# new job - take or pass? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 3, 2010, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-job-take-or-pass/541760 "2010-06-03T13:20:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![curious\_mind\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5e9695/32.png) [@curious\_mind\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curious_mind_1)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-job-take-or-pass/541760/21 "2010-06-03T16:08:02Z")
Thanks everyone for your input. It’s nice to get an outside view on things. I have until Monday to decide. Until further introspection, I’m leaning more towards staying and find ways to increase the pace of learning here. Although I’ve been with this company for 6 years, I’ve been doing what I do for 3.5 yrs. And there are things to do here still. Seems like the general consensus is that the salary increase itself isn’t worth the move. ---
**Author:** ![kbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kbear)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-job-take-or-pass/541760/22 "2010-06-03T16:13:22Z")
Plus with a new house and a new kid, that extra week vacation is going to come in handy…to get some sleep! ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-job-take-or-pass/541760/23 "2010-06-03T16:36:27Z")
And do you really want to be commuting all around Toronto as part of your job? Those highways suck the life right out of you. You’d be more tired, more stressed, and with the extra work involved in raising two kids and taking care of a new house, I suspect you’d be less happy overall. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-job-take-or-pass/541760/24 "2010-06-03T16:43:16Z")
> [@curious\_mind](#): > > **pros for new job** > fast paced > learn diverse number of things > higher profile > work with many different clients > build relationships with clients and liked minded people Higher profile? What does that mean? If it means greater exposure to more job areas and chances for advancement (money, responsibility, etc.), ok fine. If it’s an ego thingie, don’t put vanity ahead of personal obligations with a new home and a family. ---
**Author:** ![curious\_mind\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5e9695/32.png) [@curious\_mind\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curious_mind_1)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-job-take-or-pass/541760/25 "2010-06-03T17:03:27Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Higher profile? What does that mean? If it means greater exposure to more job areas and chances for advancement (money, responsibility, etc.), ok fine. If it’s an ego thingie, don’t put vanity ahead of personal obligations with a new home and a family. Higher profile in more exposure to my related job description (because I’ll be working with clients that have this product) I’m not the ego type of person. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-job-take-or-pass/541760/26 "2010-06-03T17:03:49Z")
> [@LionelHutz405](#): > > I’d pass on the new job and on the new house. > This is a terrible time to be buying in Toronto. > > Housing prices in the GTA are up 12% this year. Why buy at the top, just before the bubble bursts? Trying to find the bottom of the market is a fool’s errand when you’re buying a long-term family home. [QUOTE=lorene] That completely depends on your work culture. Some places are more than happy to woo you with a counter-offer. Other places will view you as “That person who’s looking to leave at the first big paycheck” and will distrust you until you do, eventually, leave. [/QUOTE] I wouldn’t “show them the offer”. I’d say you were headhunted (you were, in a manner of speaking) and offered a position with a higher salary. Say you don’t want to leave, but that the offer has made you reappraise your value to your current employer, and you think a raise is justified. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-job-take-or-pass/541760/27 "2010-06-03T17:29:03Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Trying to find the bottom of the market is a fool’s errand when you’re buying a long-term family home. > > I wouldn’t “show them the offer”. I’d say you were headhunted (you were, in a manner of speaking) and offered a position with a higher salary. Say you don’t want to leave, but that the offer has made you reappraise your value to your current employer, and you think a raise is justified. I once told an employer that I was offered another job paying about 17% more, but I would stay if they matched it. They wished me good luck. ETA: I was headhunted too, and made that clear up front. ---
**Author:** ![LionelHutz405](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lionelhutz405/32/536_2.png) [@LionelHutz405](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LionelHutz405)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-job-take-or-pass/541760/28 "2010-06-03T18:16:35Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Trying to find the bottom of the market is a fool’s errand when you’re buying a long-term family home. I didn’t say try to find the bottom. I said don’t buy at the top. Especially in Canada where we don’t get to lock in the mortgage rate for the entire term of the mortgage. If the value of your house has dropped when it is time to renew the mortgage in 5 years, you could be in real trouble. ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-job-take-or-pass/541760/29 "2010-06-03T18:20:39Z")
Just wanted to share a story of when I did this. My current company was having layoffs. Three sets. It was getting to be that I felt my time was coming. I was getting married in a year and had a wedding to pay for (I wish I had that back, too but that’s another story). I loved my job, the company, the people I worked with but I was young. So, I started casually looking for another job. I found one that sounded perfect (in my field of university study and my line of work). I sent off an application. Just one. Well…I got the job. Paid about 10% more and the commute was worse (familiar?). Since I was scared, I took it. I told my then boss and he nearly had a coronary. He told me I was in no risk of being laid off and that I could have had a similar raise and they would have put in a contract saying that I would not be let go for at least two years. Oops! Anyway, I had already signed the papers for the new job (and was too young and naive to tell them I had changed my mind, I guess) so I took it… …and got laid off six weeks later. Thankfully, there was a happy ending. You see, the person who had been hired to replace me was…ummmm…less than stellar. So, I was just casually emailing my old boss checking up on what he was doing for the Christmas holidays and, of course, asking how business was and he asked me what my plans were for January. So, I told him that was when the wedding was, yadda yadda. He emailed back and asked what I was doing for work in January…with an attached job offer with a 15% raise and an extra weeks vacation. I have never been happier in my life. But it would have been better had I just stayed put in the first place. Anyway, I am still here doing the same thing. Enjoying the bird in hand. Don’t do it, man. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-job-take-or-pass/541760/30 "2010-06-03T19:19:54Z")
I’ll have to join in with everyone else saying that the benefits are marginal for switching jobs, and this just isn’t the right time for it in your life. Having a baby and buying a house are tops of the list of stressors in life - changing jobs is also right up there. Give yourself a break and don’t try to do all three at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![canadiankorean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/2bfe46/32.png) [@canadiankorean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/canadiankorean)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-job-take-or-pass/541760/31 "2010-06-03T20:43:42Z")
Thanks for everyone’s input. Insightful. Now I’m guessing my future with this new job would be gone if I turn them down. I knew I should have asked for a ridiculous amount of money like $125000 or something. If they offered that, the decision wouldn’t be as hard. ---
**Author:** ![curious\_mind\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5e9695/32.png) [@curious\_mind\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curious_mind_1)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-job-take-or-pass/541760/32 "2010-06-03T20:54:52Z")
Ah sorry posted from my brother’s computer and didn’t realize I didn’t sign in with my id. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-job-take-or-pass/541760.md?page=1)