Hi all
Long time poster here and as silly as it feels to say, I would really appreciate some careers advice/ a sense check of a current major dilemma.
I work in financial services- currently big institution. However I am on the admin side so I wouldn’t describe it as super stressful (comparatively). Pay is high for what I do, I have a yearly bonus which bumps it up a bit. They are big champions of flexi working and I work from home one day a week plus have flexed hours 3 days a week which allows me to pick dc up from school.
However to be honest I can’t stand my work. Since changing employers this has got worse as my current job is in a specialist area which I am not getting to grips with very quickly (although standards seem quite low here so I don’t stick out as being particularly bad). But I just don’t feel motivated- my manager is flexible which is great but he’s not a good people manager. I don’t have access to training or development so essentially I get financial benefits from staying (=can save for a house more quickly, have nicer holidays, get dc whatever they need) and the benefit of flexibility that works for school pickups etc. But no career to speak of and basically no job satisfaction. This leads to a general malaise and I often feel like I’m wasting my life.
I have just been offered a job in the arts. It’s a production company, pretty much at the top of their area of the arts. It’s a senior admin role with very much the same remit as I have now but obvs a different industry. This is an industry I know a lot about as it has always been my passion outside work- I was involved in it through uni and about 5 years after (in a creative/production capacity) until I had dc and needed to build up some savings and a steady job, hence why I have been in financial services. Our financial situation has changed a lot now which is why I went for the arts job not expecting to get past interview 1. I’d absolutely love working in this field- I know it, I care about it - which is missing from my current work.
However, the starting salary is literally half what I earn in current job. I would be able to do school drop offs, but not pickups, and there is reallyno flexibility with working from home, flexed starts/finishes etc due to team size and company policy. I could make it work, but it would mean dc in afterschool club 5 days a week as opposed to none. Dc loves school but this might be a tough change.
so in summary:
stay in lucrative boring job for flexibility around dc
Or go for less lucrative, dream arts job and lose flexibility around dc (plus lost earning potential)
If it helps, I’m in my early thirties. Dc under 5. The field of arts j want to go into is more of a young game, so I feel like if I don’t make this move now, I probably won’t later.
Answers on a postcard please!!
Thankyou