Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Jul 26, 2019 15:41:32 GMT -5
I've got an interview coming up. I can crunch the numbers, but I haven't yet. I'm just wondering what others here think of the above. Current position is part-time (~25 hours/week most of the time. flexible but have to go first thing in the morning), I would go to full-time (I'm not sure exact hours, but just learned they get out at noon of Fridays). My budget can swing it either way.
Commute = 34 miles, 45-55 minutes down to 7.5 miles, 15-20 minutes. Benefits = 30 hours of PTO per year (that is ALL) to excellent benefits including a pension.
What do you think? I'm not looking to pick apart my particular situation here, just a general feeling about this choice.
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billisonboard
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Post by billisonboard on Jul 26, 2019 15:45:02 GMT -5
Any sense of the possibility of raises in the foreseeable future (at either place)?
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Jul 26, 2019 15:55:24 GMT -5
Any sense of the possibility of raises in the foreseeable future (at either place)? The lower pay place would be the top of their range, but I'm sure there would be annual raises. Current place, I'm in the middle. First 6 month review for current job is in October, but no idea if there would be any raise at that time. Otherwise, regular annual raise about a year from now. I wanted to keep it general because I do not know the specifics yet.
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movingforward
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Post by movingforward on Jul 26, 2019 15:59:58 GMT -5
I've got an interview coming up. I can crunch the numbers, but I haven't yet. I'm just wondering what others here think of the above. Current position is part-time (~25 hours/week most of the time. flexible but have to go first thing in the morning), I would go to full-time (I'm not sure exact hours, but just learned they get out at noon of Fridays). My budget can swing it either way. Commute = 34 miles, 45-55 minutes down to 7.5 miles, 15-20 minutes. Benefits = 30 hours of PTO per year (that is ALL) to excellent benefits including a pension. What do you think? I'm not looking to pick apart my particular situation here, just a general feeling about this choice. Is that PTO just for part-time or even after you go full-time? I can understand that for part-time work but for full-time that is REALLY bad...I'm not sure I could do that for full-time work. Is there an option to take time off without pay if needed or you want to take a 2 week vacation at some point?
The commute is really nice. I would probably take $3 less per hour for the shorter commute but the other benefits would need to be excellent and that PTO is not...
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Jul 26, 2019 16:07:14 GMT -5
I've got an interview coming up. I can crunch the numbers, but I haven't yet. I'm just wondering what others here think of the above. Current position is part-time (~25 hours/week most of the time. flexible but have to go first thing in the morning), I would go to full-time (I'm not sure exact hours, but just learned they get out at noon of Fridays). My budget can swing it either way. Commute = 34 miles, 45-55 minutes down to 7.5 miles, 15-20 minutes. Benefits = 30 hours of PTO per year (that is ALL) to excellent benefits including a pension. What do you think? I'm not looking to pick apart my particular situation here, just a general feeling about this choice. Is that PTO just for part-time or even after you go full-time? I can understand that for part-time work but for full-time that is REALLY bad...I'm not sure I could do that for full-time work. Is there an option to take time off without pay if needed or you want to take a 2 week vacation at some point?
The commute is really nice. I would probably take $3 less per hour for the shorter commute but the other benefits would need to be excellent and that PTO is not...
That PTO is only for part-time, and it's more than I started with because I mentioned not being happy about the lack of benefits. My current place has excellent PTO accruals for their full-time employees. Nice retirement match as well, for those not grandfathered into their pension. They also get tuition reimbursement, which I cannot get. I'm mostly not happy there because I see all the benefits everyone else gets, and I don't. There's some other things, too, but I want to focus on this aspect of it for now.
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hoops902
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Post by hoops902 on Jul 26, 2019 16:13:14 GMT -5
I'd probably do that, but moreso than $3/hour I'd care about the % of pay difference. I might not do it to go from $15 to $12, but I definitely would to go from $100 to $97.
It would also depend heavily on how much I wanted to go from part time to full time.
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Miss Tequila
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Post by Miss Tequila on Jul 26, 2019 16:44:24 GMT -5
When I look at an offer I look at my total compensation package, not just the annual salary. When I was younger it was about getting max compensation. Now I’m tired and burned out so work/life balance means more to me than salary. Of course I will kill to only work 25 hours a week and would not want to go from that to full time!
