offer her a glass of champagne and then we sat down to talk - was probably my best move.

The other thing is though - that I love being a people person. I love being in a position to do those little things and remember the little things that make a person’s day so much brighter. As a receptionist I am now able to do that and it is such a warm feeling. I love that part of my job. I am worried that I will take this other job and find I hate not having the contact with others.

sigh I am so damn confused.

There are a couple of other reasons that also come into consideration to some degree but not work related

wyldelf, there are very few jobs that do not include contact with others. Unless you work the graveyard shift.

** Option three **
Quit and move halfway around the world. Hey, you did
say all the guys were half a world away :slight_smile:
just my two cents.

Osip

**Osip{/B] That’s the best idea I have heard in a long damn time. Any job offers??
:slight_smile:

Shit, that was ME posting again.

Damn dpr for leaving HIS name on his poster. He should have more consideration.

Anyone want to find me an overseas job?

Well put me in the minority…

I can’t see any reason to work for a difficult boss, unless jobs are really hard to come by or it’s your dream job.

Anytime you interview for a job, you should be interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you.

I’ve never found it difficult to find people I want to work for…anytime they’ve been replaced by an asshole (and I could tell you stories!!!), I’ve bailed out and moved on.

Makes life much less stressful.

That being said, you always owe it to yourself to take advantage of better opportunities as they come along, Don’t pass one up out of guilt for your current employer.

Thanks Rundogrun. I’ve got 48 hours to think about it now shrugs.

Take the other job. The fact that they came after you, and are offering you an extra $5k to $8k shows that you must be pretty good, or at least be considered a valuable person. Valuable people are hard to fire. And the chance of promotion being better is great.

I have no advice, sweetie, but I offer you HUGE hugs. You’ll do what’s best. Follow your gut (I’d say your heart, but this is work), it always knows what will work out.

And quit being dpr! It’s throwing me off!

Sure let Osip know what qualifications Wyldelf has and Osip will look around for Wyldelf!!

Been there, done that.

I agree with several people in this thread.

  1. Take the job.
  2. Just because they offered you a “pie in the sky” “could turn out to be permanent” job in the future doesn’t mean it will materialize. Actually, my experience has been just the opposite–they’ve got you cheap, with no benefits (health insurance?) so why should they promote you to permanent?
  3. Taking the job looks good on your resume, even if it’s not really a huge step up. It shows that you’ve got initiative, you’re not content to just sit behind the receptionist’s desk forever. And “Claims Officer” sounds so much better than “Receptionist”.
  4. Every boss I’ve ever met could be characterized as “difficult”. The only difference is, some of them are difficult bastards, and some of them are just difficult.
  5. Talking to your current boss about this was not only NOT stupid, it was positively brilliant. You demonstrated to Management that you are on the ball, a go-getter. That’s why they’re offering you this other job in the first place, they think that’s the kind of person you are. The new job doesn’t call for Marian the Librarian who just wants to sit there and do filing all day.

Even if the job evaporates after a while, you’ll still have it on your resume. Don’t pick a job by whether the people are “nice” or “fun”. Sometimes people who are “fun” don’t hesitate to ask you to do extra work off the clock, because they figure, “Oh, she won’t mind.” Some of the most hellish work experiences I’ve ever been in were the ones where the Boss said, with a perfectly straight face, “We’re a Family here.”

Don’t feel like you have to play politics (you can just smile neutrally and change the subject), but don’t come across like a stuck-up Goody Two-Shoes, either (“oh, she never wants to talk”).

Listen to Anthracite, she sounds like she knows whereof she speaks.

:slight_smile:

Change is always good.
Politics? They will forget you before your chair is cold or your paperpunch is stolen.
Don’t confuse work friends with real friends, or you will break your heart ten times at once.