FT or PT job

[BrightestAndBest]

Option 1: FT job with great pension (mostly defined benefit). Short commute (20 mins by car). Annual bonus up to 20% of salary.

Option 2: PT job (4 days per week) but pension is not as good (defined contribution). Commute is ~1h30 (including 1h train journey). No annual bonus.

Salary is same for both jobs (would only earn more for option 1 because of the bonus). Or to put it another way my take-home pay would be identical for either option.

WWYD?

Ooh that's tough. A short commute is good. Could you take the ft job then negotiate pt after 6 months? Or compressed hours"

I think I would go for job one because of the shorter commute. An hour train journey can easily turn into 2hrs. Effectively you'll be spending the equivalent of the fifth day on commuting.

I'd go for job one, also. And as Lagoon says, once you're in there might be the opportunity to negotiate more flexible conditions.

Congratulations on the offers!

Option 1 for sure. Congrats :)

My current job is option 1. Dropping to 4 days per week in this job would reduce my pay & pension by 80% - can't really afford to do this. Plus my workload wouldn't change - I'd just take a 20% pay cut and still be expected to handle everything I do at the moment (some of my colleagues have tried this approach - but not for very long)!

Should also say that I've taken commuting costs into account - so I'd still have the same amount for each job after paying transport costs.

Oh, and the 20 min commute doesn't involve the school run (which I do at both ends of the day) - this typically adds an extra 20-25 mins. If I change jobs, then DH will do the school run (except on my non- working day).

Sounds like you are talking yourself into job 2.

Job 1 still sounds better though. Better pension is good and near home. Yes in job 2 you get a day off but you will spend a lot of time commuting and get home later on the days you work.

Actually I'm fairly sure I'm going to stick with job 1. Probably the right choice given I can't 'sell' job 2 on here!

I does mean I'm stuck with FT though - the pension is set up in a manner which really hits anyone who drops their hours. (Essentially part defined benefit & part defined contribution, but any drop in hours affects the defined benefit bit in a disproportionate manner, so a 20% drop in hours works out at a ~33% drop in overall pension for me).

Having worked 4 days a week and full time, full time is better. More time to get stuff done at work so less stress.

I say job 1.

Def Job 1
If you are good at it maybe after a while you could do it 4 days.
A short commute is worth it's weight in gold.
Job 2 if you added up the extra commute time. That would equal the extra day at work anyway.

Even taking into account the school run differences, your an hour and a half a day better off in job 1.(school+commute 1=45mins each, job 2-1.30 each way) That removes some of the time benefits of job 2.

Two thoughts: would job 1 let you do compressed hours - so an extra hour a day, to get every other friday off, with no £ penalty? I had reduced hours rejected, but have now got friday afternoons off. It is amazing to get to school once a week to collect the kids (mine are young!)
Or, if the other job is similar enough in responsibility, can you use it as bargaining power to get a pay rise?

The shorter commute would be the decider for me. Maybe ask for a compressed fortnight - 9 days in 10? 4 in 5 = quite long tiring days.

Are their better career development opportunities in job 1 v job 2? Even just sideways if you get bored rather than promotion?

Job opportunities would be better with job 2. I've had really good opportunities with job 1 (they paid to re-train me), but after my next promotion (should be in October) I'll be stuck. It isn't a bad job to be stuck in (it pays fairly well).

Job 2 would allow me much more potential for promotion and pay rises. However, I'm not sure I'm ambitious enough to progress as far as possible (don't really want to get involved with selling work and doing all the social events).

Sideways move not possible in either job (v. Specialised field).

No possibility for compressed hours in job 1. Has to be 5 days per week.

Is there any chance of having at least one day wfh in job 2?