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billisonboard
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Post by billisonboard on Jul 26, 2019 17:02:38 GMT -5
Not sure if the commute is total per day or each way so would be saving 2 1/2 to 5 hours a week but it would be a smaller increase in work related time.than the full 15 hours. And if Fridays are truly only half a day resulting in less than a 40 hour week, it could be even less of an increase.
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gs11rmb
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Post by gs11rmb on Jul 26, 2019 17:15:44 GMT -5
If your budget can absorb the loss then I'd take the pay cut. It may also help you to find other full-time positions more easily.
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raeoflyte
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Post by raeoflyte on Jul 26, 2019 17:16:00 GMT -5
My dh went from 20 hours a week (very few benefits) back up to 30 hours a week to get benefits this year and I gotta say...not worth it. He has a different situation in that he could pick up as many hours as he wanted while only committing to 20 hours a week. He could take unpaid time off so vacations weren't an issue and he still got $1000 or $1500 a year toward CE. He couldn't handle working 30 hours a week (many weeks) without the benefits that could go along with them. If he had stuck it out, he could pick up an extra 1-2 shifts per week during the school year and sleep while the kids were at school, but only have to work 20 hours a week over the summer and during breaks. Instead we're paying a decent amount of his increased income for babysitting and he spends most of his off time trying to recover before his shifts start again. I'm not bitter or anything. In your case I'd be looking at what that $3 less per hour and increased day care needs means. If you were working 8-1pm, now you'll likely need after school care, and full day care in the summer (may or may not cost more in the summer for half vs. full days--here its full days or nothing unless you go private). Your kids are old enough that you won't have to do that for too much longer, but calculating the "worth it" price is harder when you don't get to see most of your earnings. ***ETA I took a $2.4 an hour cut to work from home which was totally worth it. Went from 10 hours a week commute to about 6 hours a month.
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Apple
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Post by Apple on Jul 26, 2019 17:26:25 GMT -5
I took a $3/hour cut in pay after I dealt with the sexual harassment at my last location. My commute went from 45 miles (40 minute drive) to 4 miles (10 minute drive). Benefits are exactly the same as I had. I also went from a 4 10 schedule to a rotating 6 12s +1 8.
It has been the best move I could have made. I'm still a little bitter about the pay cut (I think if I would have been able to get a lawyer I could have kept my old pay), but being home ten minutes after I leave work is awesome. It's also a lot easier to work when you aren't being screwed with.
I think it could be worth it in your case for the added benefits as well.
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giramomma
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Post by giramomma on Jul 26, 2019 19:04:41 GMT -5
Is the full time job public or private sector? What's the details of the pension? Are you vested right away? How long would have to stay to be vested? How much would you have to contribute towards it? How solvent is the pension/pension system? I would treat a private business' pension like I treat SS, sure, get something, but likely not the whole benefit. Public sector pensions are easier to figure out...how well they are funded is can be discovered through a quick google search.
What are the other awesome benefits? Would switching health insurance save money? We made the choice to take lower paying, flexible jobs with awesome benefits (through my job). We've never had more than a 20 minute commute. For the most part, it's gone well. But, I did have 8 years of no raises. I also have to contribute 7.something percent of my gross income to my pension...that's not exactly chump change. We also were way head on retirement (to the point of calculators telling me we didn't have to contribute anymore) from 18-30ish. I just did firecalc the other day, and we're still doing well...but not to the point where calculators are telling us we don't have to contribute. While our health insurance is generally awesome...OOP have started creeping up to do how they've changed copays...even if our portion of premiums has not increased in a decade. And coverage is getting more iffy. For example, on our old dental plan, tooth extraction for minors was covered 100%. Now I have to spend $60/month on supplemental dental insurance to cover things like extractions..which includes wisdom teeth removal. It's a super long-winded way of saying, the devil is in the details.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2019 20:43:31 GMT -5
Commute means a ton, my 3 min commute is heavenly and allows me to sleep in until 7:30am and I’m a night owl. The PTO is really bad though.
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Jul 26, 2019 21:56:41 GMT -5
Thanks for all the replies. Let me try to quickly answer as much as I can remember. The commute mentioned is each way. The cut represents about 13-14% of my pay. Both jobs are public sector. I don't know any specifics on the benefits.
