Would you apply for your boss’s job if it came up?

[onflic]

I 100% would not. Me and my peers would be a nightmare to manage, there are always really hard decisions to make because resources are so limited, people always want more than you can offer at all hours of the day (with no on call) and it’s very outward facing so would mean a lot of suits and my current role is mainly jeans and a jumper.

What about you? Why or why not?

This was me a month ago. Didn’t even get an interview. Gutted.

My team often say they wouldn’t want my job! Dealing with this like under resourcing, demanding CEO, internal politics, chaotic decision making with goal posts moving. I do my best to keep things calm but it’s tough. Some days I don’t want my job!

Yes, I did last year. And got it.

I wouldn't go for it again tho - definitely don't want my current bosses role.

Exactly this happened in our department last year. I didn’t even consider applying for the position, despite the fact that I would have been the most experienced candidate. Neither did my 3 colleagues who do the same job. Too much hassle, too many hours, too many commitments outside normal working hours, too much stress. An extra few hundred quid a month wouldn’t change my life, my current work / life balance is OK, and that’s how I want it to stay.

God no.

Loads more responsibility for an additional £10 a day take home.

No. Mainly because she has made such a mess of it no one is really sure what she is even supposed to do! Also I have a very difficult colleague and would hate to manage her.

However two of my direct reports are just waiting for me to leave. One told me she could already probably do my job. To be fair she probably could do the practical bits but she’d be terrible at managing people, is too reactionary, not analytical enough and is a MASSIVE gossip.

No. I do not want personale responsibility!

i will be in the next few months. Plan is for my manager to take a permanent position in one she has been acting up in and then I will move in to her job. We’ve been doing half each while she’s doing the other job for a few months so it’s a natural progression.

No because we do completely different jobs and I don’t think either of us would know where to start. I’d have to do some serious retraining.

My boss only earns at most £5.5k a year more, that’s definitely not worth the extra hassle to me.

I wouldn’t really want any seniority though, as we’re in local government and the wages are all a bit crap. The highest paid people only earn £150k, which is very low for that level of responsibility/demands on their time. Maybe I’d be more inclined to progress if I were private sector and the pay per level was better.

No she’s 2 steps ahead of me and a) I don’t want to aggravation and b) there are other people across the org who would be better than me

Are you my former boss who retired yesterday?! No I don’t want your job thanks, I’m much more a doer than a manager! And one of our team is a ‘challenge’ to manage…..

No, although he is looking for one of us to take his role and has been hinting to me about it. He is in the US and they couldn't pay me enough for me to move there.

My boss just retired. Some of her responsibilities were shifted to me without much choice in the matter. I really was the only person qualified. Just that level of budget meetings and personnel issues is more than I want to be doing.

I did not consider applying for her main role for a single second.

No because I don't have the same qualifications and experience.

She does have a deputy whose career trajectory is more parallel to mine and I would definitely apply for that if the opportunity arose but that's fairly unlikely.

I had no idea my boss was being promoted and only found out when they offered me their job! And it is worth the extra £10k. Only happened this week!

No.

I moved to a new organisation about a year ago for a 'unicorn' job, where I essentially got to keep my status as a director and much the same salary, but actually stepped back in terms of managing a team or reporting lines.

I now do more or less the same job for the same money, but with less F2F responsibility.

My boss enjoys all the politics and the fighty stuff and as far as I'm concerned they're very welcome to it.

No, she’s too senior but if the next rung on the ladder came up I 100% would

No.

My boss is PLC Board level and has to sell their soul to do the role. It is all consuming and takes over their family and private life. It pays about 300k more than my role but it could pay 3m more and I wouldn’t want to do it.

Would love to when my children are older. At the moment it would be too many evening and weekend commitments.

Absolutely not. He's the CEO and I would hate that level of stress and having to be nice to wankers because they're important external stakeholders.

Congratulations!

No because she’s 3 levels higher than me, but I would go one level higher for sure

I always said absolutely not, for same reasons everyone is saying here – hard decisions, overwork, mad and mercurial owners to report to. But then my boss unexpectedly retired and I was offered it. I knew I would regret not at least trying, so I went for it. Glad I did, because I do now really enjoy it. There are still hard decisions and overwork and the mad, mercurial owners but I manage to get to a mindset where I mostly don’t bring emotions into work, so it doesn’t bother me too much.

No, absolutely not. My boss spends lot of time in very senior meetings and dealing with the politics that arise from egos competing for limited resources. I am happy at my level - I manage a great team and projects that interest me, and have no interest whatsoever in my boss's job.