So here’s the situation: D has a job she likes very much, in her field, with a decent commute (45 min.) Salary is OK - meets her needs right now, although she is probably facing a rent hike and is (and will be for the next few years) paying off a considerable grad school loan. She gets an offer for another job, with a significant raise, but it’s far away out of the city, probably doubling her commute or more and significantly affecting her quality of life. But, a rent raise won’t be an issue and she could possibly fast-track paying off the school loan.
What would you suggest if your child called asking for advice? Stay with the job you love and boss/colleagues you like but salary that is OK, but nothing more – or take the new job with the much-higher salary, a much longer commute and boss/colleagues still an unknown factor?
Can she move closer to the new job? Given it is so far outside the city (NYC?), she could probably find something cheaper even to further accelerate paying of loans? If the pay is that much higher, its hard to say no, assuming her new boss seems like a decent manager and the new company is on a solid footing.
She could also use the job offer to consider using it as a bargaining chip to ask for a raise in her current position, although she has to be willing to jump ship if that doesn’t play out.
IMO, time is worth more than money, assuming I have money to cover basic needs.
Would she consider moving closer to the 2nd job offer?
How long has she been at her current company? Has she asked for a raise?
I would not recommend her taking the new job if she isn’t going to move closer to the new job location. Her commute now is longer than what I would ever consider tolerable.
I agree with doschicos, if where she would be working is a far commute from the city, it would kind of make sense to move closer, usually when you get out of the city it is a lot cheaper to live, so she would have the commute, the pay and less living expenses (even assuming she presently doesn’t have a car, which you didn’t say), so she could pay off her loans.
If she really works where she likes now, she could negotiate for a raise potentially, but she has to be careful how she does it. I wouldn’t go in and say “I have a job offer, match it or I am going to have to leave”, if it were me I would talk to my boss, and say that I have checked around, and it looks like the pay I was getting was below what typically was out there given similar experience and so forth, and was there any way I could possibly get an adjustment to my salary. Speaking as a manager, the worst thing in the world is someone coming in with a job offer, and saying “match it or I’ll leave”, it comes off as being an ultimatum, as putting a gun to their back, and quite honestly, even if they give in, you might find they resent it. If the boss presses her on it, then be honest and say that you have something on the table, that is roughly x% where you are. At that point she should have in her mind a number that would be required for her to stay at her current place,given that the other place had tradeoffs, let’s say the other place gave her a 15% raise, she might be willing to settle for around 10…she should make clear that it isn’t about the work environment or him, but simply that she feels that she is being underpaid and given her expenses, it is becoming an issue or something like that. Even if the boss says his hands are tied,she took the high road and made clear it wasn’t about the job or him, but the economics.
If she likes the team she is with now, I do not recommend waving the job offer and trying to renegotiate the salary. It might cause bad feelings, envy, etc.,if all others are paid similarly low salaries. However, if she is in a low paid, entry level position, and the rest of the team gets fair compensation, then it would be a fair game to bring this up with the boss. She should be prepared though that she might get shown the door right away - I have seen decent bosses turn nasty at the first sight of what they perceive as disloyalty.
Unless she can take public transportation, driving for 1.5 hrs one way is going to crush her. I speak from personal experience - my RT commute is 2.5 hours, but I get to sit in a plush bus seat and read books or surf CC. If I did not have the bus option, I would have quit working.
Thank you, I appreciate all your input. Daughter is mulling things over, trying to decide. Moving closer to her job would be problematic - she has a roommate she feels indebted to (roommate went out of her way to enable D to move in) who doesn’t want to leave the area. Plus, the move would be in the opposite direction of all the places/people D hangs out in/with.
But the raise is significant – over 25% – so it’s a real dilemma.
D hasn’t had a raise in a while, but received a huge bonus relatively soon after starting the job. This is a science research company that’s currently waiting for grant funding to come through, so she doubts she’d get a raise right now, but could be ‘flagged’ for one when the money’s there.
^^^Sounds like she is in a startup biotech. Uh oh. Been there, done that. Does the new place offer a more stable job environment? How are the chances for professional growth? Those are factors that are even more important than a salary raise. If her co does not get the funding, will her current job evaporate?
If the new job is a step up career-wise, then she should take it and move. I absolutely would not commute though. If she feels bad about the current roommate she can pay an extra month’s rent to cover costs while the roommate looks for someone new.
If the job isn’t a step up, then she should go to her manager and lay her cards on the table to see if they’re willing to give her a raise. She should also talk to the new company to see if they’re willing to offer a relocation package or even more money.
Bear in mind that research has shown that women negotiate much less than men when it comes to jobs and money/benefits, and as a result end up with less. Don’t let your D be one of statistics and encourage her to negotiate for her best interests now to set a good pattern for the rest of her professional career. Even if she doesn’t take the job she might be able to still improve her current situation by using it as leverage.
It’s hard to offer an opinion as only the OP"s D can ascertain the quality of life or the job. If anecdotes help, both my sister and I abandoned opportunities for a higher salary in exchange of the ability to stay in San Francisco. The bike to rail station, train ride, and another bike ride (each way) got old very quickly and working at the house was too limiting. I ended up driving more than I should and that was insane and expensive. We never regretted the tradeoff and the difference in salaries and opportunities vanished within a short timeframe.
Others might disagree or consider paying off the student loans quickly more important. I happen to think that my modest debt carried a low interest and a very long payoff. Now, it is on autopilot and represents a very small expense. Nobody likes to pay interest but it is one that is easy to keep current.
Bunsenburner, yes, biotech, but not a start up. Grant not coming through won’t threaten her job security, but will impact immediate raises and end-of-the-year bonus. Job is not an entry level position and neither is the salary. The move is a lateral one, in terms of her career, though she’d be going to a bigger company.
After speaking with DD it appears she’s leaning toward staying, but is still contemplating to speaking with her boss. Once she figures out what and how to say
An hour and a half commute is not something anyone should undertake. I did an hour and 45 minute commute for eight years, and I aged 20 years while doing it. It will significantly cut into her lifestyle, not to mention her sleep time.
OTOH, a 25% increase is not to be sneezed at.
Let’s look at the overall picture, though: This new job offer suggests that she is a hot commodity. Are there other, closer companies that might be interested in her skills? Maybe she can get close to or the same salary without having to make such a long trek everyday.
“Are there other, closer companies that might be interested in her skills? Maybe she can get close to or the same salary without having to make such a long trek everyday.”
@VeryHappy, I think that’s what she’s starting to think – if Big Far Away Company wants to hire her, maybe there are opportunities closer to home, too. She wasn’t looking, per se, (the company approached her) and this has caught her a bit by surprise.
Since the other company approached her, I think it is much easier for her to go to her boss and let him know that she is very happy with her current job, current boss, and coworkers and was definitely not looking for a new option, but was made an offer at a substantially higher salary. If her boss is decent and realistic, this should not pose problems. I’ve seen that scenario quite often in my work history (different industry).
Does she get stock options as part of the current compensation? If the company has to rely on DARPA or SBRI grants to pay its workers “bonuses,” (that are nothing but the difference between the market rate salaries and the lowball salaries it actually pays), I would seriously question the company’s stability. Your D needs to weigh herself in the marketplace; the biotech is doing not so badly nowadays.