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giramomma
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Post by giramomma on Jul 26, 2019 23:00:29 GMT -5
Thanks for all the replies. Let me try to quickly answer as much as I can remember. The commute mentioned is each way. The cut represents about 13-14% of my pay. Both jobs are public sector. I don't know any specifics on the benefits. OK. I would try to do some leg work. If you know your job category, you might be able to look up more specifics on web sites. And you might be able to figure out what kind of raises you can expect. I had no idea that I could get merit raises in addition to regular COL raises until I got them.
If you look at total compensation, my health insurance alone is worth an extra 20K. My flexible work schedule saves us 25K a year in child care costs. A shorter commute coupled with other transportation perks reduces gas costs other car maintenance costs.
If I went private sector, I would be worse off, right now. But, that full pension and access to retiree health care will give me more options/choices in about a decade.
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Jul 27, 2019 7:52:08 GMT -5
Thanks for all the replies. Let me try to quickly answer as much as I can remember. The commute mentioned is each way. The cut represents about 13-14% of my pay. Both jobs are public sector. I don't know any specifics on the benefits. OK. I would try to do some leg work. If you know your job category, you might be able to look up more specifics on web sites. And you might be able to figure out what kind of raises you can expect. I had no idea that I could get merit raises in addition to regular COL raises until I got them.
If you look at total compensation, my health insurance alone is worth an extra 20K. My flexible work schedule saves us 25K a year in child care costs. A shorter commute coupled with other transportation perks reduces gas costs other car maintenance costs.
If I went private sector, I would be worse off, right now. But, that full pension and access to retiree health care will give me more options/choices in about a decade.
If I'm offered a job, I will. I'm more interested in the likelihood of being promoted in tangential roles. Its not just about money for me, but this feels like a pretty big cut. It might be just about even considering vehicle costs, though.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2019 8:04:53 GMT -5
As others have mentioned, health insurance is a big factor if you're going to use it. In the old days it was considered bad form to ask about benefits- now health insurance is a make-or-break unless you're covered on someone else's policy. Years ago a friend negotiated hard for a $5K increase when she changed jobs so she could get rid of her early-AM paper delivery that brought in that much (yeah, getting up at 4 AM, delivering papers and then going to work). She got the raise, accepted the job, and then found that her contributions to the health insurance premiums was -$5,000/year, where the previous employer had picked up the cost. " src="http://syonidv.hodginsmedia.com/vsmileys/angry2.png"> I dealt with a nasty commute for 10 years- from Bergen County, NJ to Newark- first to the babysitter (opposite direction but I REALLY liked her), then over an hour to work, I did get a babysitter who was closer after DS started grade school. FAR longer if anything went wrong on the roads, especially bad weather, repeat on the way home. Yeah, I was married but the Ex was useless. I lived. I also get a $900/month non-COLA pension from that job. It does sound like future prospects are better for you at the new place. Just make sure you factor in any differences in the health insurance and the pension, if you qualify.
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buystoys
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Post by buystoys on Jul 27, 2019 8:44:02 GMT -5
Me? If I could swing it financially I'd take it. Personal time is a premium you can't get back for any amount of money.
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Jul 27, 2019 11:10:10 GMT -5
Just to be clear, the choice is part-time/pretty much no benefits & 34 miles away, or full+time/great benefits & 7.5 miles away. The longer drive costs me an extra hour a day that is not paid and I have to pay for daycare. It is also somewhat aggravating with the traffic, though not nearly as bad as what those of you in bigger cities have to deal with.
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Jul 27, 2019 11:12:34 GMT -5
When I look at an offer I look at my total compensation package, not just the annual salary. When I was younger it was about getting max compensation. Now I’m tired and burned out so work/life balance means more to me than salary. Of course I will kill to only work 25 hours a week and would not want to go from that to full time! I'm pretty sure you could work part-time for a local CPA firm. I've seen job listings like that pretty regularly. Likely a significant pay cut for you, but it is a possibility.
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TheHaitian
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Post by TheHaitian on Jul 27, 2019 13:22:49 GMT -5
Personally at this point of my life: I would take the lower commute + full time + better benefits.
