OK, was all set to take new job, and now this!

[paddingtonbear1]

HI all, bit of a long story but I'll try and keep it short. I work in IT development for a small software house. Things have needed to change for a while - we need to modernise our product, bring in new software, but nobody would do anything about it. I went on fact-finding meetings and suggested some forms of action, but I'm just a programmer and can't make things happen. Then, another company close by offered me a job working with newer software. They seemed nice and used more up to date software, so I decided to go for it. Then yesterday, my boss turns round and says he's decided we need a development manager, to bring in new software and modernise our product!! He says the job's mine if I want it. arghh! Now what do i do?! part of me thinks it's too late, and to go for the new job anyway. But this was the kind of job I wanted!

[RubySlippers]

what sort of relationship do you have with your current employer?
if you want to stay will they match the offer you have had from the other company?
do you want to leave your current company

[throckenholt]

write a list of the pros and cons of both jobs - try and be objective - and see where it leads you.

Either way - sounds like you have a new challenge ahead.

[paddingtonbear1]

I've got a good relationship with my current employer - he gave me flexible working, good mat pay (they did the mat policy when I was pregnant). That said, the new company have agreed to honour my 4 day week. The 2 jobs would be different tbh - the new one is more like still a programming job, whereas the one my boss would offer me is more strategy. I'd need more info from him really about it first, I think.

[RubySlippers]

i think if you don't need to make a decision quickly then don't
there is a lot to be said for good mat policies and flexible working IMHO
i work fulltime but have flexi-hours so that is priceless (can leave early/arrive late)

[paddingtonbear1]

I can't hang on too long, or the new company won't be very pleased if I change my mind at the last minute! Think I need to talk to my boss again and get more info from him about how definite the role is, when it would start, money etc. The danger is, I say yes, it doesn't happen and I'm just stuck in the same position (and the new job will have gone).

[DaisyMOO]

I would be really honest with your current employer and admit that you were on the verge of resigning to go to this job you've been offered. Your boss's reaction to this may well help make up your mind - if he is upset and clearly wants to keep you then see if you can get some commitments in writing such as a new contract or assurance that you will have this promotion in a certain period of time. If he is wishy-washy, unconcerned about the new job or won't commit to the promotion then I would cut my losses and walk away.

DH did something similar a while back and it worked out very well - he got to stay where he was and was given a promotion and pay rise

[paddingtonbear1]

hi Daisy, my boss already knew about the new job - I was on the point of resigning. In fact I effectively already had, and to begin with he didn't say very much. This latest offer (which happened during a conversation we were having on Friday) came a few days later. The main reason he doesn't want me to leave, he says, is because I'm the only developer there who 'can see beyond the end of her desk'. I've been waiting for us to move forward for ages and had almost given up - now this! You are right, I would need a definite commitment in writing, and if he can't provide this I should leave anyway. Glad it worked out for your dh - which business is he in?

[CristinaTheAstonishing]

Hi PB1 - how long have you been at your current company? It sounds odd that only now they've discovered you can see beyond the end of your desk. I'd just make a new start elsewhere, as long as the pay etc are the same.

[paddingtonbear1]

I've been in my job 6 and a half years. There's been a few changes in that time, but there's not been a lot of spare money (it's a mutual company, the boss and a few others convinced our customers to be on the board and be 'shareholders' to save it 6 years ago - the last owners were dodgy). They've spent years trying to undo damage from the past and bring things forward, with not much money - our customers are small building societies and they don't flash their cash much! That said, things haven't moved on as fast as they could have due to internal office politics, I suspect. If they're not careful they will get left with the people who've been there years and don't want to do anything new!

[CristinaTheAstonishing]

I've been in my current job for 7 years and I do wish I'd left long ago. I kept on as it was good with maternity leave, flexi-time, annual pay rises etc. But now I look at my CV the way another employer would see it and think "that's not actually that much achievement in 7 years". Perhaps this is the issue I'm responding more to than anything else. Would your new & as yet undefined role in your current company make a real difference to your CV?

[Judy1234]

And make sure you tell the current employer you will be getting a substantial pay rise with the new firm and he is going to have to better that to keep you.

Women hardly ever negotiate pay well.

[paddingtonbear1]

I stayed in my company for pretty much the same reasons as you - I didn't mind working there, but realised I needed to do something else. I think the boss may have finally realised he needs to do something definite now - even the customers have started saying the system looks outdated, and if he does nothing and they go elsewhere...
I think the new job he's thinking of will be management, of some sort, and looking at new software to use. If not, the new company would probably be better.

[paddingtonbear1]

the new company wouldn't mean a pay rise - at least not to begin with. There's a 6 month probation where they see how you fit in, then you get a review after that (or so they say). I haven't told my current boss this though!

[DaisyMOO]

Hi pb1, my husband's a research scientist, so a rather different field! I think you really need some proper commitment from your current employer if you're going to stay - it sounds as though you were quite happy about moving before this. If you do decide to move what about telling your new employer that you'd been offered a better deal at your current place and see if they will increase their pay offer? I don't want to sound as though I'm recommending playing one off against the other, but sometimes if you're savvy then you can work things to your advantage. If they won't give you a signficant payrise straight away, how about asking to split it and increase it a bit now and a bit more in 6 months time? Hope it all works out for you.