I know this might be a little.. um, inappropriate (and if it is please let me know and I'll take down the topic) but I seriously need some help, and I really want to hear some advice. I'm kind of flustered right now.
So here's the situation. I've been working in a contract position for the provincial government (Historic Resource Management) for the past 3 months, with a friend of mine, doing office admin stuff in my field (archaeology). I don't enjoy office admin work. My friend LOVES the position. Anyways, a full time 4 year internship position came up for the job we're in and we both applied, me secure in the knowledge that my friend would get the job (she is WAY more qualified).
I'm playing hookie today from said job, when I get a call from the Big Boss. He offers me the job - apparently, there were TWO positions open and they didn't tell anyone. So I could take the position and not screw up my friendship, but I'm not sure if I want it.
PROs: I'd make about double what I earn now. As an internship, they'd pay for distance learning for me towards a certificate related to the job (in anth, somehow, not office admin). It's an 8:30-4:30 steady job and I'd get weekends off. It's in my field.
CONs: It's boring. It's a 4 year contract. I'd lose my ability to take off whenever I wanted to and just suffer the consequences in my paycheque. I wouldn't be able to do field work. I'd (probably) have to continue to share an office with my friend, who is driving me a little nutty.
So - what would you decide?? I have until tomorrow to make up my mind. Seems a rather short period of time to decide on something that'll affect my life so much...
Not sure why it's inappropriate, seems to fall under the 'sharing' portion anyway. :)
My question is, if you don't take the job, do you have other employment lined up? Will you just keep the one you've got, or will you have to job hunt?
I have a part-time position right now (with benefits!) that I can step back into, full-time, if I beg and plead and bake the schedualer cookies. I also have a good possibility of field work this summer, although I haven't heard back from them. But it'd be a summer position because I am not interested in relocating to Calgary when the snow flies.
So, it sounds like you've got a decision between work that is enjoyable and flexible and work that is steady and sensible.
Myself, I'd go with enjoyable and flexible. Especially since you'll have benefits anyway.
Me? I'd go for steady and sensible.
Gotta grow up some time. From your CONS, at least to me, the drawbacks are that you have to be an adult.
Quote from: "Mikel"Gotta grow up some time.
LIES!
It really depends on where in your life you are and what you want. Right now, I am all for boring and sensible. But seeing as I once left most of my things behind and jumped on a greyhound bus with $25 and an overdrawn checking account, I have also had times when it was all about flexible.
In the end, you need to decide what you can live with. If you're not done adventuring, you don't have to settle down just because it is t he "proper" thing to do.
On the other hand... sucking it up and saving some money might make the adventuring a lot more fun in a few years. ;)
Hmmm. I can see the allure of the more enjoyable and flexible position, but I think in your situation, I would personally take the steady stable job, even with the cons.
If it were me, I'd take the job, thinking of the bills and mortgage that need paying each month.
What you need to look at is what would be best for you in the long term? Which option fits your long term goals best? Which would lead to the more fulfilling lifestyle?
I'd take the contract -- though remember that I'm uncertain where I'll be working after May and that I may be expressing my own insecurities.
To be someone on the other end of the spectrum. I'd go with the freedom and flexibility option. But I don't have to worry about mortgage or rent, or car payments or water bills or any of that since I'm still in high school and live with my parents. So I don't such a big picture as some of our more senior members.
And Micheal, you definitely don't have to grow up sometime. I NEVER plan on growing up completely. If I find myself in one of those desk jobs, I'd go insane.
What ever you decide, I think you shouldn't worry about your friend too much. Its not your fault, or her fault, that they decided they wanted you. She might be more qualified and love the job more than you do, but there was something in you that made them think you were just better suited to their needs. I'm sure she knew you also applied for the position, so it would be unreasonable to blame you. Besides, she wouldn't be much of a friend if she expected you to give up an opportunity just because she didn't get an offer too. And there's no guarentee that if you don't take the position she's next in line... If I were her I'd be disappointed that I didn't get the job, of course, but I'd be happy for my friend. After all, you'd have been happy for her.
Quote from: "Patrick"And Micheal, you definitely don't have to grow up sometime. I NEVER plan on growing up completely. If I find myself in one of those desk jobs, I'd go insane.
If I ever lose the childish delight in simple, childish things, just finish nailing my box shut. I love my collections of toy soldiers, transformers, baseball cards and comic books.
On the other hand, if I knew thirty years ago what I knew now? There would be many things I'd have done different. I am almost 50 and still loving hand to mouth becuase I refused to grow up.
Just some friendly advice from some one older, and then I will leave this thread. Eventually, the future becomes the present, and does so a whole lot sooner that you think it will.
Thank you all for your advice. I was pretty flustered yesterday and it was really helpful to hear what other people had to say.
Unfortunatly, I will not be taking the job. I do have things lined up for the next six months or so, and maybe that's not looking far enough ahead - or maybe it is. Yes, I'd get paid buckets of money. Yes, I'd have an opportunity to go back to school. But I couldn't reconcile buckets of money with being miserable and feeling dumb at work every day, and I'd rather choose what I could go to school for than be given a free ride and forced into something. So, maybe I won't have the long-term stability, but I still think I'm looking and planning ahead for my personal happiness.
Other jobs will come. I live in Alberta, the land of milk and honey (and oilsands and pollution and potholes that eat ponies for breakfast and monster trucks owned by every Tom, Dick and Harry) and other opportunities will come along. I have six months to look for something that will, at the very least, not be emotionally hurtful, even if it isn't fufilling. Now I just need the courage to turn the job I've been offered down.
Different strokes for different folks. No matter what I do, I'll regret something.
Good for you. :D Never feel bad about making the decision that is right for you. Even if it doesn't turn out perfectly, you'll learn something from it and be in a better place next time this comes around.
It's always very easy to give advice... what it's not easy to do is recognize that you just never know how something is going to turn out. I doubt anyone would have told me that jumping on that bus to Alabama to move in with strangers with no job lined up was a good idea. In fact... a lot of people advised against it. ;)
Turned out to be the best decision I ever made.
Fine, I am not out of it.
I have made a thousand bad decisions (conservatively) and regret not a single one. And you never know which bad decision will have the miracle results.
I had a choice of two colleges to attend. Univesity of Michigan, or Sounthampton College. I choice Southampton. Bad, bad, bad mistake.
However, I can directly trace the birth of my kids and now my grandson to that decision, and I would not change that for all the gold in the world.
In the words of Frank Sinatra:
Regrets, Ive had a few;
But then again, too few to mention
Quote from: "Yvonne"Other jobs will come. I live in Alberta, the land of milk and honey (and oilsands and pollution and potholes that eat ponies for breakfast and monster trucks owned by every Tom, Dick and Harry)
:sad5: Poor ponies.