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sesfw
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Post by sesfw on Jul 27, 2019 18:33:30 GMT -5
Amen Carl
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lund
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Post by lund on Jul 28, 2019 6:21:16 GMT -5
When adding the time away from home (commute + working hours), it seems as if you would be away about 10 hours longer and working 15 hours more, making it a net increase of 5 hours.
You would get benefits, pension, about 2/3rds less of driving-related costs (but still all costs of car ownership), which should be assigned a value when comparing pay.
What may cost more is if there are some "office expenses" (showers, birthdays, seasonal party,.....), or stricter clothing norms.
Also check if the job pays in to Social Security; if not, WEP or GPO will probably reduce (or for the GPO even wipe out) the net from Social Security, and thus that needs to be included in the math too.
Personally, I think that family situation and job flexibility/PTO would matter a lot for me. Daycare is an expense which your children will grow out of. (I also don't know how daycare expenses would be treated tax-wise.)
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jelloshots4all
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Post by jelloshots4all on Jul 28, 2019 9:52:29 GMT -5
I took a new job this summer after my position was eliminated. Pay decrease of about 8%. However, my commute went from 30 miles each way on the highway to 2 miles each way on local streets. I can go home for lunch and not worry about traffic. Huge bonus! The benefits are not as robust as my previous health Ins, but they gave me 5 weeks of vacation and my stress levels are so much lower! You have to balance everything as you make your decision.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2019 13:00:00 GMT -5
Well, I calculated once that my benefit package was worth about $7/hour so there's no way I would choose longer commute and just $3/hour more. I need the benefits though.
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Jul 28, 2019 17:33:29 GMT -5
Since my husband carries the insurance for our family, I can't just consider the value of what I would get at this new job, but only the additional value I might get out of it. I don't think my husband can get extra cash for not using the company insurance, either.
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on Jul 28, 2019 17:57:47 GMT -5
Consideration has to also be given to what if (hopefully not) something happens to your husband and you would have to carry the insurance.
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debthaven
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Post by debthaven on Jul 28, 2019 18:29:40 GMT -5
Personally I would go for it Lizard Queen . Thoughts, in no particular order: - It took you a while to find work - You're not thrilled where you are currently because you're still PT/contract and you see people who were hired after you being hired FT with benefits - Benefits are important! - Commute time is important too! Especially with young kids! As they get older there will be more "events". Assuming there will eventually be a reasonable amount of flexibility at the new job, being closer to home is a no-brainer to me, with young kids.
My main argument for taking it would be the reduced commute time would pretty much equal the increase in hours, with (I'm guessing) more potential. So you'll be out of the house for about the same amount of time/week, but earning more.
THIS SAID, I WOULD negotiate. I'd tell them you're happy to accept their offer (if that's what you decide) for reasons X, Y and Z, but you are not happy about taking a $3/h pay cut. Can they match that?
In short, I would definitely prefer the second job, but try to mitigate the pay cut.
ETA: or ask for something else ... ie to work from home 1 day a week, or more vacation, SOMETHING to make up for the fact that you'd be earning less per hour. Up to you to negotiate for what is most important to you. Good luck!
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Jul 28, 2019 18:45:55 GMT -5
Thanks for the input, all. I feel like I can go into the interview with more enthusiasm now. There are some good aspects to my current job. I don't love what I do, but don't hate it, either. I don't have to deal with annoying people (much). During the school year, daycare is only needed for the minimal 5 hours/ week + I get a weekday off to do stuff.
I'm feeling like the choice is pretty even at this point. I'll have to see how likely there will be chunks of the new prospective job that I will hate (dealing with annoying people).
While I'm going this far, I think I will apply for a few other jobs that are more along the lines of my interests.
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debthaven
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Post by debthaven on Jul 28, 2019 18:55:16 GMT -5
I would definitely apply to this, hope to get it. Your current situation isn't making you happy, because you feel undervalued. If you're not happy with the new place, you can always move on too. I reread your original post ... you'd have a pension too! Again, to me, it's a no-brainer.
During the school year, daycare is only needed for the minimal 5 hours/ week + I get a weekday off to do stuff.
I definitely understand the appeal of that! So maybe ask to work from home 1 day a week (or even just Fri mornings/another half-day) if that's a priority, instead of the extra $3/h.
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